The Gleaner's front page story on yesterday featured an eight-year-old boy who saved his friend from drowning. It was a refreshing change from crime and politics.

According to the article, the boy, Don-Christopher Barnes, jumped in the deep end of his pool and rescued his friend - an action he said he did without much thought.

In a nation where the news is generally characterised by stories of murders, gory accident scenes and long lists of wanted men, such a story was a welcome departure. A story such as this is proof that there are still good Samaritans among us, however young they may be, and it also provides hope for a generation that many believed was lost.

Young Barnes represents what we want our youngsters to be, and the more people learn from a story such as this, the better. It is good to see that there are still decent young people in this country, and we can only hope that he continues along this path and develops into a wholesome and respectable young man.

But though we like to pretend that children are born either good or bad and that parenting has little to do with how a child turns out, it is true that children live what they learn. If a child is surrounded by 'cruffs', as we say in Jamaica, it is very likely that this child will become a 'cruff' as well. Unless, of course, a positive influence steps in. Three cheers for Don-Christopher!