A NEEDLE is driven through the brain when teachers or people of significant influence, discourage persons from pursuing their dreams because they are of the view that the dreamers are certain to fail.

On a casual day of football with the less privileged youths, I found myself in an awkward situation at a time meant for relaxation. There was one boisterous character who distinguished himself during play. ‘Short Boss’ was the moniker constantly being repeated in reference to this football-loving ‘ghetto yute’. After the game, he said to me: ‘I wan be a lawyer but me teacher tell me that I should think of some other career because all the males in my family are handymen ’. ‘Short boss’ was convinced that he should heed the negative advice of his teacher, because maybe some things are not for him. I immediately poured scorn on this dangerous action by this teacher and offered an extemporaneous inspirational talk. I told him of the story of Malcolm Little, popularly known as Malcolm X, who documented in his autobiography, that his teacher in Junior High had told him that he should not express the desires about being a lawyer because it was an impossible task to achieve. This civil rights activist went from being a prison inmate to a debater par excellence in the prestigious halls at Oxford Student Union, United Kingdom.

I was not done with the issue. I proceeded to the school which he attended for three reasons. Firstly, I was eager to have a discourse with ‘Miss’ to firstly verify the submission of her student. Secondly, to gauge her thinking as it relates to this issue and thirdly, to warn against this dangerous practice of putting a needle in the brain. As I made my way up the dilapidated steps in the midst of disorderly cacophony, it dawned upon me that maybe I should not have this talk with ‘Miss’ after all. I lost all inspiration and strength to continue on this mission. How could I lecture this teacher in such a Dickensian setting? Who is he, or she, that would remain resolute in their duty to mould a nation in this circumstance, without the resolve of Mother Theresa?

I defied this deterrence and confronted this teacher. She confirmed that she did utter those words to the student under discussion, and she explained that he is extremely recalcitrant and shows no sign of even being close to achieving such career heights. She also spoke about the fact that his family and community situation could never allow him to become a lawyer, so she decided to guide him to a career path that was more possible, associated with subjects such as Technical Drawing. I asked her to consider the fact that she could have supported the dream of ‘Short Boss’and use this support as a means of spreading her influence over him, to put him on the right course. She scoffed at that idea and remarked: ‘’anybody else, not he’.

This entire episode caused me to reflect deeply on the fact, that there are many who enjoy positions of influence in various leadership systems that have little or no regard, for the negative effects that can be caused by the power they possess. Cognitive and motivational mediators of indirect effects continue to exert influence on individual development outside and beyond the school (Sylva, 1994). It is no longer a debate, it is established that ‘Young people trust and rely on a number of key adults, including teachers, to provide them with the up-to-date knowledge and support they need to make informed choices about their futures’ (Brown, Foskett 1999).

The role of the mentor is to support and encourage dreams, even when they seem improbable.