Mistakes are proof you are trying.

Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.

Always remember, a mistake is always a lesson.

Ah yes, encouraging people to keep trying despite their mistakes, that nobody is perfect and that there is always a lesson to learn.  A wonderful sentiment until it is put to the test.  After all, it depends on what kind of mistake a person makes, right?  How big of a mistake is too big?  What kind of mistake is unforgivable?  How many mistakes are we allowed in this life, even if we ask forgiveness?

As teachers we always have that one student (or more : ) who is quick to find fault in others, always waiting for someone else to make a mistake just so that they can point it out and embarrass them.  These are times where I can teach things like kindness, patience and tolerance for others.  I expect these kinds of behaviors from a child, however, I see this more and more everyday from adults, quick to point out the mistakes of others, in the most blatant and unkind way and usually on social media.

How many of us try to cover or hide our mistakes because we’re afraid of what people will do or say or think?  We live in a very critical world right now with many people judging us in terms of how politically correct we are.  For some of us, it has turned into a lesson of knowing when not to say or do anything to avoid someone judging our mistakes.  But is it fair to judge someone for something they did or said in another time or place if they didn’t know better?  And does that mistake take away all of the good things that person did during their lifetime?

I read an article recently where an award named for Laura Engles Wilder was renamed because her books contained “culturally insensitive portrayals”.  The award recognizes authors and illustrators whose books have created a lasting contribution to children’s literature.  I think Wilder’s books do just that as she recreates the stories based on her childhood experiences that children have been reading for decades.  It’s a leap back in time and a way for children to get a glimpse into the past.  The fact that she used what we now consider insensitive portrayals is a lesson we can teach children as they read the books, that this was the way the world was and now this is how we’re working to make the world a better place.  It gives kids a way to compare and contrast, otherwise how will our kids know we are improving as a culture if we whitewash the past?

To Kill A Mockingbird is another such example.  A school district in Mississippi pulled the book because it made people uncomfortable.  Some books are supposed to make people uncomfortable, just like art, music and dance can do.  It can open up raw emotions,  causing you think about moral and ethical issues, and it was written in the context of the time and place.  It is nearly impossible to make real change unless something makes us uncomfortable enough to do it.  Our American history is full of uncomfortable mistakes and erasing them isn’t going to make them magically disappear.  They happened whether we like it or not.  Now, what are we going to do about them?

The philosopher George Santayana is quoted as saying “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  This may or may not be true, but again, if we try to hide or erase all of our past mistakes instead of studying and trying to learn from them some goofball is going to try it again.  There are very few things we do in life that are completely original mistakes, although my students sometimes try things I would never have thought of.  Just think about it.  Humans all have the same potential to make the same mistakes given the right conditions and especially if they have not learned why something is a mistake.  By not allowing examples of mistakes to exist, we eliminate essential learning material.

Let’s go back to that forgiveness part.  So many times we ask children to say they’re sorry for a mistake they made but they don’t understand why it’s a mistake or they haven’t experienced how their mistake has or can affect other people.  This is why we must maintain examples of mistakes to learn from.  I can tell them all day long they should apologize and ask forgiveness but until they learn how their mistake can hurt themselves and others, it will have no meaning. It could explain why we have so many adults who seem to have difficulty apologizing as well.

I don’t know about you, but I make mistakes regularly and it is never intentional.  It may be because I was uninformed or had an error in judgement, or I was careless about something.  I’m not perfect.  The thing for us to remember is that we are all flawed human beings and rather than condemn people’s actions, this could be an opportunity for dialogue and learning from each other.  It’s the way we should treat our students as well, not attempting to erase their mistakes, but teaching them how they can make life better for themselves and for others by learning from their mistakes.