The Teens View

Hi, Dixie here!  I’ve put together an article on gossip since that’s something there’s a lot of at school.And don’t stop reading because you think you don’t need to hear this, I’m pretty sure all of us have been guilty of this one. (but just in case your innocent I apologize to anyone who hasn’t out there) Anyway…this is something that everybody at least hears at school. I’m not out to try and stop gossip because I happen to know that’s impossible. I just want to share some stories about gossip and how it affects people. I’ve even got a story of my own. So, you know that rhyme “sticks and stones may break my bones…” and all that? It’s not true, words can hurt people, and they do every day. To make my point I’d like to list off some answers I got when I asked people about gossip. One girl said “gossip is fun and exciting when you  first hear or do it . But once it hits you it hurts and you lose everything that mattered most .It’s not easy to avoid it but the more you try the less problems you will have.” Another answer I got was “Some people manage to act like it doesn’t bother them. But most people find it really upsetting. In the last year, there’s been rumors spread that certain people are lesbians, that others have mental problems, and that my best friend has been sleeping around. The worst part is that everyone believes it, even though 9 times out of 10 its not true.”  Still think gossip is harmless? Well, here’s another answer we got “I live in a town when gossiping is everything to people. Personally, I think that gossiping is really bad, and I always think and think and I never find a reason why do people gossip in the first place. There was a period of my life when gossiping turned my days into night mares… And it had really bad affects, cause people would usually talk things that weren’t even close to the truth… I think the best thing to do is to live your own life, without talking and messing into other people’s personal lives.” Gossip hurts people and it does have consequences. I guess it’s my turn to share. I don’t like to talk about people, but sometimes when your with your friends it doesn’t seem like your doing anything wrong. One day I was sitting in class, very bored. I started talking to my friend and for privacy purposes I’m going to call her Sarah. Sarah and I started talking and we got on the subject of our friend, (let’s call him Joe). We started talking about him and a few of the things we said weren’t very nice. Not all of it was mean, but I passed on some information about him I had gotten from a girl I knew in my English class. After class was over we went to lunch and somehow I opened my big mouth and let Joe know we had been talking about him. I know, stupid right? I asked him about something someone had told me about him. Now, regardless of whether our gossip was true, during lunch he said to me and Logan “most people get annoyed when you talk about them behind their back,” and then he said something like “I’m one of those people”. I immediately felt so stupid and knew I shouldn’t have talked about my friend like that (even though he hadn’t heard most of what we said). I apologized over and over and he didn’t bring it up again. I just hope it didn’t hurt him too bad and that he realizes I just made a mistake. I never want to be the person who is nice to their friends in person but trashes them behind their back. I want my friends to be able to trust me no matter what I may know – or think I know- about them. If you talk about people with your friends, there’s a chance they’re talking about you with other people too. Let your friends know they can trust you. Remember, the gossip can start with them, just make sure it ends with you. And I’d like to say thank you to everybody who shared their opinions and stories with us. Don’t take this as a sermon, (no matter how much it sounded like one), just some adivce. 😉