Rumors. We’ve all heard them — whether they were about you, me, a friend, or some random person you know everything about because you heard one (probably false) snippet of their life.

Rumors are like weeds — they start small but steadily spread all throughout the house’s walls.  They can ruin a person’s reputation. They can change the way others view them. They can even get people into trouble.

Nevertheless, the gossip mill churns on, rooted in our psychological need to feel better about ourselves.

Most students seem to have had at least one rumor spread about them. It is one of the worst feelings in the world when someone brings a rumor about you to your awareness. Your heart suddenly drops into your stomach, your brain is cluttered with unthinkable thoughts, and you’re flooded with a range of emotions. You’re sad, you’re angry, you’re confused, you’re conflicted. You rewind the words that just came out of the person’s mouth, yet it still makes little to no sense. 

Even a small, simple “did you hear this about so-and-so” can grow into a huge ordeal. It’s like a game of telephone. You start with one phrase, but one slip-up or misheard word can change the entirety of the story. “I heard she went to the gym this week” can turn into “I heard she has a boyfriend but flirts with all the guys at the gym.” Or “I heard they broke up” can turn into “I heard he dumped her and she went crazy and slashed his tires.” People like to twist simple everyday events into a situation blown out of all proportion. It’s as if they are writing a novel and using their peers as the characters.

One wrong word or story has the power to ruin another’s reputation. We seem to think that once we hear one thing about someone, we suddenly know their whole life story. We take one look at them and the first thing that comes to our mind is that one thing that one person said about them that one time. It isn’t fair to think we know everything about a person despite the fact we’ve probably never even had a conversation with them.

Admittedly, I, like many other teenage girls, have fallen victim to the occasional gossip session. However, rumors are one of those things that you don’t really care about until it happens to you. For example, I had recently just heard a rumor about myself that is (supposedly) been going around since sophomore year. It’s unfortunate that it took a rumor about me to come to the realization that rumors don’t benefit anyone.

Will this article stop all gossip and rumors? No. Definitely not. Is it a step in the right direction to recognize that rumors do nothing but ultimately ruin a person’s life? Hopefully. So the next time you’re tempted to whisper, “Did you hear this about so-and-so?,” pretend as if “so-and-so” is standing right behind you, ready for what your next words are about to be.