Rumors.......Arrrrrrrrrrgh

So.....here's an education in how rumors at Middle School start. I have invited any local police officer to stop by the school and if the timing is right, to have lunch with our students. Today we had a St. Clair County Sheriff stop by during 6th grade lunch (phase one of the rumor). Part 2.....As with many days, we had a staff member out ill today (phase two of the rumor). Put those two facts together and at the end of the day I received a phone call from a staff member that the entire 6th grade class was talking about the police coming to SCMS today, arresting a teacher and that teacher was getting fired (the teacher that was out ill). By the time I got that phone call, school was out, the buses had left and there was really nothing I could do but hope that this wouldn't take on a life of its own. Unfortunately...my hopes were dashed. By the time I got home I had received 6 texts from teachers saying they had heard the rumor. My wife said she had gotten a handful of texts and phone calls from teachers in other buildings asking if the rumor was true. Now I'm hearing that it's on Twitter and Facebook (isn't technology great?). As adults, my hope is that we can use this as a learning experience for our children/students and teach them that they need to be very careful in assuming what they hear is fact and then passing it on. In many situations, rumors can be very hurtful and do serious damage to a person's reputation.