When I was a little girl I dreamed of being many things, as all children do, a nurse, a librarian, a singer, oh, many things I suppose. In real life I finally became a social worker of all things, and I must say I was suited for it, for the most part. Children need to have dreams, to aspire to something, to show them the possibilities of what they can be, who they be. They need dreams to lead them to a larger world beyond the confines of the ones in which they may live, they need to know that there are more places to travel than they ever imagined. They need to dream of going to college, gaining more experiences, of changing the world, the one in which they live and the greater world around them. They need to know that we are counting on them to become the dreamers and leaders of tomorrow.
We as adults, need to begin encouraging our children to dream more, to see that they can change the world, and in order to do that we need to place the tools in their hands with which to do so. We need to encourage them to read more, books, periodicals, and news papers. A book in a child's hands is truly a gift. It opens up worlds where they might become almost anything they wish, from dog catcher to space explorer. I must say at this point that while I don't believe in much television for children, I am a fan of Star Trek. I watched the show in it's original run, and that show boldly went where no show had gone before. Not only was it multicultural, it had two female characters who were there for the duration of the show. One of them happened to be a black woman, Nichele Nichols, who portrayed Lt. Uhura, communications officer. Oh, there were others, I know, but they were not this ultra cool sister in space, who you thought had to have a lot of brains and command a lot of respect just to get there.
Still, I advocate putting books in the hands of our children. Not only are they a way to give children the time out to imagine and dream, they boost their vocabulary as well as other skills. A child who learns to read and has a book will always have something to do, not matter where they are. A book can always be hauled around with them, carried anywhere they go. We can always be thankful to Gene Rodenberry for including not just Nichele, but quite a few other African Americans portrayed as brilliant scientists, for including us in the dream when so few wanted us there. Dr. King had a dream, and it's time that we help our children realize the rest of his legacy, of educating them, giving them a dream to go by, and while they may never achieve the first dreams they have, one dream leads to another and another, until they finally achieve the dream they were meant to have.
We as adults, need to begin encouraging our children to dream more, to see that they can change the world, and in order to do that we need to place the tools in their hands with which to do so. We need to encourage them to read more, books, periodicals, and news papers. A book in a child's hands is truly a gift. It opens up worlds where they might become almost anything they wish, from dog catcher to space explorer. I must say at this point that while I don't believe in much television for children, I am a fan of Star Trek. I watched the show in it's original run, and that show boldly went where no show had gone before. Not only was it multicultural, it had two female characters who were there for the duration of the show. One of them happened to be a black woman, Nichele Nichols, who portrayed Lt. Uhura, communications officer. Oh, there were others, I know, but they were not this ultra cool sister in space, who you thought had to have a lot of brains and command a lot of respect just to get there.
Still, I advocate putting books in the hands of our children. Not only are they a way to give children the time out to imagine and dream, they boost their vocabulary as well as other skills. A child who learns to read and has a book will always have something to do, not matter where they are. A book can always be hauled around with them, carried anywhere they go. We can always be thankful to Gene Rodenberry for including not just Nichele, but quite a few other African Americans portrayed as brilliant scientists, for including us in the dream when so few wanted us there. Dr. King had a dream, and it's time that we help our children realize the rest of his legacy, of educating them, giving them a dream to go by, and while they may never achieve the first dreams they have, one dream leads to another and another, until they finally achieve the dream they were meant to have.
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