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Subscribe to RSSThreats of school violence and Mayan apocalypse rumors result in dozens of Michigan schools closing early for the holidays. WDIV's Paula Tutman reports.
More than 30 Michigan schools closed for the holidays two days early, in part because the Mayan calendar predicts the world will end on Friday, an official said.
Matt Wandrie, superintendent for Lapeer Community Schools, said doomsday "rumors" are running rampant in several districts, adding to fears raised by last week's school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
"Given the recent events in Connecticut, there have been numerous rumors circulating in our district, and in neighboring districts, about potential threats of violence against students," Wandrie wrote on his website.
"Additionally, rumors connected to the Mayan calendar predicted end of the world on Friday have also surfaced," he added.
He noted that Twitter was lighting up with posts with sentiments like: "Friday would be a great day to go out w/ a bang."
The ancient predictions of apocalypse were a "secondary concern," with rumblings about violent threats against schoolchildren a bigger issue, he said.
CNBC: In Mayan doomsday, marketers see $$$ opportunity
Wandrie said all rumors of threats had been "investigated and determined to be false" but were still a "serious distraction" for students heading into the holiday break, and parents were vowing to keep children home.
So officials from five districts in Lapeer County covering 33 schools decided to just scrap the last two days of classes, extracurricular activities and athletic events.
"Although we in the county are reluctant to cancel school because the rumors are unsubstantiated, we feel it is the most appropriate decision given the gravity of recent events and our present circumstances," he wrote.
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i've used "my mom died" 5 times so far to get out of work. This will be a fresh one I can use tomorrow. Thanks MSNBC!!
LOL!!!
Lapeer county has a huge Mayan population so it is probably is good that they closed the schools.
It doesn't help any that NBC is spreading the rumor of "ancient predictions of apocalypse" when there are none, not that it would make any difference if there were. The Mayan "doom" predictions come from the 1960s, not the Mayans. The Mayan calendar ends on December 21st! So what? My calendar ends 10 days later. If the Mayan culture were still prominent today, this would just be New Year's eve.
And it actually makes sense for the calendar to end on the solstice rather than 10 days later.
Is that the Mayan time zone, (CST)?
Momma always told me to think before I acted. I hope these guys did think and really just wanted a couple of extra days off from school. Other wise, glad I don 't live in Michigan.
"...in part because the Mayan calendar predicts the world will end on Friday." Since when did it predict the end of the world? And why should schools close for this? Because they are scared that maybe, somewhere a psycho may take the fake doomsday B.S. seriously and attack children? How does that even make sense?
Right. And if tomorrow would be the "end of the world", what the hell difference does it make if we die by gunshot or by being evaporated by a collision with a F#*%ing comet??? LOL
How do you think your statement is even funny? And the difference would be, being with your family.
Of course this isn't surprising coming from a state whose people are bible thumping Republican gun nuts and are always afraid the "gubment" is going to "get" them. Anyone who lets religion dictate how to live their lives are easily duped into believing just about anything.
I will post this again, the christian faiths don't let this concern them because they are taught not even the angels in heaven know the hour the end will come. So take your hate of religion and a political group and stuff it.
I'd rather be a bible thumper, than tell everyone I "CAME FROM AN APE". Just because you proudly support an ape, doesn't mean every one else should. Shut up, and turn off your putor, monkey butt.
It doesn't matter if you want to be a bible thumper or admit that you evolved from
apes. The facts are incontrovertible, though you ignorant people will never
accept the truth. Go on believing your fairy tale that we all came from two
people, Adam and Eve. You have a problem with the possibility of evolution
because of the fact that we evolved from primates, but you don't care on iota
about being descendants from an incestuous bloodline. Weird.
then tell us virus what should we believe oh enlightened one... reverse this religous and tell us what or whom made the earth the sea and the sky above???? And don't say big bang theory, that is just a good show on tv.
