Unkind Words Hurt the Brain

Unkind Words Hurt the Brain

There is a popular saying in the English language: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

英语里有一句谚语：“棍棒和石头会打断我的筋骨，但是言语却难以伤我分毫。”

Well, that is not true.

而今，这一说法被推翻。

Unkind words, name-calling, or even the so-called “silent treatment” can hurt children as much as being physically hit, sometimes even more so.

不友善的语言、谩骂甚至所谓的“冷战”对孩子造成的伤害不亚于肉体所遭受的创伤，有时甚至更严重。

A recent study of middle school children showed that verbal abuse by other children can harm development in the brain.

一项针对中学生的新研究表明，语言辱骂会损害孩子的大脑发育。

Researcher Martin Teicher and his team studied young adults, ages 18 to 25.

研究人员马丁·泰契尔（Martin Teicher）和团队调查了18到25岁的青少年。

These young men and women had no experience with domestic violence, sexual abuse, or physical abuse by their parents.

这些青少年都未遭受过父母的家庭暴力、性虐待或体罚。

The researchers asked the young people to list their childhood exposure to verbal abuse from both parents and other children.

研究人员让青少年列举遭受过父母或其他孩子语言暴力的童年。

Then the researchers performed imaging tests on the brains of the subjects.

接着，研究人员对受访者进行大脑成像测试。

The images showed that the individuals who reported suffering verbal abuse from their peers in middle school had underdeveloped connections between the left and right side of the brain.

图像显示，在中学遭受过同龄人语言暴力的人，其左右脑之间存在一条发育不健全的的链接。

The middle school years are a time when these brain connections are developing.

中学时期是大脑链接发育的重要阶段。

Therefore, unkind, hurtful comments from children or adults during this period had the greatest effect.

因此，该阶段同龄人或成年人不友善的、侮辱性的语言的影响力是最大的。

The researchers tested the mental and emotional condition of all the young people in the study.

研究人员还对受访青少年的精神和情感状态进行测试。

The tests showed that this same group of individuals had higher levels of fear, depression, anger, and drug abuse than others in the study.

结果表明，与其他人相比，这群青少年普遍存在较高程度的恐惧、抑郁、愤怒和滥用药物的现象。

We cannot control what other people say to our children. However, we can prepare them.

我们无法控制别人对我们孩子说什么，但是可以让他们做好心理准备。

A website suggests 64 things that all children need to hear, such as “You are smart,” “I believe in you,” “You make me smile,” “I love you,” and “I’m proud of you.”

一个网站总结出了所有孩子都需要听到的64句话，比如说：“你很聪明”，“我相信你的！”，“你让我感到开心”，“我爱你”，“我以你为荣”

Share one or more of these statements with a child in your life. Actually, maybe we all need to hear some of these statements.

在生活中经常和孩子们分享这些语句。其实，也许我们都需要时常听到这些语句。

So choose another and say it to an adult you care about.

所以，选择一句，说给你关心的成年人吧。