Phoebe Mendelson ’19

Beginning in late August, people dressed in scary clown costumes started making appearances across the country. While the clown sightings started in South Carolina, they have swiftly taken to the rest of the county. Some of these clowns have been known to lure children, while others have been reported walking through neighborhoods with weapons.

As the clown epidemic has spread across the nation, it has caused concern among local communities such as Westport. Superintendent of Westport Public Schools, Ms Colleen Palmer, sent out an email to all of the parents in the district that addressed the issue.

“We have been in contact with the Westport Police Department which, alongside departments from neighboring towns, continues to monitor and be on alert for any suspicious activity in the community. The WPD has confirmed that there are no current threats to our community from this social media activity or other sources,” Palmer said in response to growing fear within the community.

Palmer also offered counseling to any student that is feeling unsure or anxious about the situation at hand. “If your child feels uncomfortable in any way as a result of the news reports or social media postings, please contact your child’s school so that we can provide any support that is necessary.”

While many people around the country are incredibly frightened, some students at Staples feel that there is no current threat.

“I don’t think the clowns are dangerous yet, but we’ll see on Halloween”, said Max Lonergan ’18.

According to the Washington Post, clowns have been showing up around schools in abundance, “Many of the clown posts on social media have included threatening language that specifically targets individual schools.”

Some students around Staples believe that the the origin of this outburst of clown sightings, comes from a reaction to the 90’s horror movie, “It”. The movie is about a demonized clown that disturbs seven friends. This movie caused a huge an outburst of fear among those who saw the movie. Many students feel like it started as a publicity stunt for the upcoming release of the new version of “It” that is expected to be released in 2017.

“I think that there a few psychos that have heard about the clowns and dressed up as them and taken it further, but the first few that were seen, I believe started this whole clown movement for the movie”, said Nico Rossi ’18.

While some students feel as though there is no current clown threat to Westport, some still say they would be frightened if they were to come into contact with one of these infamous clowns. Students are hinting at using a bit more precaution, especially when walking around town at night.

“If I saw one I’d definitely be scared. I think it’s made the Staples community a little more scared to go out in the dark and things like that”, said Will Birch ’19.