You can NOT always lie with numbers!

A phrase we hear too often is that "You can always lie with numbers!"

Such a statement should never be said around children.  Lying with numbers is only possible when you are talking to a person, or an audience of people, who either do not understand statistics, do not know how to work with statistics, or who are not willing to invest the time to research and create statistical counter-arguments. 

When "you can always lie with numbers" arguments enter the educational field, and may give our students a negative attitude toward math, we are in danger!  Instead, we must demonstrate how statistical arguments are a powerful educational opportunity that we should be using for our students.  Multiple lessons can be given far beyond the mechanical abilities of math.  The limitations of some mathematical arguments can be demonstrated, as well as the limitations exposed with the use of probabilities.

If a child is ever present when someone uses the "You can always lie with numbers" argument, we must use the opportunity for education.