Bomb Threat Rumors Must Stop, Emmaus High Student Says

Special to Emmaus Patch by Nina Rowan

Being a sophomore, I am more than accustomed to walking through the halls of Emmaus High School and hearing rumor upon juicy rumor about classmates, teachers, boyfriends, girlfriends, other schools, and so on. Rumors are a common occurrence in any high school, but rumors about one thing in particular are not quite so common: bomb threats.

By now, it’s safe to say that almost everyone living or working within the limits of the East Penn School District has heard about the three bomb threats made at Emmaus High School in the recent months. Within those months, progress has been made. Additionally, after the third scare, new restroom policies were implemented throughout the school to prevent the threats from happening again.

The problem is, the threats have happened again...supposedly.

In the past week, I have heard many rumors pertaining to the whole situation such as speculation on who has been making these threats, new rules that will be put in place if another threat is made, and, the most popular, if there has been another threat written in the bathrooms during the day.

I have heard about three or four different rumors about new bomb threats that had apparently just been discovered. This, of course, is all just hearsay and nothing is credible. But, although the word has been vastly overused since December, the word bomb still runs a chill down my spine, no matter how ridiculous the claim is. Threat of terrorism is an extremely serious matter and shouldn’t be joked about. Sure, it’s fun to hear a crazy rumor once in a while to break up a monotonous school day, but rumors about bomb threats are not funny.

Unfortunately, kids will believe anything they hear no matter who the information is coming from. New rumors are being fabricated all day long and students pass them along. Well, guess what guys, the rumors of supposed bomb threats are becoming just as tired and vexatious as the bomb threats themselves.

Upon learning of the two most recent threats, when scrolling down Twitter or Facebook it’s easy to see that the student body is obviously upset and more than just a tad bit annoyed. My peers will gripe and groan all day long about how stupid the threats are and that they need to stop, and I agree. But, with the threats have come rumors and the rumors are just as irritating. Of course, then come the complaints along with the rumors as well. And there begins a very aggravating cycle.

It’s clear that we all agree that this matter needs to be put behind us. We students have the power to stop this. So to anyone who knows any information, I implore you to please come forward. And to everyone who is sick of hearing stupid and implausible rumors all day long, I implore you to stop passing on those rumors. By repeating the ridiculous fables they have just been told, the “annoyed” students of EHS are spreading them further and therefore prolonging the problem. So, students: If you want all of this madness to stop, then stop yourself from participating in the gossip.

Nina Rowan is a currently a student in Ms. Bonnie Raub's 10th grade English class at Emmaus High School. Rowan wrote this essay as part of a class assignment.