Being a hero doesn't have anything to do with age

Twenty one children have been selected to receive awards for their extraordinary acts of bravery. Some of them haven't even reached their teens but have already proven that they have what it takes to be a hero. According to New Kerala, these extraordinary kids were presented to the media by the Indian Council for Child Welfare at New Delhi.

One of the awardees is thirteen-year-old Gaurav Singh Saini of Haryana. He is honored for his courageous act that fateful day in 2008. He and his family were in the temple when they heard people running because of a landslide. Instead of running out of the temple to save his life, his first reaction was to look for people who were hurt because of the stampede. This boy ended up saving 60 people in that disaster.

Saini is just one of the 21 kids who have risked their lives to help other people. Two of the awards were actually given posthumously as their recipients lost their lives while bravely saving others. These kids got a certificate, a medal and a cash gift.

It's truly inspiring to hear stories of children doing heroic acts even at a very young age. I wish we could encourage all our kids to be more conscious of the needs of others. While many people have the notion that only big acts of kindness are heroic, we have to make our kids understand that even little acts of kindness matter. Help them to realize that they have to live not just for themselves but for other people as well.