Many of you have probably heard about clown sightings all over the country. Nobody really knows what the intention of these sightings mean and if their intent is malicious. I'm here to tell you that, yes, whether or not they are carrying weapons or trespassing, they are a malicious threat.

The clown sightings started in South Carolina where a little girl reported seeing two clowns in the woods, whispering to her to follow them. They were both brightly dressed and in full costume. Many discredited the story and said the child was just dreaming or hallucinating. That was until clown sightings popped up all over the South and eventually spread throughout the whole United States.

Now, I've seen many different opinions on this topic. Some say that it's just teens and immature human beings that want to get attention and scare people as a joke. Some say that these clowns are dangerous and have intent to harm and abduct women and children. I've heard people say "Let's go clown hunting!" and other people say "Clown lives matter!" Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so there isn't a right or wrong answer to the clown problem.

People will argue that the clowns are dangerous and others will argue that they're harmless jokers.

It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what your actual intent is. If you dress up as a clown and approach anyone or even exit your home, you are automatically creating malicious intent.

What happens when you walk up to an older person and they get so scared that they have a heart attack? What then? What will you do when you scare a child to tears and they live with PTSD for the rest of their life? Will you pay for their counseling? Will you feel guilty when you frighten someone to the point where they faint and hit their head really hard? Or how about when you walk onto the road and the car you scare swerves into a creek and a family of four dies? Will you take responsibility?

This topic really gets me heated because so many things can go wrong and so many people can get hurt, EVEN if that wasn't anyone's intent. People are scared to go outside at night. Children can't be left unattended in their own yards and people are too frightened to sleep with the fear of waking up to a clown peeking in your window or trying to break in.

At the other end of the spectrum, when you put that costume on and decide to terrorize people, you put yourself at risk of basically everything. You will come across the wrong person and you will get hurt. People are threatening to shoot, taser, and beat up anyone in a clown costume. Also, when you put yourself in a situation where you are carrying a weapon or standing in someone's driveway or look in someone's window, you are committing a crime.

This isn't funny anymore. And actually, it never was.

Leave your clown costume in the closet and save everyone the risk of getting hurt.