Scorpions of Southern Africa

Giving a talk in a busy shopping centre with people walking about, talking over what I’m saying and just pausing for a minute to catch a slice of what I have to offer has it’s challenges. You have to engage the audience at all times, talk above the chatter, ignore interruptions and just go on with the show.

One of the important aspects of my talk was my audience. Young inquiring minds longing to extract knowledge in order to understand and learn. I talk these kinds of opportunities very seriously. It’s a time to lay down the facts about scorpions and their kin without the interference of a misguided upbringing. Talking to children is an opportunity to answer their questions truthfully and offer them unbiased facts.

Parents mean well but they pass on their ignorance to their children. The unknown breeds a lack of understanding that defies any kind of logic or  reason. It strange that the most wild and misguided misnomers surrounding spiders and scorpions are perpetuated by parents of young children.

I suppose it’s a way to protect their offspring from the dangers of the unknown even if it’s seeped in ignorance. It’s a pity that they go to such extremes when what they should be doing to teaching their children the facts rather than making something up just because they do not know. In my little corner of the universe, this is where I come into the picture, laying down the facts as they stand without the interference of bias and irrational thoughts and feelings.

It’s a parent’s duty to teach their children the facts, not perpetuate misguided nonsense. Go out into the world and see it for what it really is. My talk at the Clearwater Mall in Johannesburg was challenging to say the least but ever so rewarding. I hope that in future I will have the opportunity to address such young audiences again and be there to answer their every question.