Looking for inspiration to make a change? Here's some advice on making a difference for children from the book "Be the Change! Change the World. Change Yourself." (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $14.95), straight from people who've done it:
   
    "Spoiling the kids you serve is not helping them at all. Just because a neighborhood is downtrodden doesn't mean the kids don't deserve the same level of discipline and guidance on how to behave properly."
    Malikah Berry, Atlanta, Ga.
   
    "Don't be afraid to share yourself. I was working with kids who were going through tough times, and they would ask me, `So what's your story?' I initially felt that unless I could say that one of my parents was a drug addict or that I too had been in foster care, they wouldn't take me seriously. But they just wanted to know what my day-to-day life was like, what my job was like and whether I had any kids."
    Marlo Hyman, New York, N.Y.
   
    "Realize that other people are just as worthy of respect as you are, even people you are helping. I was volunteering in a special education classroom, and one of my younger students, Mallory, kept telling me that she had already done a work sheet that I was forcing her to do. Her teacher had told me otherwise, so I didn't listen, but she raised her voice and told me, `Just because you're older than me doesn't mean you know everything. Sometimes you need to listen to children because they know things you don't.'
    As it turns out, Mallory had done the work sheet, and both the teacher and I were wrong. I learned a great lesson that day, and I have always admired Mallory for teaching it to me. After that incident, I have always credited every being with an adequate amount of respect."
    Nausheen Shaikh, Granger, Ind.
   
    "Even when you're being pushed away, never go away. When I was a mentor, my mentee tried to shock me. She would get into trouble; she would run away. But I never abandoned her. I knew it was important for me to stick it out."
    Dawn Balzarano, Sacramento, Calif.
   
    Hundreds of Heads Books' survival guides offer the wisdom of the masses by assembling the experiences and advice of hundreds of people who have gone through life's biggest challenges and have insight to share.
   
    (c) 2006, Hundreds of Heads Books, Inc.