sunday, may 08, 2005
Those dangerous chain emails
Tomorrow was supposed to be Senior Ditch Day: the class of ‘05 on 05/05/05. We were going to a lake to swim and party like the silly teenagers we are.
This morning, during English class, my friend said her mom had received several emails saying that a black gang recently stole a lot of cocaine from the Mexican mafia, and that the Mexicans planned to shoot hundreds of young black men tomorrow in return. Our teacher (who is quite anti-Internet) decided this was probably just a rumor inflamed by the ease of sending emails.
After lunch, the principal came on the announcement system and said she would give us a very important announcement in twenty minutes. Fifteen minutes later, she said the teachers would receive a written memo and that she planned to give the announcement in ten minutes. Many students and teachers do not like the principal partly because she often interrupts class with long, unnecessary announcements.
This announcement wasn’t inane, for once. She and other principals in the area had been contacted by the Los Angeles Police Department and informed of those gang rumors. She instructed us all to be very careful tomorrow and make sure we come to school.
Ditch Day was ruined. The party organizers called a senior meeting (yeah, in the middle of class) and we all discussed it. Most people looked uneasy; some said we shouldn’t take the risk. One guy said, “We’re all Latino, it doesn’t affect us,” which made everyone else angry. Twenty-five percent of us are black. So, Ditch Day is postponed or canceled because of an unsettling conjunction of chain email and fears of gang violence.
I couldn’t find anything about the rumors online.
Update 5/8/05 9:09: The LA Times followed up:
- May 5: L.A. Schools Increase Patrols After Rumors
- May 6: Attendance Plummets at City Schools
- May 7: Students Return After Cinco de Mayo Rumors
comments (2)
I've heard about lots of such emails going around, getting the local law enforcement in a tizzy, and so on. Naturally, they all turn out to be complete nonsense. Example: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blbyol16.htm
That was actually on the local news here a few years back. Not a single report of it from the cops, ever! Behold, the power of spam.
– Phil on 5/5/2005 06:42:22
emails were probably sent by your principal to stop us from partying
– kyle on 5/28/2005 04:52:39
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