Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past week or so, you’ve probably read an article or two (or seen a meme) about the recent clown epidemic. Now admittedly, I would not generally be the first to defend the colorfully adorned, red-nosed individuals because I’ve feared them since I was 10 years old and read It for the first time. However, everyone is so quick to work themselves up into a panic that I thought it was important to set the record straight for those who fear to sleep at night.

It all began in South Carolina

It’s true; ground zero for the clown epidemic was in South Carolina…back in August. Don’t remember hearing about that? Neither do I. It was reported that clowns were trying to lure children into the woods in Greenville, South Carolina. This report eventually spurred on a rash of copycat terrorizers and eventually started a social media revolution.

So where have clowns been spotted so far?

As of right now, here is the map showing which states have reports of creepy clowns.

Because the sightings are so far apart, it's clear that they all can't be related.

What are our masked companions exactly doing?

Everyone is worried that a clown is going to pop up outside of the woods next to their house or follow them down the street and murder them. But how many accounts of actual clown-on-human contact have there been?

As of right now, the only physical violence that I have read about is when a woman in Ohio was attacked on her property. The clown threatened the school’s students, and the school’s classes were cancelled the next day and police were present for their homecoming activities the next night.

However, that is only one case in the past month or so of a clown physically hurting someone (which is everyone’s main concern.) There have been several accounts of people being chased by clowns, which is terrifying, but the majority of these clown sightings have only been spread through social media without police confirmation.

Social media and the widespread panic

We all know how easy it is to spread information through the Internet, whether it be about the Kardashian’s or global warming. Things tend to spread quicker when they are inspired by fear, and this has been no exception. In fact, this isn’t even the first time America has been up in arms about killer clowns, because a widespread panic also occurred in the 80’s. The reason this has so deeply permeated our society is the ease with which people can spread the terror.

A big portion of the fear has come from several Twitter/Facebook/Instagram accounts that are allegedly clowns threatening specific areas of the country or specific schools. An example of this is the Facebook account “Aint Clownin Around” who has posted several threats, one of them being towards students in Westside High School in Houston saying, “We will be at all High schools this Friday to either kidnap students or kill teachers going to they cars…”

It’s hard not to get swept up in the mania with alleged creepy clowns threatening your friends and family. The problem is that these are just alleged clowns, and many people are getting caught for making their false accounts. As of September 29^th there had already been 12 arrests in multiple states for people pretending to be clowns and terrorizing people online (or in person.) And what are these kids getting arrested for? Do they really want the 15 minutes of fame that being a part of the “2016 clown scare” will give them? It’s honestly frustrating to see how many people think their “anonymous” accounts will protect them; the second you start threatening physical harm to someone, let alone a group of people, you’ve lost the right to your anonymity. Knock it off.

Are we using our police resources wisely?

I’m not calling everyone who has claimed to see a clown a liar. I have absolutely no doubts that some of these creepy clown sightings are real, and I know for damn sure I’d be calling 911 if I saw a clown following me on my walk home from campus. However, the hoaxes have been forcing communities to direct police presences away from actual crimes because our children and families are being threatened by anonymous clown accounts.

The fact that these scares have gone far enough to lock down entire schools or campuses is kind of ridiculous. Of course when schools are being threatened the safest thing to do is to go under lockdown or prevent students from attending school. The ridiculous part is that people think it’s either funny to scare a community that much, or are sick enough to enjoy inspiring that much fear in a group of people. Our resources should not have to be directed towards fake threats made by nonexistent clown killers.

Should we really be scared?

No, there really isn’t a reason to fear. You are just as likely to be killed by a dinosaur as you are to be killed by a killer clown as of right now. The issues will end up stemming from mass hysteria. A child intending to pull a “prank” by dressing as a clown may end up shot, and a “clown hunt” gone wrong could end up with massive amounts of people getting hurt. Jumpy college students searching in the darkness for clowns with weapons are not a combination I’d like to encounter firsthand.

A clown with a knife is definitely something nightmares are made of, but in the grand scheme of things, this clown “epidemic” is not as large as the media is making it out to be. Total, across the country, there have been maybe 100 unconfirmed “sightings.” I’m more afraid of student debt, global warming, and car crashes than a clown turning up in the middle of the night to kill me. The only way we can help the situation right now is refusing to spread the mania. So this Halloween, try to steer clear of red noses in favor of cat ears or vampire fangs.