Good, or Bad or What? .....

The Internet can be a good thing, or a bad thing ... time will tell whether Midland's corner of the world wide web has been good - or bad - tonight.

E-mails have been shooting around the Tall City for the last few hours, with people sharing what they've heard about the potential for violence at a school. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing, or what?

Are they spreading unfounded rumors or sharing timely warnings about something that is on the minds of many parents with school-age children. Can we dismiss something, anything easily, nonchalantly in the wake of Paradise, Virginia Tech and Columbine?

Or, can we take it too far? Something that begins as a smart-aleck remark in the cafeteria, makes it's way around the campus ... nothing new there, I remember me - and most everyone else in school - buzzing about whether or not Paul McCartney was really dead ... different era, different fears, but same old rumor-mill.

But whatever the source for the information - and however valid it may or may not be - it makes it into an e-mail that's Cc'd to fifty or sixty people, who turn around and forward it to others ... now it has legs it never could have gotten before, reaching more people in less time than was ever possible by telephone or word-of-mouth.

Time will tell whether Midland's corner of the world wide web has been good - or bad - tonight. Whatever the case, the Midland school system needs to address it before this thing gets out-of-hand.