Tongue is sharper than sword

I was reading an article that highlighted that this boy committed suicide after he was scolded and insulted by his teacher after he was caught playing his mobile phone.

Zhang Zhipeng, a 15 year old student in Southern Fujian Province in China ended his life in a tragic manner. His phone was confiscated after he was caught red-handed fidgeting his phone. Zhang did not protest towards the punishment.  When he returned to school on the Monday, he was dragged out of class by his teacher and Zhang was zeroed on for a long time before his mother came to the school’s office.  Despite his formal apology, his teacher continued to shower him with abusive language. Throughout the process, Zhang did not fought back. After the teacher has finished her insults, Zhang quietly walked out and jumped off the 4^th floor of his school building in front his mother and teacher. He died instantly.

In another case, a 15-year-old student at South Hadley High School, Phoebe Prince, was bullied to death by her peers. Ms. Prince committed suicide after months of verbal abuse from several classmates on school grounds. These vicious attacks continued electronically through text messages and postings on the social networking site.

Whether we realize it or not, our tongue can sniff out the life of another person. A tongue is akin to a double edged sword. It can either uplift or destroy the person. We should watch our tongue be it towards children or adults even in the midst of anger. A sharp tongue can drive a person to depression and thus leading him/her towards suicide. The words that are used can cause deeper hurt compare to beatings. Words that are not carefully chosen can diminish the person’s self-esteem to the extent the person feels that he/she is worthless. While words do not leave a traditional permanent mark that is visible on the body, they do leave an emotional, psychic scar, one that haunts the victim.

We should really think before we say anything as it may do more harm than good. Let’s build people up with our tongue that is given by God rather than to tear people down. Mother Teresa, internationally well-known for her humanitarian work for the poor and helpless, quoted that violence of the tongue is very real-sharper than any knife.

Picture Source: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com