Earlier in our series on helping our kids develop positive identities about themselves, we talked about surrounding our kids with goodness--music, movies, video games and other things that help them see what’s true, good and beautiful.
This has gotten harder in today’s world. Take, for instance, the area of video games. When I was a video game-playing kid, players were given no choice for me except to be the good guy. We were Link wielding his sword to save fair Zelda or Mario braving the castle to save Princess Peach. There was no option to be the villain, the bad guy, or for that matter even to make choices that were not virtuous.
Now, video games seem to work hard to provide you the option to be evil or to be the bad guy. I love comic books (even as an adult), and there’s no doubt in my mind that my sense of morality, of right and wrong, was shaped in part by reading comic books and watching Super Friends on Saturday mornings. From Superman, Spider-Man and many others I learned over and over again that if you’re given great gifts and opportunities, you should use them to serve others.
(I can’t help but insert a quick sidebar here. The Romans 12 prayer our school prays each week includes language that is similar to the lesson of these classic superheroes: “Help me to use all my opportunities wisely, that I may share, through service to others, the good gifts I have received from you.”)
In keeping with my love of comics, I once played a game which allowed you to invent your own superhero and fight alongside Superman and Batman and the Flash. It’s right up my alley. But this game also allows you to play as a villain and do things like poison the water supply in Metropolis. As an adult, I made the decision that I didn’t want to spend my leisure time pretending to be a super villain, but we may have to guide our kids into making those kinds of choices. As we have said in previous columns, we should be encouraging them to practice virtuous behaviors in all they do, because that’s what virtues are: habits of excellence. Stories in books, movies, and video can reinforce these habits if we allow them.
There is within each one of us a desire for greatness. I believe this is a great and holy desire. God has stamped within us a desire to do great things, to live a life of purpose and meaning. We should cultivate that desire for greatness in each of our young people, allowing them the freedom to pursue excellence and goodness--to be the hero in their own story.
To be virtuous is to be heroic. We’re innately drawn to stories where characters show great kindness, or make a great sacrifice, or serve selflessly. The saints constantly show us the heroism of living virtuously: St. Thomas More, who was executed by his friend King Henry VIII for refusing to compromise the faith of the Church; Pope Saint Leo I, who stopped an invasion of Rome by Attlia the Hun by boldly walking into the Hun’s camp to meet with the invaders; St. Theresa of Calcutta (Mother Theresa) who heroically served those in great poverty for decades. There are countless others.
St. John Paul II said, “Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure.” Let’s continue to provide our young people with the support to grow in virtue in all they encounter. Let’s keep encouraging them to play the hero.