July 8, 2007

Animals can't be heroes

By: STEPHEN D. ALOIA - Commentary

The recent article in The Californian about animals being heroes ("Kids find fuzzy heroes at the fair," June 28) reflects a sad reality in our schools. We have well schooled and well trained teachers, but we do not have well educated teachers ---- not in the classical sense.

Anyone with any classical background would realize that a hero is a person from whom respect is inherently given because of both his character as well as his actions. The personal character of the hero is guided by the virtues ---- that is, he knows that he must do what he is called upon to be done at the moment, and the act itself must involve some form of personal risk to the individual performing the act.

Both virtue and risk are involved in a true heroic act. Animals, even cute ones, cannot by definition perform a heroic act. Heroic acts require free will and the exercise of judgment, typically based on good upbringing and a sense of nobility.

Mark Twain once commented that we shouldn't let schoolin' get in the way of our education. And the teacher and perhaps the staff writer may have been well schooled, but they were not well educated with regard to heroes and the heroic ideal.

An animal cannot be a hero ---- plain and simple! Being a hero requires capacities involving free will, a modicum of cognitive abilities, and an understanding of duty and obligation ---- none of which animals possess. Based on the logic of the article, I would imagine that celery and broccoli could also be heroes.

There are any number of classical treatises on heroes and the heroic ideal and they should be part of everyone's college education, unfortunately they are not. As a result, we have teachers and staff writers using and abusing words in such a way that they mislead and miseducate our children.

Everyone should be concerned about the misuse of words, especially when it originates with teachers who fill the head of very young and impressionable children. It is not simply that the word itself is misused, but that the concept of the heroic ideal and our real heroes for whom the word has been ascribed is also diminished.

There was a quote from the movie "A River Runs Through It" that states, "It is a sin to fish without knowing how to fish," and to those who teach or write for newspapers, I would offer, "It is a sin to use words without knowing how to use the words properly." Having a good command of vocabulary is one of the basic elements of good teaching and good writing. Rin Tin Tin and Lassie cannot, by definition, be heroes.

Stephen D. Aloia of Temecula is a professor of education at Cal State Fullerton.