Heroic Stories for Today's Young Men
Last month on his Substack, Dr. Anthony Bradley shared some newsworthy stories. Too often, when young men attract attention, it is for all of the wrong reasons, unless it involves sports or music. These young men earned this attention with courage.
As Bradley put it:
The headlines have become a liturgy of bad news about young men: they are disengaged, addicted, angry, aimless. That concern is real and there are many institutions working on these issues, but this is not the whole story. Lots of young men are thriving and selflessly changing lives in their local communities.
In my book on Heroic Fraternities, I frame masculinity this way: “using your power, presence, creativity, and strength for the benefit of others.” There are countless stories of young men doing just that but those stories are drowned out by stories of the opposite.
Telling better stories of young men is a passion project for Dr. Bradley. In a world where masculinity is regularly derided as simply “toxic,” these stories extol male virtue and remind us that masculinity is good. And if we want young men to be good, they’ll need to know it’s possible.
In the headline photo of the article are three young men, Camron Swann, 15, Kirvon Johnson, 14, and Kesean Wilson, 14, who saved the life of a child who was drowning. Among the other stories was that of a teenage boy named Anthony Killinger, who kept his stepfather alive long enough with CPR for paramedics to arrive. The EMTs credited Anthony with saving the man’s life. In another, a 12-year-old ran through his burning house, rescued his one- and two-year-old siblings, and guided his grandmother to safety.
Just a few weeks ago, a 17-year-old named Jaheim Warner managed to stop a rolling pickup truck, break the back window, and stabilize a woman who was having a seizure. On June 9, two 13-year-olds named Gunner Skidmore and Kohen Chick saw an older woman lying hurt in her yard. Before they came to her rescue, she had been stranded for some 16 hours.
As Bradley explained, these stories provide contrast to so many stereotypes.
They didn’t sit around passively capturing the crisis in front of them on their phones to post on social media, which has to be the height of cowardice. Instead, they put their phones down and risked their lives because someone else was in need. We need to capture these stories and celebrate them. We need to share them. Boys need to grow up hearing them over and over again. These stories are aspirational. These are the kinds of young men all parents should want their sons to be.
Stories like this are certainly inspiring but also do much more. Back in 2020, a six-year-old Wyoming boy heroically protected his little sister from an attacking dog. Bridger Walker not only earned his scars that day, but he also reminded us that it is far better to be a hero than a celebrity. So, it’s good when boys play soldier, fireman, and policeman. These instincts should be encouraged and cultivated, not suppressed. And if we want healthy young men who know that their strength is to serve others, we need to point them to heroes to admire and follow. Thankfully, as Dr. Bradley reminds us, these heroes aren’t just make-believe.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Avesun
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
