I get the importance of rumor control. Hefty words were bounced around in my first period class this morning. I asked my students to respond to the following quickwrite [relating to the novel we’re reading, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time]:

Something mysterious happened at Manual Arts yesterday! You are Christopher and you want to find out the truth via investigation. Write down (in the voice of Christopher), the case you are solving and the steps you will take to solve it.

There are always mysterious things happening at Manual. There are always mysterious things happening at any school. However, the kids were quick to point out the news truck that was in front of the school this morning reporting on an alleged incident. The kids were also quick to point to the fact that one of our buildings was partially evacuated during 4^th period yesterday since someone decided to “mess around” with pepper spray, as one student phrased it.

The students were genuinely frustrated by these events. We talked about how we, like Christopher, can investigate the roots of the challenges Manual faces and change the reality around us. Once again, the students made the connection that another of the few times the media pokes its head toward our school is to highlight “negative stuff and not the good” (again quoting a student). Yes, we had a lockdown. Yes, our school’s report card is “sobering.” Yes, someone said there was an attempted abduction. But really, that isn’t all there is to us (I promise!).

Some of my students said they don’t think it’s possible to change our community. “No one does anything to change it and so it doesn’t change because everyone is working in different directions,” one student explained. Our class talked about student life, crime, race, employment, the school’s “busted” security cameras. We talked until the bell rang and two students said we needed to finish our conversation on Monday. (I muttered to myself that this was a conversation people in other places get paid a lot of money to try to “finish” for them, with just as dismal of results.)

Here’s our school’s rumor control at work:

Voicemail received Thursday, January 22, 2009, 5:30 p.m.

This is a message from the principal of Manual Arts High School. This morning, a female student was walking to school shortly after the tardy bell. As she neared 40^th and Vermont a male Hispanic approached and attempted to push her into his car. The girl was able to safely move away from the adult and enter school while the man took off north bound on Vermont Avenue. She did not immediately report this incident to school police, but as soon as school police were notified, they responded and began their investigation. The suspect was a male Hispanic wearing a red and blue baseball cap and glasses and was driving a khaki colored mid-nineties Honda. We are informing you of this incident so you may be aware of dangers in the community. Please remind students to come to school on time and with another student whenever possible. Thank you very much.

And then today, I received this voicemail.

Voicemail received Friday, January 23, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

This is an important message from the principal of Manual Arts High School. Based upon further investigation by the school police, we have learned that the report made by a female student yesterday, that an adult male attempted to push her into his car is not true. The student told the police that the story she told is completely false. We regret the inconvenience and assure you that your child’s safety and education remain our top priority.

As a final note, as I was wishing students a good weekend while they shuffled to homeroom, a quieter student in my class came up to where I was standing. “I get your class, Mr. Garcia.”

“What’s that, *Juan?”

“You are trying to change the world through us, aren’t you?”

“Well, I’m hoping you’ll want to change the world – believe we can change the world – and that we’ll do it together.”

*Juan smiled, nodded, and stepped out the door. Hopefully also stepping in the right direction.