Saying "I Don't Know"

I was teaching piano to a child a few weeks ago when the child started panicking and being distressed when she kept on making mistakes or couldn't play something. When I assured her that everyone makes mistakes - even me! - she refused to believe me saying, "But teachers never make mistakes." 

I was surprised, to say the least, and then after the lesson, I thought back to when I was a child, and what my perception of adults, teachers and parents were. I remember thinking that adults had life sorted out, they had an answer to every question, and that one day, I would be like them. Never did I have a question to which they didn't have an answer for, whether or not their answer truly answered my question or not. No one ever said the words, "You know what, Jason? I don't know." 

This, in itself, manifests a huge problem for children growing up with incorrect expectations of other  people and ultimately, themselves as they get older, and strive for that perfection. People nowadays always seem to must have an opinion on something, or must have a solution to a problem. Are people just afraid to admit that maybe they do not know? Or maybe they don't really have an opinion? 

Social media certainly worsens the issue, with everyone having the same platform to voice their opinions on sensitive topics. And it's hard to tell whether they're serious or just trolls and whether they are qualified or not to speak about it. 

Adults need to be less fearful of not knowing the answer all the time, accepting that maybe you don't hold the answer to whether the UK should get involved in the US attack on Syria, or whether the newly imposed 'sugar tax' in the UK will have the desired effect or not. Teachers as well, must make it explicit to their pupils, that they themselves are not perfect, and that human error happens very, very frequently, even with the professionals. Mistakes are part of life, and that is how we learn. So keep on making mistakes!!