On Friday, December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown Connecticut.  He shot and killed a total of 28 people, including himself.  He killed 8 boys and 12 girls, who were all between the ages of six and seven.  He also killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, plus six other adults.  As soon as this tragic event occurred, news, both official and completely made up, began to spread around the world like wildfire.  Many rumors were spread that were later found to be false beyond doubt.  Many sources say that this may partly be due to social media sites, such as Instagram and Facebook.
I’ve had a personal experience with this already, when someone posted something on instagram about the Newtown shooting.  The post showed a picture of a crumpled letter, containing a scrawled out note in a young person’s handwriting.  The letter said “I love you mom and I am happy and well, sorry for not being a good son and not being happy if I ever was.  I love you in heaven. -Brian” The caption read “One of the victims in Connecticut, Brian, wrote this during the shooting.  He was shot and killed.”  However, I have checked the “Newtown Shooting Victims: Names, Profiles of the 27 people killed”, and I discovered that there was no one killed named Brian.  Other such rumors have been circulating around the world of social media since the massacre.  I’m very upset by these made up posts because they are about a true event.  Twenty seven people were really killed, so I don’t understand why anyone would want to create false information about them.  It also disturbs me how many people believe these posts and then repost them.  Some more serious false and misleading statements have also been posted and noticed by authorities, who say that “the misleading statements on social media could lead to arrest.”  As you can see, this matter is very serious, and I wish that people wouldn’t post fake information, because I see no reason for it.

~Miura Wiley