Teaching Your Students Why Facts Still Matter

Students are now questioning the importance of facts due to its lack of truth. Politicians and thoughtful leaders are using it as a tool to attract voters and supporters. The problem is that there remains a lack of truthfulness behind those facts. Assessing what is right and wrong, reading between the lines and understanding the correctness a statement are some the skills which are absent in our society.

What role does a student play in this?

Let us take elections as an example to clarify the above the question. A study has shown us that the education level of a voter determines their choice of voting a political party or a candidate. It serves as a significant factor in the election result. Students acquire skills such as critical thinking and analyzing media news at school. They learn how to differentiate between a false statement and a correct one. They can see through the words spoken by a political leader and assess its legitimacy. Thus teaching students the importance of facts and its manipulative usage is an essential task of every educator.

How can teachers motivate students to peruse truth when there is a growing public aversion to the truth?

Using history to prove that facts still matter.

History is based on facts and evidence. No matter what someone’s opinion, ideology & philosophy maybe, it cannot change or alter the facts. Teachers must provide an accurate understanding of the historical occurrences to the students. They must appreciate the origin of the truth, its significance and how easily it can be manipulated.

A California University professor of education named William Jeynes wrote about the exploitation of historical events and truths in one of his articles. He said that history is made up of facts which no one can deny like for example, the Holocaust or the military expansionism of Islam in 700 A.D. He wrote against the moral ethics of abortions by mentioning that a child has their DNA rather than being an extension of their mother’s flesh. His sole purpose through this writing was to educate us that any debate, conversation or discussion which denies facts are defactualizing the truth.

Understanding the power of facts

Unfortunate as it may be, debates and discussions are now won via emotions and vocal strength. It doesn’t matter what the facts are, even if it is supporting a conclusion, It is overpowered with loud responses. The presidential debates are no longer based on facts; people are more concerned about the emotional appeal and feelings of the speaker. This leads to students asking themselves, does truth have any power to influence someone’s thinking? Yes, it does. A judge gives his verdict on a case after considering each and every truthful evidence and facts, the opinion of one or more individuals is not considered by the court. As a teacher, it is your duty to make your students fight for the truth even if it faces a constant denial. Let them know that at the end of the day “truth always prevails.” Facts are the best information one can have because it does not require an opinion.

Using facts correctly

Facts have merely become a manipulative instrument rather than being an objective information to come to a conclusion. The biggest problem our current generation faces is the trouble of validating content online or in the media. Misleading and fake information surrounds us. A teacher needs to make their students learn the usage of facts.

Conclusion

Facts should act as a tool to discover truth. If I write that the Vietnam War ended in the year 1975, it should be factually correct. Only then an editor will approve that statement. The job of teachers is to make them know that facts should be used based on evidence and not opinions.

Bio
Latest Posts

Aalia Hasan

Academician at MyPrivateTutor UAE

Aalia Hasan is a content writer and academician who is keen in writing content on online education, school education and other relevant subjects. She write high quality content for MyPrivateTutor UAE and other sites regularly. Follow her on social networks.