Sticks and Stones
It’s not true. Names can damage you deeper than just a few skin scars and offset bones. We’ve all been through playground digs and names that stuck like flung mud. For some the name calling can start to define how we think of ourselves and affect our self-esteem. Sometimes the anticipation is crippling, as we wait for the next insult to blow our way, and we’d almost welcome the sticks and stones, for some relief! We can get labelled, and it sticks out larger than the name tag mum has sown into your coat (embarrassing enough, right?). Then all too easily the label becomes who we are . Not just as others see us either, but as we think of ourselves, and it becomes a tag we are burdened with even in our deeper selves. In the cruel economy of the classroom, these kinds of names exclude us, and mark us for ridicule. They can shadow us into adulthood as well, as we have learned to think of ourselves as we think others see us. We can easily try to minimise the hurt with talk of tough