Geoffrey Holsclaw, affiliate professor of theology at Northern Seminary, recently blogged about what he deems the biggest lie often told to children: sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you. Regarding this reality of the saying, Holsclaw writes:
A broken bone will heal in a couple weeks, but a broken spirit can last a lifetime. Don’t we all know people wounded and scarred by words (ugly, failure, worthless, unwanted), living out of those lies as if they were truth?
So What?
Words matter. We must be honest with children about the use of words. This phrase originated around 150 years ago. Perhaps now is the time it is updated for a new era. What would you suggest as a revision/replacement?