How many times have I said, “When I grow up…” throughout my life? When I was a child, when I was a teenager, when I was I was in my early twenties, and now-I still ask the same question. No matter how old I am, there is always this dreaming of how my life will be when I am older. I interviewed some students of mine on this topic to see what their dreams are at five and seven years old.
Five-year old girl
“I want to be a cheerleader when I grow up. They are nice and wear skirts. I don’t want a husband because he will argue. He won’t buy you some things and don’t want to put the baby in the middle. He wants the mommy in the middle and the baby on the side. I want one baby so I can sleep with him. My sister will still be my sister when I grow up. I will live with my mom.”
Five-year old boy
“I wan to be a FBI agent when I grow up. They make the world healthy, good and safe.”
Five-year old girl
“I wan tot be a lawyer because I want to do everything for kids. I want to help kids when they’re in trouble. I can take care of them if mom screams at them. My uncle is a lawyer. It’s important. I will be married and have kids when I am 24. The only reason for a husband is he gives you a ring. I wouldn’t like to argue with him. I wan to have kids. I want to be important.”
Seven-year old boy
“I don’t know what I want to be. I don’t want to be a dentist doctor and clean people’s teeth and see if they have cavities, maybe a teacher because you get to do math and I’m good at math. I don’t want to get married because you have to take care of a child when they grow up. They might make you mad and frustrated. I like being a kid because you get to do some fun things, like play football.”
Seven-year old girl
“I want to be a teacher because you can do anything you want, like go to the store, tell you anything to do, they can scream at you and tell you to go to your seat. I want to be a ballet dancer because you teach kids ballet and stretch with them. I practice ballet. I don’t want to get married because people would get talking. Like all about the wedding and get to your hand and then the wedding is ruined. There is nothing good about a husband. Having kids would be good because they would listen to you, but it would be bad when they would run and jump around. I’ll do it when I’m big.”
Seven-year old boy
“I want to be a mechanic when I grow up. You get to fix cars and don’t get any money. My dad’s a mechanic. Also I want to be a garbage collector. They wear gloves and get up at 5 am. When I’m done I could go anywhere. I want to have a family and be married. I want a lot of people because you need a family. Maybe you don’t know how to cook and kids can go to school and get smarter. The bad parts would be if you get into fights and kids will play around the house. You might have to move far away from your parents. I also want to be a firefighter because you use a hose and get to save people.”
I see their dreams through their childhood perspectives and I see my adult self analyzing what their dreams tell me about the child, the child’s family, and the world we all live in. Children are shaped by the grown up world, as they are growing closer each day to become a grown up. Their families influence them first and foremost, but also by their neighborhood, the movies and TV they watch, the music they hear, the games they play-by everything. What do you hear when you read these interviews? What does your adult mind decide these children’s lives are like from hearing their dreams?
