I've just caught the post from HoorayFriday, tonight as I finished work.
Words hurt and can last way longer than physical abuse.
Last week I did some training with 3 wonderful ladies all aiming to make us think about our words and their effects positively/negatively they can have on us.
One of the ladies recently started a charity called Words Matter
https://wordsmatter.org/ and it aims to stop verbal abuse of children by adults. Yes people do the sticks and stones thing, and what doesn't kill you makes it stronger (it might but usually doesnt) yet recent research shows that it has a massive, lifelong effect on individuals (depression/anxiety/lack of self worth/self loathing/inability to trust etc) in a much greater way than was ever believed. In the same way positive comments can have opposite effect, raising people up.
Yes it is about adult on child abuse primarily, but I believe that if an adult will bully and abuse a child verbally they're just as capable as doing it to an adult, and 23 pages on HoorayFriday is full of experiences that others have had as a child or an adult.
When I taught infant/junior, I would read this poem, can't recall the author and it may not be exact word for word (it's been a while)
Sticks & Stones
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words can also hurt me
Stones and sticks break only skin
While words are ghosts that haunt me.
Slant and curved the word swords fall
To pierce and stick inside me
Bats and bricks may ache through bones
But words can mortify me
Pain from words has left its scar
On mind and heart that's tender
Cuts and bruises may now be healed
It's words that I remember.