Where have our heroes gone? There used to be a time, a kinder, simpler time, when the youth of America had heroes to look up to. We called them soldiers and astronauts and we admired them because they represented ideals such as courage and bravery and character. We looked up to them, as starry-eyed children, because they showed us what can be accomplished through hard work and dedication. They were role models because we wanted to grow up to be just like them, risking their lives for their country or chasing comets through the depths of outer space.

But somewhere along the way, we've abandoned our ideals and lost the dream. We no longer cheered when the cowboys with the white hats came to save the day. Now we look for our inspiration and moral guidance from prepubescent pop princesses and lip-synching pseudo-celebrities, and our role models have ceased being the embodiment of grace, dignity, and courage, and now only symbolize fame, sex, and money.

Right now, our children are dressing like miniature prostitutes. Right now, our children believe that in order to become a professional athlete, they need to find the right drug dealer who can hook them up with performance-enhancing steroids and growth hormone. But surprisingly, the goals of our youth are no different than the goals of past generations. They still hunger for success, and yearn for the fulfillment of their dreams. The only difference is that their ideas of what constitutes success has changed. We no longer consider a long, happy marriage as a success. Or buying a dream house in a quiet neighborhood. Today, success can only come from being on a televison reality show or getting your photograph on the cover of a Hollywood gossip rag.

The role models of yesterday taught us that true success came from having a strong moral foundation, upon which we built our homes, our lives, our families. Even the television stars represented all that was true and decent and good in society. Justice was always served in thirty minutes, and the good guys always rode off into a blazing sunset, after teaching us a lesson about right and wrong. But today, our children root for the bad guys. Our heroes no longer defend justice, but corrupt it. Is it any wonder then that the values of our children have become corrupt as well?

Perhaps the answer is to stop looking for role models in a sports arena or a fashion magazine, and instead show our children that true role models and heroes are around us every day, living their lives quietly and avoiding the spotlight. Show them the teacher who has been faithfully molding young minds for the last twenty years. The family doctor who still makes housecalls in the cold winter night. The soldier who just returned home after three tours of duty in the hot, dusty desert. The police officer who dutifully does his job, never knowing which call could be his last. For these are our real heroes, and you won't find them on the cover of Cosmo or belting out ballads on American Idol. But you will find them in every city and small town across America, in every neighborhood and village.

So where have our heroes gone? The answer is, they never left. We just stopped paying attention to them.

Learn more about this author, Marlin Bressi.
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