“You know you love me, xoxo Gossip Girl”, as most people know Gossip Girl is a show that was on the CW but is still an extremely popular Netflix choice. The show is about a blog that reports out on gossip about a specific group of young adults on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The theme of gossip is something that is relevant among small colleges across the nation, and although we don’t get text alerts or have an actual blog, gossip spreads just as quickly. When attending a school with just under 3,000 undergraduate students, everyone seems to know everyone’s business. Sometimes, this can be a great thing when it comes to getting the word out, but other times it can have terrible effects on people’s reputations.
I am calling attention to the spread of negative gossip across the Endicott campus and throughout the community. It is time for Endicott students to take a stand and say no to the bashing of other people. You may not like everyone but at this age you should have the decency to respect them. Gossip is something that should have been left behind in high school. We are young adults and we should hold ourselves to a higher standard. I am not saying that I am not guilty of spreading gossip, it is something that everyone does, but it is time that we reflect on what the words being spread mean and how it could affect someone else’s life. Everyone has different views, which is understandable, we are all different people and in college we are all just trying to figure out what we want to do with our lives.
The negative gossip does shed a poor light on students and not only do the words you’re saying reflect poorly on those individuals, but it shines an even worse light on who you are as an person. Endicott is portrayed as a welcoming community that encourages leadership along with empathy. We should focus on showing empathy to not only our friends but all of our peers, nobody knows what another person is battling. You may not see the direct affect that your words and actions have on a fellow gull, but something small to you could ruin a person’s day or worse, their reputation.
“You know you love me”, we don’t like you. Nobody likes to be scrutinized for decisions they made, or worse, decisions they didn’t make. Rumors spread like wild fire, and before you know it, it could turn into something completely different. Think about when you were little and played telephone, was the message ever what it started out as? No, and gossip follows that exact trend. Take it upon yourself to be a leader, think before you speak, and recognize your words and actions. We can stop gossip one person at a time.
-XOXO Gossip Gull