Misinformation and false rumors have proven to be disastrous and the downfall of several, innocent people and causes.

Take the Harlem Riot of 1935, for example.

According to the New York Times, a riot broke out on March 19, 1935, after people were told that a 16-year-old boy was beaten to death by policemen. The riot killed four people and caused 100 injuries.

Those four deaths and the riot itself were not necessary due to the fact that the rumor was not true.

The boy had simply been arrested for stealing and taken out from the back of the store to avoid the crowd that had formed at the front of the store.

People misinterpreted the situation and assumed the boy had been taken to the back to be beaten.

Although the current misinformation issue the school is facing does not hold the same disastrous potential, the false rumors being spread around still have the potential to leave significant consequences.

Currently, clubs and club members run by volunteer teachers are facing difficult times due to the decision made by the West Chicago Teachers’ Association to stop clubs run by volunteer teachers from meeting.

During difficult times, it’s hard to stop and reason and think things through, but it is essential and crucial for people to do so.

Students have spread rumors about the decision made.

Several students now believe that it was the Board of Education that decided to terminate the clubs and that the clubs being terminated are non-competitive.

This is false.

The Teachers’ Association decided to end all clubs, not just non-competitive clubs, that had sponsors who were not being compensated for running the clubs. It was not the Board of Education who did this.

In simpler words, the Teachers’ Association believed this was the only way the grab the Board of Education’s attention and motivation to fix the contract issues the Association is facing.

Although it was very inspiring and heart touching to see many students organize for a cause, they are doing so while being misinformed which can bring negative consequences to both the Association and the Board of Education.

The spread of false information can discredit either or both sides which do not help the issue at all. In fact, it would only worsen it.

Both sides are currently trying to fix the issues as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but spreading false rumors will make it incredibly difficult for them to come to a consensus.

Before students decide to do anything to help their clubs, they have to talk to either side, a teacher, or read the article “Volunteer teacher sponsors suspend clubs amid contract issues” in this paper which covers everything regarding the decision made by the Association, and inform themselves fully in order to efficiently help resolve the issues clubs and teachers are facing.

Doing so will avoid and eliminate unnecessary, unwanted, and possibly, devastating consequences.