Facts - get it right

Mother Teresa

I hold the belief that facts must be explicitly conveyed to avoid unnecessary confusion or garbled comprehension.

Schools have Moral Education or Ethics or Catechism.  It was in a Catechism class that a Catechist (volunteer) explained to a class of 8-year olds that "Mother Teresa is Indian".

I find that 'disturbing' because Mother Teresa was of Albanian descent which does not make her Indian.  She may have had a few Permanent Residencies in the course of her life but it doesn't change the fact that she is of Albanian descent.

To have made such an impression on young minds is the beginning of saying 'facts don't matter' especially when this is during a formal instruction.  Yet even in informal discussions, facts should remain facts regardless of the age of the audience.  

Imagine the 8-year old going through years of Catechism before their First Holy Communion then Confirmation with this idea.  The oddest thing was, a student did say something like "She is not" yet the Catechist never corrected herself but chose to ignore the retort.

In this age of technology where almost any information that we require is easily found using the internet, I am surprised that there are people who still do not validate facts before attempting to impart information.  It goes to show that some people just do not bother about accuracy.  Horrifying would be the case if the reason for such disregard is : they are children what do they know.

As adults, it is our responsibility to be role models.  It is our responsibility to get our facts right.  When we don't, it reflects upon ourselves as lazy and not conscientious enough to be responsible or prideful in carrying out our tasks.

When I am 'sticky' about facts, some people think I'm just too meticulous and highly strung.  

Such people should attempt to qualify, what all that life experience is for IF we are not going to take things squarely and face it directly - good or bad.

If I have been lazy, then that is what it is - I am Lazy - no other excuse should be promoted to be a reason.  It is an excuse no matter how inside out we turn it.

Respect for the teaching profession, whether academic or lifeskills or just current affairs has to be earned, by the value of the teachers' and their due diligence.   When adults do not take that seriously, then the question falls upon those who hire by face value eg. A Catholic since birth SHOULD qualify enough for a Catechist.   I am not implying that Catechists should have a Degree in Bible Studies but that anyone who engages in teaching OR in imparting knowledge SHOULD at least have the pre-requisite of actually believing in what they teach to be true to fact or as far as current day research has that information to be.

It is like having a qualified school teacher address a class in grammatically incorrect sentences.

It happens a lot.

Yet, they have been certified to teach in their respective countries.

How so? YOUR guess is as good as mine.