Clown hysteria has taken over the country since late August in South Carolina, where people reported that clowns tried to lure small children into the woods.

Since then, there has been an outburst of scary clown sightings reported in over two dozen states, including Kansas. While many were hoaxes, a handful of the incidents resulted in arrest.

Yes, it’s scary. I don’t think I have ever met anyone who was excited about having a bunch of clowns running around. However, I do think there is a correct way to respond to the situation.

Since the beginning of this “clown craze” social media has done an excellent job of fueling the problem. People’s need for a sensation drives the way things are interpreted. For example, it has recently come out that the Manhattan High cross country coaches have required their students to start running in groups of three for safety reasons because of everything that has been happening. This has been misconstrued as the cross country coaches requiring students to run in groups of three because they have seen clowns on their routes.

Part of this is also making sure you have reliable sources. It’s easy for things like this to get passed along if you have nothing to check it with. And as it gets passed along, it gets more blown out of proportion. I’m not saying this because I don’t take it seriously or I don’t care. I do care, and I do take it seriously. But I think the situation has become something that it’s not.

As more clowns are being spotted, clown hunting has become more and more popular. I’ve seen countless videos of this on social media and the news. I’ve noticed that it’s mostly the people who have been hurting the clowns. Like I said before, there have been a few incidents that resulted in arrest, but the rest are just hoaxes.

And according to the news, the police haven’t been able to do much about reports they have received. Their job is to arrest people that are breaking the law. The last time I checked, dressing up as a clown and standing in the street wasn’t a crime. However, if we attack the clowns, like shown in the videos shown on social media, we can get in trouble for attacking someone who wasn’t armed to begin with.

As we approach Halloween I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more clowns start to show up. Regardless of whether that’s true or not, we can’t control the situation. But we can control how we react, and we should stop and think about if what we are doing helps the situation or makes it worse.