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The Effects of Name Calling on Children

Name calling is almost a given on any school playground. Children who have yet to understand the power behind words are more prone to verbally attack those who appear different. The victims of these insults often experience feelings such as poor self-esteem, lack of confidence and the belief that they are failures. Making fun of children can also go beyond the schoolyard, entering their homes as well. Children who experience considerable name calling are exposed to emotional and psychological damages that usually haunt them well into adulthood.

  1. Self-esteem

    • Children who are constantly made fun of might eventually suffer from lowered self-esteem. Name calling can lead a child to believe he is really "stupid" or "ugly." Rather than ignore the insults, they accept them and truly think they are inadequate compared to everyone else. As a result, the kids who think they are stupid eventually stop trying to succeed, rationalizing that they are wasting their time learning new things. Kids who believe they aren't handsome or beautiful will do what they can to hide their appearance from others. This effectively stalls their confidence levels as well.

    Suicide

    • According to the National Institute For Mental Health, 8 out of every 100,000 teenagers committed suicide in 2000. Name calling can harm children to the point where they see killing themselves as the only escape from their pain. Homosexual children are especially prone to suicide because of attacks against their orientation. Combined with a society that tends to vilify the gay lifestyle as "evil," these children have a greater chance of suicide, believing that nobody can understand or sympathize with them.

    Peer Pressure

    • Children insulted for holding certain beliefs, attitudes or values may give in to peer pressure to fit in. For instance, people who make fun of a teenager who has never tried marijuana might coerce her to try it. She might feel left out because she thinks all the "cool" kids are smoking marijuana and she wants to be like them. Therefore, she tries the drug, which could lead to social and health consequences such as getting arrested for possession or increased chances for throat cancer.

    Personality changes

    • Name-calling can cause noticeable changes in children, such as always coming home tearful or inventing excuses to go to school. Children may also lose interest in their studies, too worried about getting harassed to finish their schoolwork. This results in lower grades. Overall, children become more secluded and worried about going anywhere near the people who have been calling them names.

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