The unexpected upside to disasters

Apparently the next generation, in the wake of 9/11, tsunamis, and worsening economic inequality, is responding with an unprecedented ethic of compassion.

As an eighth grader, her youngest daughter, Hazel, transformed a basement storage room in a Brooklyn homeless shelter into a library stocked with 5,000 volumes. At 13, she mobilized her fellow students to paint walls, hire librarians and design a functioning library-card system linked to a computer database. "We were floored," Ms. Grossman said. "And it's not just Hazel. A lot of kids out there are like this. They are like C.E.O.'s of community service."

Perhaps they will bring a wave of hope out of their graduation ceremonies and into the world...

(via Rebecca's Pocket)

Update: this reminds me of the sentiments in Dar Williams' song "Teenagers, kick our butts":

Teenagers, kick our butts, tell us what the future will bring
Teenagers, look at us, we have not solved everything

The country could sure use it.