While the Pepsi advertisement has dominated the internet over the last few days and managed to outrage everyone who comes across it, let us not forget that Verizon released an entire campaign telling the children of today to not chase their dreams.

That's right: Verizon released an entire campaign telling children--most of whom are poorer and minorities — to not chase their dreams of being a famous model, actress, or athlete.

I understand that unlike Pepsi, what Verizon should have called their "We Don't Need" campaign did not discredit an entire social justice movement just to flex Kardashian connections, but it did start off by telling a young, impressionable, and, might I add, BEAUTIFUL black girl to not be a model.

I see where they were going with the campaign. They want to give students of poorer communities technology so they can be competitive in the STEM community. I applaud that. I am all for that. However, that can be done without telling students that they shouldn't be models or athletes.

Children should never be told that they can't do something. I mean, there are a lot of things kids can't do: they can't eat marshmallows for dinner, they can't punch the babysitter, they can't fly if they jump off the roof, but they absolutely can follow whatever career path they want.

Everyone changes their mind while growing up. How many of you wanted to be an actress or musician at some point? If you said no, you're lying. We all sang in the shower and imagined stepping onto a giant stage with a single spotlight and a screaming crowd. How many of you grew up to be Beyonce? None. (Unless Beyonce is reading this in which case - hey, girl. Love you.)

Changing your mind is a natural part of figuring out who we are. It takes a few thousand tries to figure out what career is meant for each of us. Telling young children that they can't and shouldn't follow their dreams because they aren't in a STEM field severely damages their self-confidence. It reverses all of the work that is done by organizations such as Girls on the Run, SWSG, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and so many more. Organizations like these teach young children — primarily girls — that they can do anything.

A child's future should not be dictated by their socioeconomic status or their gender. I applaud Verizon for going out of their way to create an open door to children of communities who hadn't had opportunities like this before. That great work is unfortunately overshadowed by Verizon's choice to have young children's idols tell them that they cannot be just like them.

We may need more interest in scientific fields and more opportunities for children in poorer communities, but above all, we need more children who believe in themselves.