Sticks and stones will break my bones but words shall never hurt me. Remember this rhyme from childhood? It is meant as a way to respond to verbal bullying from others, Supposedly it helps kids become more resilient to verbal attacks. It had been known, once, to deescalate issues between kids without any physical violence occurring. Then we entered the digital age where one person with ill intent can create a mob of online attack dogs, pressuring the victim into silence. We’ve called this tactic, in the past, Cancel Culture.

Recently, this tendency to crowd bully some individuals has taken a step back. Maybe it’s because it’d no fun if the person being attacked ignores those attacking. It could be that people have realized, at least to some extent, that having unpopular opinions are something a lot of people may exhibit, they not being an exception. The platforms themselves might be finally tamping down on this online behavior. After all, it does make them look bad to look like they encourage mob behavior. Think about in real life if government encouraged lawlessness on their streets ( yes, that’s called being facetious.)?

I don’t hear “Cancel Culture” much anymore as I think it’s gained a stigma even the perpetrators dislike being associated with. It’s been replaced, though, with the phrase, words can be violence. Now it’s up to each of us, to police our speech. If we all become more responsible communicators, the world will be so much better. Who arbitrates what is violent and non-violent speech? If we believe thar all words are violence, then it becomes doubtful that any combination o nouns, verbs, adverbs, might come into conflict with someones sensubilities.

I think we should respond to verbal abuse using thar old (~200 year) children’s rhyme. Imagine the hair-pulling on social media platforms.