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The impact of words can either be positive and build people up or negative and tear people down. Sometimes we don’t realise the impact our words can have on others or we don’t stop to think about what it might sound like if we were on the receiving end. This is something that we need to instil in our children…that sense of empathy and looking at things from a different perspective. This is especially important with social media being the preferred means of communication. Our words can be misconstrued even more easily as we flippantly use social media as an instant reaction to something. Social media has its own set of social rules and language. However, the instant nature of social media can result in less respectful interactions than face-to-face communication.

T… Is it the truth?

H… Is it helpful?                          

I… Is it inspiring?

N… Is it necessary?

K… Is it kind?

Teaching our children to stop and THINK before they speak to someone will mean that they communicate in ways that bring affirmation, hope, joy and kindness into other people’s lives. It will build friendships and relationships instead of blocking them or causing them to break down.

This, of course, means that that we, ourselves, need to stop and THINK about how we communicate with others so that we can model the right kind of behaviours. We all know that children learn what they live but sometimes we forget what the implications of that statement might be in our daily lives.

Retrieved and adapted from https://www.vinnies.org.au