Why can't we all be heroes?

Literally the entire family sat around my grandparents' TV tonight to watch a mildly entertaining Chinese talk show.

The topic in a nutshell was a high-school teacher who, when one of the Sichuan earthquakes of last month began, instructed his students to "don't panic" but bolted for his own life without a backward glance. The building he was teaching in collapsed shortly after, and the several students who didn't make it out in time were killed.

For his cowardly act he was given an hour's worth of shit from participants of the show, which included teachers, parents, the principal of his school, and a psychologist.

The general consensus was that his act was disgraceful and unbefitting of his occupation. One speaker even went as far as to claim that his integrity was closer to that of an animal than human. Most insisted he resign.

The one speaker whose opinion stood out from the rest was the psychologist, who reminded the audience and participants that the man was also an earthquake victim, and that it was unrealistic for society to expect self-sacrificing courage from each individual. He pointed out that nobody in the studio had been in the same situation and therefore can neither claim that they wouldn't have done exactly the same thing; nor expect being a hero to be as easily said as done.

My parents booed. They agreed with the idea that it was an occupational responsibility of the man to put the safety of students before his own, and likened it to the way soldiers are shot for fleeing battle.

I'm sitting on the fence. Theoretically, they're absolutely right. Theoretically, it's quite black-and-white. Running away and leaving a bunch of kids behind is wrong. Ensuring the kids' safety first is right. But I do think this is one case where theory doesn't quite apply to practice.

Imagine somebody who has neither experienced an 8.0 earthquake nor have been instructed to expect and how to react to one. Imagine he's writing calculus equations on the blackboard. Then imagine his reaction as the blackboard breaks in two as the building starts to collapse. He shits himself. His life flashes before his eyes and his mind is blank save for one objective - to survive. He hasn't the time or mental capacity to pause and say to himself, "I am a teacher. I'm in a class of children. Children are the future. It is my occupational responsibility to help them escape safely and if need be, sacrifice myself".

Yes, it was a cowardly thing to do. Yes, he should feel some degree of shame. And it was incredibly stupid of him to tell his students to "don't panic". But despite the above, it's understandable. He probably said it because he was panicking.

Granted, there have been thousands of incredibly brave people who risked their own lives to help others, and that's admirable. Keeping in mind that we're not Utopians - not everybody is admirable. Some people are heroes and some are cowards. This man is just another coward. Why aren't we dragging in all the other cowards to verbally rotten-tomato them on national TV?

I think those parents who have lost their children have a right to give him a couple of kicks in the balls, but to lose his teaching privileges is ridiculous.