Nobody knows that answer, and science is never about guessing at conclusions. It uses fact based analysis to provide conclusions. It does not use faith based conclusions to support fairy tales passed down from societies that were almost barbaric. I know, it would be much easier to believe there is a man in the sky sitting on a cloud controlling all of our fates. However, until he shows enough initiative to reveal himself conclusively I will just continue to exist as I always have. It may make you feel better to cling to a fantasy, and you may think that your life has more meaning than mine because I have no heaven to look forward to, but that's a chance I am willing to accept as I feel confident that I am intellectually consistent and that is important to me. By the way, there are meds you can take that make you feel happy without clinging to superstition.
so if you really feel that way then why do you give us so much crap about being religous. So what if someone has faith. No one is teling you too. Atleast i won't. to each there own I believe in my God because of some things in my life that lead me to faith. I don't get upset because you like to belittle my faith as a fairy tale. Or that you feel you are more intellectually consistent than I. (which i'm sure you don't talk like that everyday) I would never say my life has more meaning than yours because since I am religous i understand that I sin Everyday and that your sin is no worse than mine. We just don't see eye to eye on certain subjects. But this is just one part of you and one part of me that we see. The rest of our vast intrests may coincide with each other. Faith aside I'll be just fine if the world does ends Friday it means I won't have to work on Saturday
hypothesis = educated guess - Big Bang Theory is a Hypothesis - science does guess at conclusions
There is nothing wrong with hypothesis/educated guesses. It is at least a way to use
scientific evidence to lead to probably likelihoods. I think most scientists
would say that the little bit of doubt that does exist keeps them striving to search for
more evidence. I don't have a problem with science not knowing all of the
answers with 100% certainty. It is the people that claim they do know
everything because they have faith that bother me. Scientific conclusions are
always evolving, just like we are as a species. This does not give me any
negative feelings whatsoever. It just proves that smart people are always
searching for answers and are not willing to just throw their arms up and say -
that's it. I know the answers because I have faith that this book is right. I
will not do that, unless that man on the cloud comes down and tells gives me
the answers. So far, if he does exist he likes playing games with mankind by
not giving us conclusive answers. To me that is not a loving person but someone
having fun at mankind's expense.
Now, regarding the other part of your statement, I have no doubt that we may very
well agree on many other things. I have no animosity towards you or any other
person that I don't know. I just don't like it when people reduce evolution to
statements like "I CAME FROM AN APE", like Haditwith did previously.
It is a lot more complex than that.
Agreed....that was a knee jerk reaction to start a fight otherwise known as a troll.... I come from a very scientific background i graduated from the Institute of Robotics. But i'm a devouted Follower of Jesus Christ. I wouldn't go so far as to say a Christian because that is a man made religion. Jesus Belived and taught about the Church. Baptist, Methodist, and all the others all derived from man. I believe in the word of Christ so if asked I am a member of the Church. I'm in a better place in my life today i believe because of my faith I no longer make the choices that I made and my morals are stronger than they have ever been. This works for me as science works for you.
Oh, good glories. This is a public school. Really ? It's not even a calendar. The only reason it's even relative to the Day is so that if you look hard enough you can find lists of names that have a very specific meaning relative to the English language and psalms. It's one of the key reasons why it says Israel is the chosen people. Time relative it's not even 365, but 366 if a Day is a year because the names in the list are one and many but the one is more important than the many. The list is 39+ trillion lines of text. The reason the supposed calendar goes from 19 to 17 has everything to do with psalm 19.
Yeah, several people are walking around milking "and you too can swim like a dolphin for $9.99" for all it's worth. Which is rather contrary to the whole point of healing if you're a dolphin since it's a concept based on fear.
Are you kidding me? This is what's wrong with our country. No common sense what-so-ever...... What ever happened to it we'll never find out. "better safe than sorry" oh please. A tornado may touch down, or an earthquake, or a gas line, or, or, or... Give me a break....
naturechild
"Of course this isn't surprising coming from a state whose people are bible thumping Republican gun nuts"
You're an idiot. It's people like you that give liberals a bad name. I read the bible and I own guns. This doesn't make me a nut. I'll tell you What, statements like that show ignorance and makes me wonder about your sanity.
It's Michigan! Why would anyone expect more from the state up north?
