Being a kid is really hard. You hear, see, and internalize all kinds of things that make it really difficult to believe that your voice is valuable. There’s a difference between ego and self-confidence, and unfortunately, this iGeneration is being raised on electronic tablets that are really good for the ego, but ultimately, not so great for self-confidence. This is no fault of parents or teachers; it’s the fault of a system, but one we can overcome. Imaginative play has become crucial. Electronic devices create imaginary worlds for us, and in doing so, they suppress our desire to create and share our own worlds.

I started working on my voice four years ago. On the first day of voice and speech class, my teacher recorded all of us reading Emily Dickinson’s poem, “The Robin is the One.” Nervous, tentative, acne-ridden, and seventeen, I muttered out the words as best as I knew how, trying to sound like a real actor.

Every day for the rest of the year, I did voice work: playing with sound and breath, alternating with consonants and vowels, shaping my mouth when speaking, relaxing the muscles in my face, and allowing my body to properly form my breath in order to make my voice create confident words to share with audiences. At the end of the second semester, my teacher re-recorded me reciting the same Emily Dickinson poem. She then played the two versions back to back, and the difference brought me to tears.

That day, I learned that I believe in the power of working on our voices.

This past summer, I was working as a Teaching Artist in Chicago for an intern project; remembering my transformation, I had my twenty-two middle schoolers bring in their favorite poem at the beginning of our five weeks together. They read them out loud — whispering, stumbling, cracking, vocal-frying, and mispronouncing. I couldn’t help but think it was beautiful in its imperfection. We did vocal warm-ups almost every day and then re-recorded at the end of our time together.

The differences brought me to tears once again. I heard confidence; I heard pride; I heard full, resonant sound that said, “I DESERVE TO BE HERE!”

Spending time thinking about the words we say, the worlds our words create, and how our bodies can behave is important for all of us, but especially young people. Parents should spend time encouraging kiddos to read poetry, to say poetry out loud, and to find their resonances, both vocal and heartfelt.

Learn more about Kid Expert Reilly H HERE.