Clowning Around
By Gavin Curless
In the past few months, a wave of clown sightings has swept throughout the US. Some sightings were caught on video, and some were just reported to local police departments. While many think that this is all a hoax, many believe that this clown threat is real and dangerous.
Multiple videos of clowns have been posted on social media, showing clowns being spotted by high school kids. Some videos show clowns walking the woods. Other videos show clowns walking in neighborhoods. All videos are equally terrifying. Many people have several theories as to where the videos come from:
- The clown threats are real, and the videos are real as well.
- The videos are all part of a hoax, meant to scare people.
- The videos are a mix of real videos and hoaxes.
- The videos are a part of advertising for the new “IT” movie that is scheduled to release in September of 2017.
Real threats have emerged from the clown sightings as well. A 14 year old in California was arrested for making threats to a local school on his instagram page, called “Fontana’s Killer Clowns”. After he was arrested, he admitted that he only did it for attention and to gain more followers. In addition, a high school in New Jersey that was also put on lockdown because a clown sighting was reported on campus.
The clown craze began when elementary school students in South Carolina reported a clown in the woods, offering candy and money to kids who would come close. Thankfully, no disappearances were reported, just sightings. These sightings were never proven, but police took the reports very seriously.
These clown sightings may seem far away, but many have seen a clown video posted a by a Lee’s Summit student. Whether the video is real or not, there is no way of telling.
During this so-called “clown craze”, many Halloween stores are running out of clown costumes to sell. The recent craze has caused business to boom for Halloween stores. At almost every store, clown costumes are sold out, according to CBS.com.
With Halloween quickly approaching, some schools are banning clown costumes from in-school events. This “clown craze” has created a nation-wide panic, and professional clowns are feeling hatred towards them because of it. It is pretty difficult to find work as a clown if everyone is afraid of clowns.
All in all, there is a nation-wide panic about this clown craze, and with Halloween coming up fast, it could be a little spookier than usual.
