Wednesday, September 14, 2005

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.

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