Ghosts are the spirit of the unliving; they cannot be seen and always will haunt. 

Being “ghosted” can feel the same way; the individual ghosting will be unheard from and unseen. The feeling of failure to keep a relationship can be haunting. 

Ghosting is the full drop of all face-to-face communication and technological communication. 

Lakeland High School students ghost and get ghosted left and right on a daily. 

Ruby McIntosh, a sophomore at LHS, frequently ghosts people when they either have the wrong vibe or are mean. She usually ghosts people because she does not want to talk it out, but it is ineffective because it always hurts feelings. She most recently ghosted a guy that wanted to hang out, and she wasn’t feeling it. 

“There are repercussions, they sometimes confront you about it, and if you miss them, you can’t go back,” McIntosh said. 

Many will say that confrontation is avoided when ghosting someone, but is it? What if you run into them at a random Walmart run? 

Regan Wright, a junior at LHS, usually only ghosts for 24 hours unless they give her a major ick. She doesn’t want to hurt their feelings, so she will keep communications to a minimum. 

“Ghosts aren’t real. I don’t believe in them,” Wright said.  

From generation to generation, ghosting may change and be used less or more. Ghosting was once throwing away a letter that was mailed to you. 

Sarah Nave, a teacher at LHS, usually doesn’t mean to ghost people. In the past, she would do it to avoid confrontation or would do it accidentally. 

When it comes to phone calls, if she knows the conversation will be super long and wants to spend the time on something other than the phone, she will let it ring.  

“I’m the queen of reading a text message and forgetting to answer for a week,” Nave said. 

I personally ghost on occasion. I know that it is a bad thing, but in order to avoid confrontation, it is the only way to end a friendship or relationship. It shows maturity to end a relationship in person.  

When boys hit my line, I’d rather not waste their time dragging them on, so I will ghost them. 

Other people ghosting me is uncalled for, though.