Verbal Assaults Can Be Just As Awful As Physical Assaults

[BornReady]

If you're talking about enacting new law, it is impossible to create this new "right not to hear" and not suppress freedom of speech.

I'm not suggesting much change. As you say, there are already laws about harassment. There was a recent anti-bullying bill passed. There are disturbing the peace laws. These things are good. Freedom of speech does not give someone the right to say anything he wants, wherever and whenever he wants. You can not yell fire in a crowded theater. Would you allow one of your students to call the girl sitting next to him a fat ugly bitch? Can he tell her to kill herself because no one would miss her? Verbal assault should not be allowed. Bullying is not protected by free speech.

I'm not suggesting writing a lot of new laws. We don't need laws for everything. I'm just saying verbal assault is wrong. If enough people say so (and they are) then the bullies of the world will take notice. Peer pressure works wonders.

Edit: I forgot about your objection to politicians having to listen. I meant if you can get enough people to listen then politicians will have to listen too if they want to be elected.

 

[MainerMikeBrown]

Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me is an old saying that couldn't be more wrong. Verbal abuse hurts emotionally just as bad as sticks and stones hurt and break your bones.

So with that said, anyone who believes that verbal abuse over a person's skin color should be permitted needs to seriously question their views.

 

[Accountable]

I'm not suggesting much change. As you say, there are already laws about harassment. There was a recent anti-bullying bill passed. There are disturbing the peace laws. These things are good. Freedom of speech does not give someone the right to say anything he wants, wherever and whenever he wants. You can not yell fire in a crowded theater. Would you allow one of your students to call the girl sitting next to him a fat ugly bitch? Can he tell her to kill herself because no one would miss her? Verbal assault should not be allowed. Bullying is not protected by free speech.

I'm not suggesting writing a lot of new laws. We don't need laws for everything. I'm just saying verbal assault is wrong. If enough people say so (and they are) then the bullies of the world will take notice. Peer pressure works wonders.

Edit: I forgot about your objection to politicians having to listen. I meant if you can get enough people to listen then politicians will have to listen too if they want to be elected.

School rules for children are not laws for adults. While I would not allow a student to say such things, I would not call the police if a colleague said them to another adult. Peer pressure is not law. If peer pressure works wonders (and I believe it does) then the law is redundant, therefore unnecessary.

 

[Tuffdisc]

If someone verbally assaulted me, I would take no notice, that person isn't making a good point rather just being nasty. If that person wants to be seen as nasty, that is their prerogative, not mine

 

[BornReady]

If someone verbally assaulted me, I would take no notice,

People do verbally assault you on occasion here. I don't worry much about you because you're mature enough to brush it off. Although I don't like some of the comments you get. My concern is largely geared towards children. Sometimes teenage suicide is the result of verbal abuse. Sometimes it even comes from parents. I think it's a real problem and shouldn't be ignored. Hiding verbal abuse behind freedom of speech is a crock. Although Accountable has made a good point as he usually does. Laws are not the solution to every problem.

 

[MainerMikeBrown]

If someone verbally abuses you, try not feel any lesser of a person. They're the ones who are acting out of line and are being irrational. How you percieve yourself to be shouldn't be effected by what some jerk thinks of you. Why view yourself based on what they say when they're the ones making a fool out of themselves?

I know not feeling worse about yourself after being verbally assaulted is easier said than done for a lot of people. But it can be accomplished.

 

[Tuffdisc]

If someone verbally abuses you, try not feel any lesser of a person. They're the ones who are acting out of line and are being irrational. How you percieve yourself to be shouldn't be effected by what some jerk thinks of you. Why view yourself based on what they say when they're the ones making a fool out of themselves?

I know not feeling worse about yourself after being verbally assaulted is easier said than done for a lot of people. But it can be accomplished.

I never feel lesser of a person, they should be feel lesser if they have to go down that route

 

[MainerMikeBrown]

Those who verbally assault you should be the ones who feel like a lesser human being, not you. They're the ones who make fools of themselves.

