December always produces acts of generosity, charity drives, and feel-good stories. The “big one” so far this season that exploded virally is the photo of NYPD Officer Lawrence Primo giving a new pair of boots to a homeless, barefoot man on the street. (Posted to the NYPD Facebook page by the tourist who captured it on her cell phone produced 1.6 million views and 275,000 “likes.”)
All too often, we see children in the news for crime, violence, abuse, and other tragic events. This month, we’ve search the Web for a few stories on the positive things kids do simply out of kindness.
Who wouldn't like to win an iPad? In Minnesota, seventh-grader Annie Schaefbauer worked hard to win one in a school fund-raiser contest, selling $2,400 worth of wrapping paper, cookie dough, and pizza. She certainly earned the desirable prize.
But Annie didn’t do it for herself. She knew that her Willmar Middle School special education class needed another iPad, said the speech and language clinican Tracey Erickson. "We use iPads with the kids a lot," Erickson said. "The problem is we don't have enough." Willmar Middle School has more than 160 special education students out of a student body of 900.
“I always liked to help people,” said Annie. She aspires to be a special education teacher.
Annie’s mother, Ann Henderschott, who is a teacher at the middle school as well, said Annie came up with the idea on her own. Together, they put up posters in the teacher rooms at the school.
Five-year-old Riley O’Neill broke his leg about a year ago and was a patient at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite. His mother remembered that, when a cart full of toys came in, Riley was so happy.
When Riley’s family won a Nintendo Wii system in a Facebook contest staged by the television news program 11Alive, they chose not to simply add another one to the house—they are already Wii owners. Instead, Riley took the new Wii to The Zone at Scottish Rite, a therapeutic activity center that sees about 700 kids a month.
“This one is for the kids,” Riley told 11Alive’s reporter. “If they play with it, they’ll have lots of fun.”
In the film Pay It Forward, a boy played by Haley Joel Osment tries to make the world a better place through an act of kindness—and asks the recipient only to “pay it forward” rather than owe him a debt. Keenly wishing for world peace since he was a young child, Jack Praver, a 12-year-old from Virginia Beach, VA, was inspired by a poster from the movie. He’s trying to change things for the better, one child at a time.
“He was aware of bullying and wanted to do something about it,” Whitney Elliott, Jack’s mother, told the Virginian-Pilot. “I said you can either take it and do something good with it, or fight it and be angry the rest of your life.”
The something good Jack did was create a nonprofit organization called Pay It Forward Kids. “He told me he wanted to create an educational program that would show people how to be kind,” said Elliott.
Jack, who is a student at Cape Henry Collegiate School, and his mother created an educational program and bought 10,000 bracelets from the Pay It Forward Foundation. When the family took a trip to Europe in 2011, they did 100 acts of kindness in three countries and distributed 100 bracelets.
Jack’s Pay It Forward Kids has different programs, including an assembly (in school or via Skype) called Elementary School Kind, and giving campaigns for which he selects a charity, school, association, or individual to take care of through donated time or items. Jack is currently collecting shoes for a school in Nevada which has a lot of homeless children. He also has helped seven families who received Thanksgiving dinner, and 10 families for which Pay It Forward Kids will play Santa.
Jack and his family don’t do it all alone. “Four kids from the foundation came to the Special Olympics bowling event and helped the bowlers and ice skaters,” said Tonya Doebler, mom to 16-year-old Special Olympian Chandler.
For more information about the organization, visit www.payitforwardkids.org
The national organization DoSomething.Org is one of the largest dedicated to teens and social change. Teens have access to a variety of campaigns, programs, and products that are free, and encourage teens to get up and “do something.” Here’s one member's story.
Ryan Swain joined Grandparents Gone Wired, organized by DoSomething. The intent of the program is to teach senior citizens key computer and application skills that young people know like the back of their hands—like Facebook, Gmail, and Skype. Ryan wanted to keep in touch with his grandmother when he moved to Howard University—700 miles away. Ryan taught his grandmother how to get wired … and continues to help whenever needed.
Asked why he thinks it’s important for seniors to be tech-savvy, Ryan said, “Because our communication is becoming more digital, and it is important that everyone is up to date with what’s new. We as a generation have an advantage because we were born in this technological age. My grandparents unfortunately were not. I want my people to be up-to-date, so I made sure that my grandparents are.”
Students can find a variety of active campaigns and a ton of information to come up with their own projects. Visit www.dosomething.org
We’d love to hear stories about your students and their random acts of kindness! Let us know at communitymanager@isminc.com
Additional ISM resources of interest
ISM Monthly Update for Trustees Vol 9, No. 7 Volunteering in America
Additional resources for ISM Consortium Gold Members
Ideas & Perspectives Vol 27. No. 5 The Head’s Role in Your School’s Community Service Program
Ideas & Perspectives Vol 32. No. 9 Why Character Education Matters: Competing in the Marketplace
