The seventh graders are working on their term papers. The topic is altruism, and whether it is innate or acquired. I made them look up the word, then brainstorm examples of altruists from real life, past or present. I gave them a couple of people I thought served as good examples of altruism: Mother Theresa and Gandhi.

“No fair. You took the only two I could think of,” one student whined.

“There are lots of altruists. How about people you know? An altruist doesn’t have to be famous. It just has to be a person who consistently puts others before him or herself.”

“I don’t know anyone like that,” he said.

“I’m sure you do. Just think. A family member. A coach.” I smiled at him. “A teacher.”

He stared at me and shook his head. “Nope.”

“Come on,” I coaxed. “You mean to tell me there is not one giving, kind, unselfish person in your life?”

Again, he looked at me and shook his head, and I was forced to acknowledge that my sudden urge to smack the ungrateful little shit probably took me out of the running.