OH
I-O
These school administrators are paid good money to educate children, not spew fictitious voodoo and witchcraft tails. Can you imagine the conversation with the students? Guess What? 12-21-12 was the Mayan's Y2K. The guys who designed the Maya Calendar failed to build-in the 12-22-12 algorithm, and the calendar quit. The reboot at Midnight 12-21-12 is, "Let's have another round for this table".
Man....if I were my son's age (9) and a student in one of these schools, I would be ecstatic right now - EARLY CHRISTMAS!
Good for them - hope some kids are happy about the early holiday no matter the reason - and I hope they have a safe holiday. In truth, you never know what might have happened if they went to school.....it would probably be uneventful, but you never know.
'Tis the season. Merry Christmas, kids.
I know everyone in America doesn't think there is a 'rest of the world' but it has been 12/21 for hours now in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Russia and many other countries. Seems like we are still here. Perhaps the end of the world is specific to certain time zones now? Just because all the movies show the world ending in the US doesn't make it true. At 6:30 AM on the east coast tomorrow morning it will be 30 minutes into 12/22 on the other side of the world. The 'end times' better hurry up!
Small wonder this country is becoming the world's biggest joke!
Some human beings can be so incredibly gullible and stupid. They'll all wake up on Saturday morning feeling like the fools they really are!
I don't think they canceled school because they thought the end of the world was coming - they canceled schools in light of recent events and some threats of violence.
Do you people even read the articles you comment on?
They canceled school for both in light of recent events and the doomsday garbage per the article:
Either way, people who are buying into the doomsday rumors will feel stupid come Saturday if they are not already as someone has already pointed out that it's already 12/21/2012 in other countries.
What's with the good people of Michigan anyway? First they allow the Neanderthals to turn the place into a "right-to-work" (for less) state, and now they buy into this end-of-the-world" nonsense!
There's something ironically tragic about closing schools because of a widely-debunked and incorrect supposition.
How pathetic is this? Institutions of learning are closed due to superstitious and uneducated people believing false prognostications or making threats. Bring back the Salem witch trials and medieval inquisitions and we can complete "the circle" of lunacy.
My hope is that authorities can identify the threat makers and hang them up for public adjudication.
Insane.
People really have to get a grip! Where's the sanity in all this?
I'm from Genesee county, which is adjacent to Lapeer Co., and we've closed most every school here as well. The "doomsday" thing isn't the issue here. The issue is that multiple school districts have had serious threats against children (mostly by other students, so far as I can tell). I think the count now is five or so total districts threatened in my county alone? This guy's a bit silly, and we are not all drinking the koolaid here in MI, but the safety of children comes first. It is a hard line to walk, between not bowing to the pressure of fear and still keeping everyone safe from whackos.
Any sensible person reading the article could see that. From some of these comments, I think people read the headline and not the article - and then come up with some self-righteous comment to show how smart they are about the Mayan calendar. There's even partisan political hackery on here (don't know how the idiots do it, but they can take anything and turn it into a political argument.)
Anyway, I smiled when I read this....I imagined being a kid at one of these schools and being so excited to get out of school early. If you've got kids (your own or your family's), I hope they have a safe, happy, and enjoyable early Christmas there in MI.
I could see closing for threats of violence (which maybe are being made by people who believe in the apocalypse), but the rumor of apocalypse should not enter into the decision at all. This could be just the news twisting the story around to get people to read it.
"The ancient predictions of apocalypse were a "secondary concern," with rumblings about violent threats against schoolchildren a bigger issue, he said."
The Mayan Long Count calendar does NOT predict the end of the world. Do a little reading.
Wow, all of this because of some false end of the world bull@!$%# and some loons talking about violence?
Makes you wonder who has more power in this country, the citizens, or the criminals.
And then it makes you wonder who gave which group more/less power...
There was a time in this country where citizens would line up at a location they believed was going to get attacked. Rifles and all. Today, we kneel down and hide.
What a weak country we have become.
The nuts are coming out of the woodwork.
FWIW, it's a snow day anyway, as things are shaping up.
Governance by rumor... marvelous.
Oh, well... it's not like the kids are missing anything anyway.