Talk:Missionary Kids
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I've removed all the information in this article which does not apply to Missionary Kids but all TCKs. If you have information that is specific to MKs then put it here, otherwise it is probably better suited for the TCK page.
- Please sign your posts. It is not true that all of the information in the original article relates to TCKs in general. Much of the information here is specific to MKs. --Thorwald 15:46, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
- First time wikipedian :) Thorwald, can you be more specific about which part of the 2 paragraphs are specific to MKs and not to TCKs? I've changed the first 2 paragraphs to be less specific to the nationality of MKs. When adding the attrition statistic, please add with a good reference. Awormus 06:55, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- "First time wikipedian"? Uh. No dude. I have been working with Wikipedia and WikiMedia for over two years now. Most of this article was written by me. I am a TCK and I understand what this entails more than the next guy. In fact, I am still living abroad. I didn't add the attrition statistic, so I don't know the reference for that. However, I do know that it is very high. Most of my good friends are former MKs and none of them share the same faith as their missionary parents. PS: Please discuss and debate your changes before you make them. This is the way we do it on Wikipedia. All the best! --Thorwald 09:56, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- Was referring to myself as the first time wikipedian... breath in, breath out... just trying to help out, but if this is the way you do it here in wikipedia, then I'm more than happy to leave you to it. Awormus 10:04, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- Awormus: Oh. Sorry. Thought you meant me. Anyway, there is no need for me to "breath in, breath out", as I wasn't upset at all. Just thought it was odd. Anyway, no, we should definitely work on this together. I am just against people making drastic changes without discussing it first. This article is not perfect and it very much is Wikipedian of us to collaborate on everything. All the best! --Thorwald 10:10, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- OK, sorry about the initial changes... a bit overzelous :) what do you think about my last edit... I think a link to the missionary page is better than trying to explain about the nationality of missionaries. Most of MKs are American (or European) but that is only because traditionally missionaries are those nationalities. I know MKs who are of Jewish origins, who's parents are not fundamentalist christians, and I don't really think that it is very relevant. About the attrition statistic, it was changed from your 70/80% to 98.1% with a reference which didn't turn up any results in google. I would say revert it to the original statistic.Awormus 10:27, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- No worries and welcome to Wikipedia. You wrote, "Most of MKs are American (or European) but that is only because traditionally missionaries are those nationalities". That is true and that is exactly why it should be in the article. That is, the article should point this out. Of course not all MKs are from fundamentalist Christian backgrounds (and that should be mentioned), but the fact that the vast majority are is significant and should be in the article. You also wrote, "I know MKs who are of Jewish origins, who's parents are not fundamentalist christians, and I don't really think that it is very relevant". I disagree. This is an encyclopaedic entry and it should be exhaustive on the subject. I believe it is very relevent to the article and should be even highlighted as a very common attribute of MKs. About the attrition statistic: I, too, am in favour of only posting specific statistics if we can cite credible sources. Since we can not, in this case, I am in favour of simply writing something like, "The attrition rate for MKs is thought to be relatively high". It would, however, be nice to be able to find an actual statistic on this. Who knows, maybe the rate is not that high? --Thorwald 10:10, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- Hi. I am also an MK, and I think you might consider changing the falling away stat. 98/1 percent sounds rather absurd. From personal expirience I would say somewhere around 30-50. 98 percent is extraordinarily high. Perhaps the thousand or so MKs I have met are rare, but I think that the stat is wrong
- No worries and welcome to Wikipedia. You wrote, "Most of MKs are American (or European) but that is only because traditionally missionaries are those nationalities". That is true and that is exactly why it should be in the article. That is, the article should point this out. Of course not all MKs are from fundamentalist Christian backgrounds (and that should be mentioned), but the fact that the vast majority are is significant and should be in the article. You also wrote, "I know MKs who are of Jewish origins, who's parents are not fundamentalist christians, and I don't really think that it is very relevant". I disagree. This is an encyclopaedic entry and it should be exhaustive on the subject. I believe it is very relevent to the article and should be even highlighted as a very common attribute of MKs. About the attrition statistic: I, too, am in favour of only posting specific statistics if we can cite credible sources. Since we can not, in this case, I am in favour of simply writing something like, "The attrition rate for MKs is thought to be relatively high". It would, however, be nice to be able to find an actual statistic on this. Who knows, maybe the rate is not that high? --Thorwald 10:10, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- OK, sorry about the initial changes... a bit overzelous :) what do you think about my last edit... I think a link to the missionary page is better than trying to explain about the nationality of missionaries. Most of MKs are American (or European) but that is only because traditionally missionaries are those nationalities. I know MKs who are of Jewish origins, who's parents are not fundamentalist christians, and I don't really think that it is very relevant. About the attrition statistic, it was changed from your 70/80% to 98.1% with a reference which didn't turn up any results in google. I would say revert it to the original statistic.Awormus 10:27, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- Awormus: Oh. Sorry. Thought you meant me. Anyway, there is no need for me to "breath in, breath out", as I wasn't upset at all. Just thought it was odd. Anyway, no, we should definitely work on this together. I am just against people making drastic changes without discussing it first. This article is not perfect and it very much is Wikipedian of us to collaborate on everything. All the best! --Thorwald 10:10, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- Was referring to myself as the first time wikipedian... breath in, breath out... just trying to help out, but if this is the way you do it here in wikipedia, then I'm more than happy to leave you to it. Awormus 10:04, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- "First time wikipedian"? Uh. No dude. I have been working with Wikipedia and WikiMedia for over two years now. Most of this article was written by me. I am a TCK and I understand what this entails more than the next guy. In fact, I am still living abroad. I didn't add the attrition statistic, so I don't know the reference for that. However, I do know that it is very high. Most of my good friends are former MKs and none of them share the same faith as their missionary parents. PS: Please discuss and debate your changes before you make them. This is the way we do it on Wikipedia. All the best! --Thorwald 09:56, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
- First time wikipedian :) Thorwald, can you be more specific about which part of the 2 paragraphs are specific to MKs and not to TCKs? I've changed the first 2 paragraphs to be less specific to the nationality of MKs. When adding the attrition statistic, please add with a good reference. Awormus 06:55, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "cleanup-verify" tag
I am curious why this tag was added. Which parts of the article need to be cleaned-up and which parts haven't been verified? There is already an extensive list of sources/references . . . what hasn't been referenced? As a former MK, I can attest to the accuracy of the descriptions (most, anyway). I don't know anything about "home institutions" (e.g. Mu Kappa), but the rest of the article does a fairly decent job at explaining what I and many of my fellow MKs went through upon returning to our passport country.--Thorwald 22:48, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
