Laurels to the spirit of giving that permeates the air at this time of year, especially among children. Young people are a direct reflection of a community’s character, and many Rowan County children are showing they have caring hearts — at Christmas and all year. Canned food drives conducted in the schools provide about 85 to 90 percent of the food given out this time of year by the Salvation Army, for example. Preschoolers from First United Methodist Church marched to the Post this week to make a donation to the Christmas Happiness fund the helps families in need. And on Thursday, 310 individuals from the Rowan-Salisbury School System received awards for honor, dignity, selfless service and commitment to their community — the annual Service Above Self awards. The stereotype of a selfish child with a bad case of the “gimmees” at Christmas does not apply to these young people. “We cannot always build the future for our youth,” Franklin Roosevelt once said, “but we can build our youth for the future.” These children make the future look bright.

Dart to anyone who thinks it’s funny to wrap duct tape around a dog’s muzzle. In more than one incident this fall, women have posted photos of their taped-up dogs online only to be bombarded with criticism and charged with animal cruelty. Last week, one of those cases wound up in Rowan County District Court, where the dog owner received a 45-day suspended sentence and 18 months of probation. The wrath of animal lovers, however, may have been the worst punishment of all. In a world plagued by untold cruelties and crimes, there are devoted animal lovers who put looking out for dogs and cats near the top of their priority list, if not at the top. After all, pets are at our mercy, for the most part. The people who advocate for animals  are not about to let any form of mistreatment slide, no matter how brief or supposedly innocuous. Let this be a lesson to pet owners. If you’re considering doing something “funny” to your dog, ask yourself if it would pass the Facebook test. If a photo of the action hit social media, would an animal activist smile or  call the authorities? Perching felt antlers on your dog’s head may be OK. Wrapping an animal’s muzzle with duct tape is not.