Rumors arrive dressed as facts. Ask who saw it happen.

A story gets its authority from how confidently it is told, not from where it came from. By the time it reaches you, it has been smoothed down and given details, and the one person who actually saw anything has gone missing. That is what makes it feel solid.

When something about somebody at school lands in a group chat, ask who watched it with their own eyes. If the answer is a chain of people who heard it from someone else, you have learned about the story and nothing about the person. Let it stop with you.