For every bit of reasoning and study that supports one argument, there is certain to be an equally logical study that supports the opposing viewpoint.
Such is the debate over the idea that regionalizing education - taking children out of less -populated schools and placing them in schools with more students - would be beneficial.
For the past month we've seen an avalanche of opinion - some of it emotionally charged - on the prospect of further amalgamation of students in the Eastern School District region.
Parents and students from Catalina to Whitbourne argue against it, saying such a move would not be beneficial for students; while the Eastern School board notes positive things - such as access to more resources for students - to come from such a move.
Over the past several years in this province we seem to have fallen- or been led without much ado - into the notion that bigger is better.
Look at that other department - health.
Since the mid 1980s we've seen the gradual transformation from a system of individual hospitals, governed by individual boards and management teams, to a monstrosity that has numerous facilities, spread over great geographic distances.
After that decades long process of amalgamation, we are not convinced that the larger, more complex organization, served any useful purpose when it came to saving money (the initial argument for restructuring), reducing duplication or creating a better service for patients.
Now it's simply too late to go back to the simple, one board per hospital, approach.
It's not too late, though, to ensure the best decisions are made in the case of school amalgamations, with the ultimate aim being what's best for the students.
Amidst the emotions of last week's public meetings between the school board and parents in local communities was a third voice and a reminder that bigger is not always better, and there have been studies to prove it.
Dr. Dennis Mulcahy of Memorial University travelled to Swift Current to deliver this message. You can read his letter in our op-ed section this week but, essentially, he said the notion that children could not learn as well in small schools as they could in larger ones is a fallacy.
In fact, he says, study after study has shown that children learn as well, or better, in smaller schools.
His presentation was thought provoking and a reminder of the past when small schools were the norm in this province, not the exception.
We think back to the days when children could come home for lunch, when school was within walking distance.
Even after the one-room schools were phased out in favour of larger, centralized facilities, they were located so as not to be too onerous a distance from any of the communities they served.
Now, faced with the scenario whereby young children will spend nearly two hours on a bus each day - if the board decides to close Swift Current Academy - we have to agree with parents in that area that bigger is not better, and this far is too far.
We need to be careful, as Dr. Mulcahy said, in ensuring that children don't become just numbers. There is a chance that, if we continue to focus on the theme of "bigger is better" that many students will get lost in the system that becomes so overfull in terms of population that those who are tasked with managing it cannot possibly give due diligence to the needs of each and every individual student.
It is ironic that we are even having this debate of closing schools, and bussing children longer distances, in the pursuit of offering them more resources, when the technology exists now to provide them with many resources.
High school students in remote areas are already using the Internet to receive instruction in some courses.
When it comes to learning, the whole world is at our fingertips and small schools can be part of it.
There's no need to put a six year old on a bus for two hours a day.
Those two hours would be much better spent playing outside, or taking part in after-school activities in their community and getting sufficient rest and downtime to ensure another healthy day of learning the next day.
These children are not numbers.
And they deserve a much better educational scenario than the one they currently face.
