Psychology Today: Dehumanizing Language Is a Threat to Safety

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” The saying takes me back to the playgrounds of my childhood where I heard it chanted countless times. It leaves me wondering, did we really believe it? Or were we trying to convince ourselves of it, to prevent the hurtful words from lodging too deeply into our fragile psyches? [continue reading]