Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But Names Will Never Hurt Me

Hey guys, Xavier here again…

In the past two blogs I’ve discussed physical bullying; what it is, how to identify it, and who it targets. This month I’m going to move on to a more subtle, but equally damaging form of bullying: Verbal Bullying. According to Bullying Statistics verbal bullying (also known as verbal abuse) is more common among girls because it gives them a way to dominate others by showing their superiority and power. In the Acception film, we are introduced to Tanya. Unfortunately, students in her school didn’t like that was she was a lesbian, and made her feel ashamed and inadequate, as if there were something wrong with her. But you would never know because she kept her feelings to herself. That’s the most devastating aspect about verbal bullying; you can’t always see how damaging the effects really are, because the pain is on the inside. The old nursery rhyme, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me” is one of the biggest lies that exist, because hurtful words can create lifetime scars that may actually lead to someone taking their own life! Remember, we have the power to stop bullying by standing up for someone who is getting put down when we see it happening. We can also show love to the bullies by helping them understand that putting others down to make themselves feel better doesn’t work.

For more information on Acception’s solution-based approach to bullying prevention in the classroom, visit www.Acception.info