A 'superman' who has positively impacted the lives of thousands of young people has been honoured with a CableVision award for community service.Anthony Peets, affectionately known to many children on the Island as “Uncle Anthony” and “Superman” has been working with young people for the past 26 years.He has volunteered with Bermuda Autism Support and Education, mentored young people at Warwick Seventh-day Adventist Church and visits St John’s Pre-School each week to promote the value of respect, enthusiasm and hard work to children.On a day-to-day basis he serves as guidance counsellor at Prospect Primary School and is the Island’s only male guidance counsellor at the elementary level.Through these roles he has inspired thousands of young people to better their lives and go on to college and university.This weekend Mr Peets, a father-of-two, took home CableVision’s Rollin Nathan award for community service.He said he hoped the accolade would encourage other father figures to become mentors and volunteer at least once a month at their children’s school.When speaking to The Royal Gazette Mr Peets said: “If you have something positive to contribute then do it. If you do not think you have something positive to contribute change your thinking.“I know I make a difference in thousands of kids’ lives. I know I do because they call me and because they give me a copy of their degrees. I even had a few who have named their kids Anthony.“I get invited to their weddings and graduations and when they see me they are proud to say I was their teacher and when their parents see me they say ‘you are in Mr Peets care you are going to be OK”.Mr Peets said if everyone chose to adopt his positive and solution-oriented thinking the Island would be a better place.He said through simple acts like spending time talking, reading and playing with children adults could make “deposits” in their lives and help them reach their full potential.“I can get 60 text messages a day and on Facebook from people whose lives I deposited into. If I deposit now I can withdraw later,” he said.Mr Peets believes as many as 75 percent of the Island’s young people do not have an intact family unit, meaning a mother and father who both participate and assist with everyday issues.The ones that do “their outcomes are fantastic”, he said. But for those who dont it’s the community’s job to find a way to fill that void.Sometimes that void can be filled simply by giving them a smile, he said. It can also be as easy as saying hello or giving them positive affirmations like “well done” and “good job”.“What I do know is I believe in intentionally doing specific things to get the kids just loving life and to think,” Mr Peets said.He uses a variety of tools including puppets, which he began using 14 years ago to help a teacher capture the attention of her students.And while he encourages all people to be mentors in children’s lives, he said men had a particularly strong influence on young people.“As a man I know I can create a feeling of fear or a feeling of respect when I step into a room. It’s amazing. It’s just innate,” he said.Mr Peets said it was important for men to invest in the lives of children as they are the next generation.“We are creating a nation. I am not going to last myself, neither are you, and that just means that kids need to know how to manage the world’s resources and need to know how to get along with one another.“I have kids too and they need to know people support them. I have kids at school whose dads were killed with a gun and people in school who have heard gunshots. I didn’t have that growing up,” he said.Still he hopes to leave behind a legacy and is optimistic his award will give him a platform to teach others how to make the world a better place.“I would like to be able to talk to everyone that will listen to have a positive impact because children become adults and if you invest in them now they will have good outcomes later.”