Gossip

I try so very hard to teach my students to not gossip.  They don't realize what gossip is and they also don't think about how it makes them look.

They hear something that may or may not be true and then they spread it on - as if they just can't wait to tell someone else even if they don't really know the facts.  Things are said and then spread around and around and everyone who hears it certainly believes it to be true because their friend or family member told them.

What they don't think about is that many people twist things they say to mean something they want them to mean rather than telling the truth.  So the lie is then spread to one, and then another, and another.  Soon many, many people are believing something that is far from the truth.  People are then hurt and they don't even know where it came from and who would have said something so untrue.

Gossip and lies are very dishonorable.  Twisting the truth is the same as lying.  Making excuses also does not change a lie.  Not only are you dishonoring yourself, and the person you are talking about, but you are dishonoring those around you because they are believing your words.

Don't share information you hear from someone else.  The person who is telling you may not know the truth even if they were part of what is being shared.  That person may be twisting the truth to their advantage - after all, who wants to look bad in the eyes of others?  They simply change the truth a little to make themselves look better.  Or they may be denying it completely because they know how bad the truth might make them appear to others.

I think everyone has been there at some time or another.  Something has come around to you that someone has said something about you that is a complete lie.  You then find out many people are telling this lie - people who don't even know you; people who have never been around you and have no idea what they are saying.

It is a sad state of affairs.  Don't gossip.  There is nothing good that will come from it.