Children are indeed the future but if children aren’t computer savvy or literate, the future will look quite dim.

Whether we want to accept it or not, the future is moving forward vigorously and it’s waiting for no one. With electric cars, touch screen cell phones and computers, 3-D televisions, cell phones with live video and television and voice activated cars to name a few, it can be overwhelming.

We can’t change what is bound to happen but we can embrace it and gain more knowledge.

That’s why I am a proponent of the Apple IPads coming to Clark, Meadowview, Payne and Edgewood Elementary Schools resource labs. I think it’s a great way for students to be up to speed and not lag behind in technology.

On Monday, Feb. 14, as I pulled up in front of Clark for the iPad tutorial session, I was excited. I was impressed to find the children excited about this new equipment coming to their school. As the children, dressed in their purple, walked across the school’s back lawn, I could see the sparkle in their eyes; I could see hope as they chatted away about the new tablet computers.

Some may disagree with the tablet computers and feel like they are a waste of time and money, but I don’t. If other elementary schools can have a top-of-the- line science laboratory that’s similar to the University of Alabama at Birmingham or their own mini-computers fully-equipped with Windows Vista or Windows 7, web cam or other high-end software than why can’t our elementary schools in Selma have the same things?

Our students are just as smart as any other school across the United States. We just need the extra boost, no more outdated computers or software, more up-to-date books and better classroom furniture and learning tools. What about our teachers instructing web classes shared with classrooms from around the world so students can become more cultured?

The iPad is more than just fun and games. Students can do their homework on the pads, read books or newspapers, study the bible, make to-do lists, mark calendars, find recipes, check the weather, study school lessons in a fun way and so much more. I applaud Selma City Schools superintendent Donald Jefferson for having the courage, the ingenuity and the foresight to see that the city of Selma’s youth need help.

Bringing the iPads to area schools will help the education of our children and it will help them be the future leaders they are destined to become.