Every coin has two sides, every story has two or three or maybe even more sides

Awhile back in my Social Studies class we talked about historical perspective. Every event that has happened in history has more than one story because every party that participated in the event has a different perspective on what really happened. For instance, American rebels swore that the British fired the first shot at the Boston Massacre but British troops said they were fired upon first. Both sides had a different perspective of the events that unfolded and both sides used their perspective to justify their actions. Students need to be taught to look at issues from all perspectives. It is human nature to have an opinion about certain events and issues but students need to be given the option to form their own opinions. Teachers need to be as objective as possible when it comes to teaching about historical events. They need to show students all sides, even sides that are not of the popular opinion, because it allows students the chance to form their own opinions and own understandings of how events in history played out and how people felt about them. Perspective is an important concept and students need to understand that all sides are allowed to have one.