Hi,
Firstly i'd like to wish you every success with the new scheme.
I personally would be very pleased if the influences and aspirations of children of any background were expanded beyond simply 'being really rich', 'being a show-off', 'being aggressive' etc. I would like to see youngsters develop more self respect and higher aspirations, think for themselves and fill their realities with much wider knowledge.
I would also like to comment on some of the publics' viewpoints about the scheme posted on the Internet recently, that perhaps suggest the need for a reach-out scheme in terms of public understanding about such schemes. To me the role models scheme and racism are different things, but I read several people describing the scheme as 'racist'. I must say I was disheartened by this, but I tried to understand where they were coming from. Presumably what they meant (it was not clear) was that selection of role models by colour implies that the children are already racist and/or inadvertantly could be made so by such a scheme. It may also suggest a tacit assumption that children are idiots. There may have been concern that only black children will be targeted by the scheme.
Best wishes,
Mike