So I am sure all of you have heard about these clown sitings around the world. These clowns supposedly walking around streets with very unfriendly masks. Last I heard they were luring children into the woods. I have also just seen that Merrimack College students spotted a scary clown and the school decided to close down the campus. So is anyone really sure about why exactly these clowns are walking around terrifying students and families?

In an article from People magazine, author Benjamin Radford gives us a reason why we shouldn't panic and freak out about this. The reason being is for publicity and grabbing attention which is unfortunately working. These people dressed in clown costumes have been seen in neighborhoods, campuses, streets, and parking lots. Children have been "lured" into the woods by not candy but they have been given money by these clowns. However, no child has actually been taken, injured or abducted by any of these clowns.

Like I mentioned before, because they want attention, this is where social media is the best thing for them. Social media is the reason why these clowns have been traveling all over. As we are taking photos and videos and posting them on SnapChat, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, we are giving them the motivation and attention to keep going. Although we find them extremely frightening to look at, and to spot at night, by sharing and posting them all over the internet we are saying that we are enjoying it and we want to see more. Depending on how much attention we give them, this could last much longer than we hoped.

Dressing up in a clown costume is not illegal. Technically these people aren't doing harm to us and can't exactly get arrested. We can call the police and ask them to be escorted away, but they have nothing illegal on them. Most of these clowns don't carry anything, but just look frightening. There's nothing we can do besides stay in our house and call 911 if you feel uncomfortable. Except, there have been many phone calls from girls about a clown following them home or back to campus. There have been calls about clowns stalking other people, and that is something to act on.

Here is a list of different states where people have had sightings:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.