Jumping to Conclusions

Have you thought something was true, and then found out it wasn’t? Or maybe someone assumed you did a certain thing when you didn’t? Like the children in the story, we can easily jump to conclusions when we know only a few things about a subject. What if your Mom isn’t in the kitchen. Does that mean she went shopping? No. What if she said she needed to buy something and the car is gone? These facts might help you come to the right conclusion, but even then you could be wrong.

A right conclusion is based on correctly understanding the facts that we know, and often waiting to learn more. When the following things were said in the story, did they know it was true, or did they just think it might be? Write F for fact and A for assumption:

___ Andy can’t come.

___ He’s never allowed to do anything fun.

___ He’s at Mr. Greg’s house.

___ He always goes there to work.

___ Probably he stole something again.

___ He’ll be in jail soon.

Do you notice that it is easy to make an assumption or add your opinion when you hear something? I’ve done that before, and it is a foolish habit. Soon you will be believing things that aren’t true and telling lies! That’s how gossip gets started. What is the wise way to live? Circle the things you can do to be wise:

• Say what you think
• Learn more about it
• Care about others
• Repeat what you hear
• Point out others’ faults
• Realize what is an opinion or fact