In this edition of the VOX Bubble, teens shared their thoughts on if there can ever be “good” gossip. Check out what they had to say.

How do you define “gossip?”

Anshu, 15, Fulton Science Academy: I define gossip as creating a story rather than if you were to talk about something that happened to you. I understand that some people sometimes think that it’s funny or they enjoy it as entertainment. But personally, I’ve been on the other side of it and it’s not the best at all. Gossiping about someone can really hurt that person mentally. The fact that somebody thinks of you in that specific way, or the fact that that news was spread about you and now people think you are a certain way that you aren’t, is honestly a really painful feeling. I think gossiping is a really bad thing that somebody could do, especially when you’re in high school. 

Reagan, 15, Chamblee: I think gossip can be harmful as well, but I don’t think gossip is always a lie. I think sometimes gossip, at the root of it, always starts with something that is true and then gets shifted around or twisted up or something like that. I think gossip at the beginning is something that’s true or something that the first person believes is true, and then it starts to get tangled up in other people’s way. 

Bailey, 17, Westlake High School:  I feel like, on top of it being something that could be made up or something that could be could start off true and get misconstrued…it’s something that I feel like is told without the person who it’s about consent. It’s usually something malicious and then usually if you do tell some sort of gossip, you wouldn’t want it to get back to the person who it’s spread about. Because, sometimes you exaggerate. Sometimes you want to make things sound a little bit more dramatic than what it actually is just for the sake of friends and tea. 

Robyn, 17, MLK High School: I don’t even find conversation about things that aren’t true entertaining, that’s not tea for me. But I do know that in social settings, I do like to talk about things that are going on, like whether it’s around my school or whatever. Is that gossip?

Mya, Georgia State University: I feel like the word “gossip” just has a negative connotation. But if something just happened at the school and we’re all talking about it, technically, we all are gossiping. But, sometimes I feel like it’s not as harmful. It’s just I just feel I guess it depends on the circumstance and it depends on how long we keep going on about it. If we keep talking about the fight that happened in the cafeteria, okay, like everybody’s going to be talking about it at first. But at a certain point, if we’re talking about how a girl wig got taken off, it’s dragging it out that point. Now we’re being messy, let’s stop.

Is there a such thing as healthy gossip?

Anshu: I think if you were talking about something and you’re sharing experiences, even if it was a conversation you wouldn’t have with a lot of other people, I feel like sometimes it’s good and it’s good to get those feelings that you have about someone or an event out because to bundle it up is probably not the best idea. 

Reagan: I think like Mya said, gossip has a negative connotation. So I feel like if you’re sharing your experiences or something that happened to you, I don’t think that’s gossip. But if someone takes what you said a step further saying “this and that happened” then that person is gossiping. So personally, I don’t think there’s ever a good form of gossiping. 

Amani, 16, Homeschool: I don’t like gossiping about other people or even hearing about other people’s business. I just feel like that’s not something I should be or even want to be involved in. I guess if you’re gossiping about celebrities or like political type stuff, that can lead to productive conversations in the long run. But I don’t mess with gossip or entertain that type of stuff. 

Bailey: To an extent, I think it’s normal for people our age. But I also feel like once something is out there, someone wants to share it with someone else because they think it’s true. Also once the piece of information that’s spread through gossiping comes out and the person who it’s about, once they get a hold of that information, they have a chance to clear it up or not.