In respect of these people's privacy, I won't mention any names. One was a girl who was constantly told that she was fat by both her family and peers. In school, a group of girls told her that "nobody could ever enjoy being around a giant walking piece of lard like you". As a result, she became very insecure and went through many diets and fads in order to lose weight as fast as humanly possible. Eventually, she turned to bulimia and was diagnosed with anorexia. Another example was a male who was bullied by his schoolmates because of his passion for singing and music. A couple of other guys, as well as girls, told him that he was better off dead so that nobody would have to listen to his voice again. That led to him giving up his passion for music and his minimization of human contact. He was later diagnosed with major depression.
Verbal bullying doesn't only exist in the physical world. It had spread into the technological world. In today's society, technology runs rampant. Almost everybody has some form of social media that they constantly check such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. Technology has evolved to the point where we always have a way to speak to people without much trouble at all but along with that evolution was the birth of a new form of verbal bullying commonly known as "trolling" which we covered in class so I won't go far into that.
All in all, I believe that words do have the potential to really cause someone pain. Another quote that somewhat counteracts the other one was written by Susan Gale which reads "Words are powerful weapons. We should think of the consequences before we aim them at other people." Gale suggests that words do have an effect on others so we must be careful not to cause pain to anyone. Although it's not the kind of pain people usually think about when it is brought up, it is pain nonetheless.
All in all, I believe that words do have the potential to really cause someone pain. Another quote that somewhat counteracts the other one was written by Susan Gale which reads "Words are powerful weapons. We should think of the consequences before we aim them at other people." Gale suggests that words do have an effect on others so we must be careful not to cause pain to anyone. Although it's not the kind of pain people usually think about when it is brought up, it is pain nonetheless.
First of all, I would like to commend you on your blog. You brought up several, excellent points on the topic of verbal bullying. It saddens me to read that you have witnessed and experienced, through your friends, how hurtful pears can be to each other. It brought back memories from when I was bullied. These bullies tried to scare me, and it didn't help that they were older. Their words hurt me, but I learned to ignore them. As long as I didn't show a reaction to their hateful comments, they eventually got tired and left me alone.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that the saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," is an untruth. Harmful words will stay with someone a lifetime and have the potential of changing who they are. I was lucky. This negative experience made me a stronger person. Sadly, it isn't the case for everyone. Bullying, whether it's behind a computer screen or in person, can do the same damage to anyone.
As you quoted from Susan Gale, I agree that "words are powerful weapons." I have learned, over the years, to choose my words wisely and be careful with what I say to others because I understand that words can hurt.