I am sure that I have admitted this before, but I love words. I love to read them whenever I get a chance and I try to use them to build up the people around me. I have learned, as we all have, of the incredible power of words in our lives. That power is a double-edged sword that can either help or hurt. I recently came across this quote from the author Paulo Coelho:
“Of all the weapons of destruction that man could invent, the most terrible-and the most powerful-was the word. Daggers and spears left traces of blood; arrows could be seen at a distance. Poisons were detected in the end and avoided. But the word managed to destroy without leaving clues.”
That is so true! Sadly, many of us had our first lessons in the power of words to hurt when we were at school. We can all go back and remember, like it was yesterday, instances when someone said something that hurt us.
At Grant, we understand that words are powerful and we have recently introduced a campaign of sorts to help students think about the words that they use. I say “use” because it is not just the spoken word that can hurt. It is becoming more and more important to talk to students about the communication that they use in other circles like social media, email, and texting. The message that we are conveying to students is to encourage them to THINK before they use words. The acronym THINK stands for:
True-Is what is about to be said or posted TRUE?
Helpful-Is what you are going to say helpful? Will it help the person you are going to tell it to or make matters worse for that person?
Inspiring-Will the words inspire? Unfortunately, we do not use the word inspire enough. I love this criterion because it serves as a reminder that we have the power to lift people up and make their day better, simply by watching how we use our words.
Necessary-Is it really necessary to say what you are going to say? Many times we say things that are not necessary to say and, chances are, the more unnecessary words that we say, the more likely we will say something that will hurt others around us.
Kind-Is what you are going to say kind? I have learned that kind people say kind things and mean people say mean things. It is impossible to consider ourselves to be kind people when the words that we use break people down and belittle them consistently. Does our speech reflect kindness?
So, not only are Grant Cougars respectful, outstanding, academic, responsible, and safe, but we also THINK about our words before we use them. Words can help or hurt so let’s think first before we speak, post, tweet, text, email…you get the point. GO COUGARS!