What makes someone a hero?

I believe that children in today's world believe that a hero is Superman, or some other inhuman character. The average man or woman will consider a hero to be a fireman, or someone in the military. They are right. Those who do fight for our freedom, or others who just make daily life possible for us deserve respect for the responsibilities that they are burdened with. Though, most of those average people do not fully understand, nor bother to realize what a true hero is. Heroes can be anyone from a boy on a bicycle finding a lost dog and returning it, to an average school teacher. Both have positively influenced the community, and even the world depending on the situation. Without school teachers, we wouldn't have educated peoples. That means that we would have uneducated men and women leading our country into war, disposing of nuclear waste, and making trade agreements with other countries. If we did not have those men and women devoting their time to educate the community, mass chaos would erupt. Wars would begin, radiation would spread, and people would die without medication. Those actions would cause world destruction. Now, the boy who returns the dog to the sad little boy and girl, though not as important as world peace, does have a positive outcome. He made the kids happy again, and perhaps reunited a family. So, I believe that you do not need tights and cape to be a hero, as there are hundreds of heroes that you see and speak to daily; teachers, firemen, police, military personnel, and even the cafeteria ladies that cook the almost consumable food that keeps us thinking sharp through the rest of our school day!