In education it is imperative to educate the young minds of the students the importance of proper use of communication. Before, words travel by word of mouth that may have taken hours or even days to reach the listeners. Now it travels in seconds thru Social Media, blogs, email, and text messages.

It has been said, knowledge is power. Unfortunately, some people like to spread damaging information or details about others. We call it “gossip”. Some people call it dishing the dirt, idle talk or rumor, whatever it is called, people use gossip to hurt people, to male them feel good about themselves, and to feel like they have power over others. Someone who fits the stereotypical image bears the names of rumormonger or blabbermouth.

In the dictionary, the word gossip defined as a conversation or reports about other people's private lives that might be unkind, judgmental, or not true. It is an idle talk or rumor. In the recent studies of peer exclusion, it encompasses the harmful effects of gossip and the impact of this behavior for students. Those who are being chatted about by peers may experience highly charged emotions, including feelings of betrayal, rejection, and humiliation. And, the damage continuous to harm one’s self esteem. Those who are verbally or psychologically abused by their classmates may start avoiding their classrooms and schools as well. These actions spare them in dealing with pain because of gossip and rejection. As a result, it can affect their academics and future success in an adversative way and can have negative impact on one’s right to grow into a happy, healthy and functioning member of society.

When people don’t get an accurate information, they attempt to fill in the gaps by asking around and sharing what they think they know and end up with speculations. The most dangerous part of gossip is that it destroys another person’s reputation. A reputation is very fragile. Being part of any gossip means that you are helping someone to destroy something that is very precious.

If you think it’s time for you to decide you don’t want to have any part of gossip, the following are some tips on how to do it. First Don’t judge someone based on gossip. If you hear something about someone you don’t know, whether true or not, never ever jump into conclusions. If you don’t see it with your eyes, then don’t witness it with your mouth. Second is to make a commitment that you will stop gossiping. Having said that the temptation to gossip is powerful, you will always win when you choose to do the first step. Shawn Lim believed that the best way to stop gossip in workplace is not to get involve. Third, try not to listen when others gossip. Gossip grows listeners. You simply being there listening to adds to its appeal. If someone tells you something gossipy, don’t hesitate to turn your back and refuse to listen. Not only you can help to break the gossip chain, you can also gain the trust of others, as someone who won’t spread rumors.

Lastly, you should think twice before you speak. Before you repeat something you’ve heard about another person, consider first whether this will do any good for everybody or if the information is true. Also, if there will be no one that will be offended if you say it to someone. If the person you are talking to is not part of the problem, or part of the solution, then there’s no point of sharing the information.