I remember growing up in school, my teachers would always tell us kids to “think before you speak.” Being a child, I never really took that saying to heart and brushed off that little reminder as if it were nothing. However, as I’ve matured I’ve come to realize the incredible impact our words have on not only ourselves, but others. These past years, my ears have been disturbed, my eyes have been shocked, and my heart has been grieved as I’ve experienced people carelessly spit out anything they want to. If I were to comment about anything our school should do about how we handle our words, it’d be this one thing: change them. 

Not everyone may be aware of the power of their words – I know I wasn’t. Being in a busy school setting can make it especially hard to really take time to digest or even notice the things we’ve said or heard around us. Whether you are aware of this or not, I can argue for many that it’s been disheartening for those of us who have heard of people making threats, degrading comments about others, unnecessary curse words, insensitive remarks, and much more. It’s likely we’ve mainly heard of most of this negative talk in the media and the outside world, however, the fact these word choices are becoming more evident here at Central makes it so much worse.  I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen faces drop when hearing things like “I hate you” and “You suck” or the many times my heart fell when hearing people say “I hate myself” and “I’m a failure.” 

Now to make matters clear, I’m not trying to belittle the people who may fall within that category. In fact, we all probably do or have at once in our lives said some pretty dumb things that we may or may not regret. On the contrary, I’m trying to highlight the issue as I feel like we’ve been blinded to our words’ significance. 

Lots of people love to argue that it doesn’t matter what we say as we are free to say whatever we want. Every time I’ve talked about this topic to someone I always hear the same old “You’re being too sensitive” or “Just live with it.”

However, the true yet harsh reality is that it does matter what we say. Even though we can “say whatever we want” doesn’t mean we always should. How you talk to yourself and others is something that will either build you up as a better person or crumble you down. For instance, if you continuously degrade yourself by saying something like “I don’t matter,” it will shape what you believe about yourself and either empower or break down your self-esteem. It’s the same with how we speak to others. Why do we feel the need to say things to people that devalue their worth? Is it really that funny of a joke or that necessary to “look cool”? 

With all that being said, it’s important to take the time to look inward. How do you speak to yourself? Others? And how can you change this?

Instead of saying things that can be demeaning, let us strive to let our words be an outlet of light by letting them be rooted in love and hope. One of my favorite songs my Mom would always play for me when I was little is “Speak Life” by TobyMac. Its lyrics are a great example of how we can positively use words: 

“Raise your thoughts a little higher’’

“Use your words to inspire’’

“Joy will fall like rain when you speak life with the things you say’’

Therefore, as a school, I know this is something we are more than capable of doing. We can indeed “speak life.” You never know what people are going through at home, therefore, school should be a place where students can be able to uplift one another and create an atmosphere of hope. 

Hopefully, this gives you a different perspective about something that can be very overlooked. I would love to hear your opinion and thoughts on this topic as well. Before wrapping up, I wanted you to know that despite what you’ve been told or have believed in your life, this doesn’t change the fact that you are loved, capable, and valued. And if you did know that, how great would it be to let someone else in this building know that wonderful truth today?