Words Hurt

By Nadine Briggs

Have you ever been called annoying? Stupid? A jerk?  Even the R-word? (A word I despise so much, I won’t even type it out).  Words hurt.  In the moment, it can make your face flush and your heart beat as fast as though you were physically attacked.  Hurled insults can literally leave a  pockmark on your heart.  The feeling it causes within you can sometimes stay for days, weeks, even years.  Hearing it again at a future time can invoke a memory of a time when it shot you down and knocked you back a step. 

Kids will do and say mean things from time to time.  Sometimes they say things when angry or frustrated and sometimes they say things with a truly mean intention.  Sometimes kids will insult other kids if they had been insulted themselves.  There is a satisfaction gained from being able to pay it forward.  Siblings fight often and insults are frequently a part of those fights.  Fighting among kids can’t be prevented but kids need to know boundaries about what they can and can’t say even when they are mad.  They need to know what is “too mean” or a “low blow.”  They need to understand that even when at their angriest, there are some words that should never be hurled.  No matter how mad they get, they need to know that words hurt.  Watch a video here: Too Much