A history teacher talking to class her class about the Salem witch trials told the class they were going to play a game.
I am going to divide you in to groups, witches and citizens but only you know which you are in.
She asked each student to come to the front and whispered in their ear their designation.
She then gave the instructions “Form the biggest group you can without a witch. If your group has even one, you all fail.”
The whole room instantly came alive with suspicion.Everyone started interrogating each other.
Are you a witch? How do we know you’re not lying? Some kids clung to one big group, but most broke off into smaller, exclusive cliques. They turned away anyone who seemed uncertain, nervous, or gave off even the slightest hint of being guilty.
The energy shifted fast. Suddenly everyone was suspicious of everyone.Whispers. Finger-pointing. Side-eyes. Trust dissolved in minutes.
Finally, when all the groups were formed, the teacher said,“Alright, time to find out who fails.
Witches, raise your hands.”And not one hand went up.
The whole class exploded. “Wait! You messed up the game!”
And then the teacher dropped the bomb: “Did I? Were there any actual witches in Salem, or did everyone just believe what they were told?”
The room went silent That’s when it hit them.
No witch was ever needed for the damage to happen.
Fear had already done its work.
Suspicion alone divided the entire class, turning community into chaos.
And isn’t that exactly what we’re seeing today?
Different words, same playbook. Instead of “witch,” it’s liberal, conservative, vaxxed, unvaxxed, pro-this, anti-that. The labels shift, but the tactic is the same. Get people scared. Get them suspicious. Get them divided. Then sit back while trust crumbles.
The danger was never the witch.
The danger is the rumor. The suspicion. The fear. The planted lies.
Refuse the whisper. Don’t play the game.
Because the second we start hunting “witches,” we’ve already lost.
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