In the last couple of months rumors have been making a bit of an above average impact in the school. Up until now the Criterion has declined to comment on them, out of a desire to not aggravate the problem. But, now that some time has passed, they can serve as valuable examples of how miscommunication spreads. Some of the rumors that have gone around have been pretty tame, centered around clothes and new rules and the like. But, to be blunt, the most impactful of these rumors concerns a mythical plague of armed psychopathic clowns. This rumor specifically began as a result of several pictures going around social media depicting an assorted number of people dressed as clowns and carrying weapons, most notably on a threatening local Facebook account for a “Twisty the Clown” (which has since been taken down). But it goes back a bit further than that. This is not the first time the US has witnessed the viral clown phenomenon. Incidents of the rumor go all the way back to the late 1970s when the country actually did have one psychopathic clown, serial killer John Wayne Gacy. By that time national opinion of clowns was already in rapid decline, but Gacy’s conviction really cemented the clown as a horror symbol in the national conscience. Then a pattern began. On this occasion someone in South Carolina, back in August, made an as yet unconfirmed report to the police that someone in a clown costume was trying to lure kids into the woods. Someone saw the story and decided to make up something similar; the craze spread exponentially across the internet, mostly in just the US but when it started dying down here it started up in the UK. It infected hundreds of communities, including several who have had to shut down school for a day or two, because of all the threats. Financial interests even dipped their toes in the craze this time, with Green Bay’s viral “Bags the Clown” having started as part of a promotional idea for a local independent horror film. But, while there have been no reported injuries as a result of this rumor it arguably has done harm of another kind, both to this town and this school specifically. This whole phenomenon was immediately and correctly recognized as a hoax in extremely bad taste by most people, but not by everyone.
Parents tend to take the idea of their children being threatened very seriously, regardless of outside context, as is their right. “We’ve had seven or eight calls from parents [about the clowns] in the last couple of days,” said attendance officer Joyce Snyder, back in late September, “and another 2 this morning.” Officer Foster has also testified to having had to take the time out to reiterate to several parents, and has asked to have it reiterated here that “there’s absolutely no evidence of danger.” The administration would also like to have it emphasized that, while they do take threats toward the school seriously, and they are prepared for any emergency, there will be no clown attacks. As Assistant Principal Mr. Phillips said, “Really, truly, we haven’t seen any of the clowns. It’s all been a Facebook thing.” But, as previously mentioned, the clown craze has been far from the only rumor floating around the school this year. Before school even started there was a rumor going around that the school was going over to an extremely strict dress code. This one wasn’t nearly as widespread, and it was based around a much more understandable misunderstanding over a high school in a different city of Janesville. It is deserving of mention, as it spread in a similar kind of way and purportedly caused some similar calls down to the office, but it was mostly resolved by the time school started. The point is that especially now, in the aftermath of an election which was riddled with misinformation, it’s important for everyone to remember that information should be verified before it is spread. If everyone does their best to live up to that principle then misinformation and rumors will not stop, but they may be brought, as the clothes rumor was, to a quick conclusion with as little disruption as possible. After all, avid readers might remember that only one costume was outrighted banned from the school Halloween celebration this year, and it certainly wasn’t for being too scary.