The reason these types put others down is because they want to feel as if they are above others. And the reason for that is because they feel lower than the rest of us.

So for all the racists in the world, try feeling better about yourselves in more productive ways.

 

[Tuffdisc]

Those who verbally assault you should be the ones who feel like a lesser human being, not you. They're the ones who make fools of themselves.

The reason these types put others down is because they want to feel as if they are above others. And the reason for that is because they feel lower than the rest of us.

So for all the racists in the world, try feeling better about yourselves in more productive ways.

Correct!!!!

 

[MainerMikeBrown]

There's nothing worse than having someone say something offensive to you that bothers you a lot, and then someone to tell you "Don't let it bother you."

Yeah, just kick yourself in the butt and don't be bothered by it!

 

[All Else Failed]

However, verbal assaults can be just as upsetting to the victim as getting punched in the mouth because of the color of a person's skin.

lol what

 

[The Doc]

Its freedom of speech until you insult someone, thats called slander. Verbal assaults as bad as physical assault? LMAO i would rather get verbally assaulted any day. I dont remember people getting punctured lungs or breaking bones from verbal assault. Fracture your femur and tell if someone has ever teased you enough to make you feel that way lmao.

 

[CityGirl]

I think the ability for words to render harm lies in the relationship, real or perceived, between the assaulter and the assaulted. When there is a relationship/attachment be it emotional, professional,relational, authoritarian... words have power to cause harm. With physical assault, the wounds most often heal whereas with verbal/emotional assault the words continue to reverberate in the mind especially when the words/message are repeatedly inflicted in which case it becomes abuse. I would submit that victims of verbal assault are more often than not, victims of self inflicted wounds.

 

[Ryder]

It can be just as awful as a physical assault yes but sometimes even worse. Broken bones, bruises and such heal but the words can stay with you for days, weeks even months. I know this because for seven years I endured verbal assaults over and over again. And sometimes when it happens now it still sticks with me. It's why I have such a cynical view on the world. Or should I say realistic? It's an opinion.:dunno

 

[BornReady]

LMAO i would rather get verbally assaulted any day. I dont remember people getting punctured lungs or breaking bones from verbal assault.

I think your age and how close you are to the person abusing you matters a lot. A parent verbally abusing their young child is much worse than a coworker verbally abusing an adult. The first can do permanent damage. The second is easily shrugged off.

 

[Ammonite]

... everyone has that right to be offended by something. But if everyone erased everything that offends them in this world, there would be nothing left to erase and no one left to erase it.

Read that today on the SMF forum. Sums up my thoughts on everything verbal.

 

[Pumpkin]

I think the ability for words to render harm lies in the relationship, real or perceived, between the assaulter and the assaulted. When there is a relationship/attachment be it emotional, professional,relational, authoritarian... words have power to cause harm.

This absolutely! Being told I am a piece of shit by a stranger probably wouldn't worry me too much, being told I was a piece of shit by someone I loved or cared for would really hurt.

 

[The Doc]

I think your age and how close you are to the person abusing you matters a lot. A parent verbally abusing their young child is much worse than a coworker verbally abusing an adult. The first can do permanent damage. The second is easily shrugged off.

I am sure the young child would take the verbal reprimand over the beating any day.

 

[CityGirl]

I am sure the young child would take the verbal reprimand over the beating any day.

Verbal abuse and verbal reprimand are nowhere near the same. Most verbal abuse is incessant and incidious. It consists of being frequently yelled at, called names and humiliated, criticized and put down, ignored, minimized and blamed. It doesn't end and the words are seared into the mind where they play over and over like a broken record.

 

[The Doc]

Verbal abuse and verbal reprimand are nowhere near the same. Most verbal abuse is incessant and incidious. It consists of being frequently yelled at, called names and humiliated, criticized and put down, ignored, minimized and blamed. It doesn't end and the words are seared into the mind where they play over and over like a broken record.

Sounds better then being beat. Would rather i tease you for an hour or beat you up with a bat for an hour?