Hi Everyone!

I am sorry that I have not posted the last two days. It has been very rainy the whole week and I have had to stay inside. I don’t like it when I can’t be outside and play with my friends. Rainy weather tends to make me sleepy so I have been napping in the afternoons. I haven’t been on the computer much as I have been learning to write with Mama’s help and, also, I have been watching movies.

I would like to talk , today, about an important lesson that I learned today. It is about rumors. Mama said that a rumor is information that can not be proven to be true that is spread by people to other people. She said that rumors are very dangerous and can hurt people.

The past couple of weeks there has been a rumor being spread that Friday, July 18th there will be an 8.1 magnitude earthquake in the Philippines. Now, the rumor goes that a man, who is a school teacher in Brazil, has been making predictions, for many years, about many things and is ”always right”. An 8.1 earthquake is an almost total destruction earthquake. Millions of people could die.

The Philippine government was very quick to say that this is only a rumor and that everyone should know that no one can predict when an earthquake will strike but Filipino people live with earthquakes everyday and it is something that is real and feared. The Philippines averages 20+ earthquakes a day. Now, almost all of them are so small that a human being can not feel them. The past few weeks we have been having a couple of 4 to 5 magnitude earthquakes each week. When you connect that to what happened in China (a “next door neighbor” of the Philippines) and the millions of people killed; you can understand the extreme fear among the Filipino people.

Wednesday night, Mama was talking to my brother and sisters before prayers and they told her that they were afraid of the earthquake that was coming on Friday. Later that night, Mama talked to Dada about it and Mama said she wanted to keep them home from school as they were so afraid. Dada started to do some research on the Internet and found out that this man in Brazil had NOT predicted there was going to be an earthquake but he said there would be typhoons during the month of July in the Philippines and China that would kill many people. Well, we did, in fact, have a very bad typhoon this month called “Frank” and many people died in the Philippines and China. That prediction was not a ”big deal” because the Philippines gets 20+ typhoons a year during the rainy season and July is right in the middle of the rainy season. Dada, also, found out that this man is really in question as being able to predict anything at all. His record of predicting over that last few years has been less than 30% correct. Dada said that almost anyone can guess anything and get that percent of correct predictions. This man is considered by most people around the world to be a fraud.

My brother and sisters attended school Thursday. When they came home and  we were eating dinner, they told us how the children are scared in school and how some teachers talked like it was going to really happen. Because of this, my two younger sisters are so afraid that they will not attend school on Friday. My older brother and sister will attend school but I think they are trying to be brave.I know that they have their doubts.

Mama said that this is what happens when someone decides to start a rumor. She said that most times people do it for a joke or to get special attention. Dada said that once a rumor is started it begins to develop a life of its own and becomes a “truth” to innocent people. I saw today what a rumor did to my brother and sisters and I think that it is cruel and unjust. Mama said that only God knows what is planned for all of us. She said that it is up to all of us to face life and try to live life the best that we can. Whether we must face storms, earthquakes or any other disaster; we must face them with  full faith in God’s will for all of us.

Mama said that all of us should learn a lesson from this and it is: don’t gossip or spread rumors about anyone or anything as it will only cause harm to someone.

Dada said if there is an earthquake Friday, it will not be caused by a rumor but by the natural forces that we live with each and everyday.

What do you think about rumors and gossip? Please leave your comments.

Thanks for your visit!

Technorati Tags: earthquakes, gossip, rumors, typhoons

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