the power of a rumor
over the last few weeks, i've witnessed the damage one rumor can do. i've seen firsthand what bullying can do.
two weeks ago, one of my students killed himself less than 2 hours after getting home from school. It has been speculated that the child was being bullied at school for being different. This young man was always kind and smiling. It is absolutely ridiculous that other teenagers get pleasure in making fun of those who look different than them.
then, to make it worse, rumors began to spread that the young boy's friends were going to avenge his death by shooting up our school. local message boards and teenagers' cell phones were blowing up as the rumor grew and grew. on monday, the first day of the supposed shooting, our school had 56% attendance (and each of them were greeted at the door with metal detectors and police). on tuesday night, the rumors ran rampant again... this time, the shooting was going to take place on wednesday at 11. yet again, our attendance was low and the students were greeted with full our searches. not only that, but the friends of the young man were questioned periodically throughout the day.
by the end of the week, the local and state police, as well as our administrators, had investigated the suicde and threats... and found nothing. as it turns out, ALL of the chaos following the young man's death was caused by mere rumors.
it's amazing how much power a rumor can have. especially when people are naive enough to believe it - and immature enough to spread it.
two weeks ago, one of my students killed himself less than 2 hours after getting home from school. It has been speculated that the child was being bullied at school for being different. This young man was always kind and smiling. It is absolutely ridiculous that other teenagers get pleasure in making fun of those who look different than them.
then, to make it worse, rumors began to spread that the young boy's friends were going to avenge his death by shooting up our school. local message boards and teenagers' cell phones were blowing up as the rumor grew and grew. on monday, the first day of the supposed shooting, our school had 56% attendance (and each of them were greeted at the door with metal detectors and police). on tuesday night, the rumors ran rampant again... this time, the shooting was going to take place on wednesday at 11. yet again, our attendance was low and the students were greeted with full our searches. not only that, but the friends of the young man were questioned periodically throughout the day.
by the end of the week, the local and state police, as well as our administrators, had investigated the suicde and threats... and found nothing. as it turns out, ALL of the chaos following the young man's death was caused by mere rumors.
it's amazing how much power a rumor can have. especially when people are naive enough to believe it - and immature enough to spread it.
posted by lethes | 4:08 PM
1 Comments:
i read this blog and i as i did this, tears streamed down my face. because i as a student at mchs and a friend of Codys experienced this tragedy first hand. No one ever really thinks before they act, and no one ever knows the true damage they can cause until after they see the consequence and its to late to do anything about it. No one realizes the power behind the words they speak. It's sad. Its been 19 weeks and 3 days since the last time i saw cody. Each day it gets harder as time goes by. i know people say time heals everything, and its going to take time to heal and that you have to let go of the ones you love. i cant tho. i simply cant let cody go. i dont want to. im afraid that if i do then ill forget everything all of the memories, his voice, his looks. im simply scared.but thanks ms leathers for writing this blog it means alot to me that you did this(:
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