Words Hurt

I am sure that everyone has heard they phrase “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. While the idea of this phrase is great to teach kids, realistically it is not a true statement in my opinion because when it comes down to it, words do hurt no matter how small. As a young adult I have learned about resilience and how to cope with life stressors. I realize that what others say about me may not be true and I don’t allow these negative comments to get to me,  however no matter what your resilience and coping level is, there is some degree of internalization that takes place even as adults. With kids however this is not really the case unfortunately. I am a real advocate for kids who are transitioning in middle school because this time is often the hardest time for any kid as it was for me. Middle school is the time where cliques start to form and in my experience kids start being cruel to one another. Statements that are made often are completely internalized and really hurt kids. “You are not pretty enough”, “You are not cool enough”, “You clothes are ugly”, these are only a few statements which are said not only in middle school but also in life in general that can hurt a person’s self-esteem and feelings. Think about this however, what if the little girl or boy that is getting bullied is having family trouble at home? What if the person is having trouble financially and they cannot afford the “cool clothes” and instead these clothes are all the family can afford?  What if questions are rampant because you really never know what someone is going through in life.

I feel like individuals assume that everyone is going through the same things in life when in actuality each person’s reality can be so extremely different than your reality. Often times you have no idea what is actually occurring. Especially with the internet today individuals can project to the world that their life is wonderful and everything is perfect when in actuality they are suffering silently and need a friend. Individuals can be coping with mental illness that no one talks about because our society adds such a social stigma to it that no one wants to admit they need help. You really never know what a person is really going through unless you are living their life and have “walked a mile in their shoes” so naturally we should watch what we say and try to be a kind to one another as much as we possibly can.

 

I would love to hear any thoughts on this topic and how you interpret the power of words.