Sarah Nigbor

Beautiful things often sprout from the darkest of places. I’ve experienced this in my own life and it rings true in the River Falls community this week as well.

When I read the criminal complaint detailing the vandalism acts that took place in River Falls last week, my heart sank. When I saw the Facebook post from St. Bridget Parish School announcing that school was cancelled indefinitely, it sank further. Why did this happen? The 18-year-old who is accused of these crimes, what brought him to the place where he thought this was a good idea? Just days before his high school graduation?

We can speculate all we want, but we may never know. But what I do know is the photo of the prayer circle at St. Bridget was more powerful than a rock shattering a window. The community helped clean the school up within a day so that classes could resume. A miracle brought about by the kindness of others.

It’s easy to want to cast stones at the young man who cast his own stones that night. It’s also easy to cast stones at the Ellsworth High School principal who abruptly retired. The Facebook comments I read about his departure are despicable. As a parent of a student in the district, I too would like to know why he left without warning after only two years. I hope the school district and school board can give us some more answers, but certain personnel items are protected by law. If people are concerned, I encourage them to attend next Monday’s school board meeting and speak during public comment. Respectfully.

However, what I don’t encourage is being a keyboard warrior, putting rumors and terrible accusations out there. What if they aren’t true? Hearing something from your high school child’s friend’s mother’s uncle is not reliable information. Posting about such things could ruin someone’s life/reputation, not to mention revictimize a victim if there is one. I like social media but I also hate it with a passion, and I despise the constant pot stirring that I see on these so-called “community” pages. Most of the time, the number one pot stirrers don’t attend public meetings or know what they’re talking about. If they put half the effort into actually learning something than spreading rumors, they might have a leg to stand on.

My best friend and I joked growing up that when we die and stand before God, he will play a “reel” of our transgressions, so that we may ponder the stupid things we did while on this earth. “That’s gonna end up on your reel,” we’d say when either one of us would say or do something that wasn’t so nice. Whether or not there is an actual reel, I don’t know, but I believe God alone will judge me at the end. This is not to say that we should look the other way and ignore when terrible things are done, whether that’s throwing rocks at a school or whatever, but we would do well to remember that we are not judge and jury. Most of the time, people don’t know the whole truth when making assumptions or judging others. I’m not perfect and I try not to do that, but I’m sure I’m guilty of it as well.

The whole point of my rambling is this: Be kind. Forgive. Know the whole story before making a judgment. And for Heaven’s sake, stop posting crap on Facebook that is not verified as FACT. I hope pot-stirring shows up on your reel and you see the damage you’ve caused.