Apr 12, 2017 12:10 PM EDT By Francis Trance, UniversityHerald Reporter

In a Verizon spot ad, NBA star LeBron James boldly told American youths that the US needs more scientists, not more celebrities. This is to support the STEM program being pushed by Verizon Learning initiative.

The video ad shows how American children view their future as becoming the next footballer Drew Brees, or modelling celebrity Adriana Lima and ending with LeBron James telling them that America doesn't need more LeBrons. Yet, there are more than 4 million science and technology vacant jobs available in the US for graduates of STEM courses. American society had somehow neglected the importance of science in everyday life and focusing on the glamor of being under the limelight instead.

Media is one of the major factor of this phenomenon, as much stereotyping is made to the men and women of science turning them into geeky, nerdy and unsocial people. Thus, hastening the dumbing down of American youths as they view science jobs as not being cool. LeBron James along with other personalities have joined efforts on the new Verizon ad to promote the importance of STEM studies to America's youth.

It is the aim of Verizon to digitize schools, while provide free tech access and hands on learning to underserved communities in the US. The company prioritizes areas where levels of education are not in par with optimal standards and hopes the change would start from there. It is a major move for this telco company with the help of celebrities like LeBron to spearhead an education program aimed to help not only the poor but also motivate the youth of America to shift their focus to science and technology.

At the moment, the United States is trailing in science and technology as more and more scientist in the country are foreign-born. Especially with the increased stringent immigration policy imposed by the US government, it is a possibility that more of these scientists would leave America and return to their countries. If this is not addressed, America's brain drain would be the start of the eventual end of the country's dominance in science and technology. However, through Verizon and LeBron, this problem may be averted. 

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