For about the last week in Selma, clowns have been the hot topic. Facebook has been filled with news about clowns — some of it real, some of it unproven — and posts discussing clowns are getting hundreds of replies.

We wrote in Tuesday’s paper that people need to think before they share information on Facebook, a point we stand by. We also wrote that parents and school leaders should take all threats seriously and that it’s understandable for them to be concerned about the clowns, considering the threats that have been posted online and the arrests made in other parts of the state.

However, it’s also important to keep all of this in perspective.

In today’s world, you can rarely do something embarrassing — like falling down in a store — without someone capturing it on video or snapping a photo and posting it on Twitter with a clever hashtag.  Yet, there hasn’t been a single photo or video of a clown posted in Selma and Dallas County. Not one.

The people creating Facebook pages for clowns want attention, to scare people and then to sit back and watch the hysteria they are creating. It looks like they are getting their wish.

It’s crazy to think about what people will get up in arms about. Over the weekend we had three shootings in the city of Selma, including one murder, and yet here we are writing and talking about clowns.

And nationwide, not a single person has been injured by a clown. There have been some arrests made for threats posted on social media, but no person has actually been harmed by a clown.

Our police department has its hands full without spending its evenings on wild goose chases for clowns that may or may not be there. Selma Police Chief John Brock said Tuesday that his officers spent two hours looking for a clown on Monday night after a sighting was reported.

Instead, the department found nothing and wasted two hours where it could’ve been dealing with real threats and real problems.

That’s taxpayers money being used to chase after someone dressed up as a clown, which technically isn’t illegal.

If people were as fired up over picking up litter or volunteering as they were about chasing clowns or posting on Facebook about clowns, Selma would be a much better place to live.

Maybe there are clowns walking around Selma and maybe there aren’t. Either way, we should all move on to the bigger problems facing our community.