Think about the impressive feats you’ve witnessed recently, from Adele shattering records with the sales of her new album to an act of generosity that took place in your community or school.
Do you admire the people behind these actions? Who have impressed and inspired you in the last year?
In “‘Black-ish’ Star Yara Shahidi Is a Role Model Off-Screen,” Hannah Seligson writes:
“Life as a teenager can be down right chaotic,” the actress Yara Shahidi, 15, told an audience last month at Cipriani 42nd Street, where she was being honored by the Young Women’s Leadership Network. “We must also realize that it is up to us whether these years will feel like a melancholy struggle or an opportunity for growth or experiences of a lifetime.”
For Ms. Shahidi, it’s certainly the latter.
As the actress who plays Zoey, the smart but entitled daughter on ABC’s “Black-ish,” a situation comedy about a prosperous black family wrestling with racial issues, Ms. Shahidi certainly has a platform to be heard. But she has not stopped there.
When she’s not taping “Black-ish,” she is a full-time social activist, inspiring young women to excel academically, volunteering at medical clinics and starting her own mentoring club.
Students: Read the entire article, then tell us …
— Do you think celebrities have an obligation to be role models? Why or why not?
— What do you think of Ms. Shahidi’s idea that “giving back is not just something you do as an adult”?
— Who has inspired you to pursue something important?
— What qualities do the people you admire share?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. All comments are moderated by Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.