God bless us all. Those teachers hopefully know better by now. Throwing sticks and stones might make for playground problems, but no war was ever started over sticks and stones. No child was ever neglected by a parent's sticks or stones, and no homeless person ever got there because of sticks and stones. Wars HAVE begun by the use of words.
Children heal from physical abuse, as horrible as it is.
The mental stigma, plus the words that are generally delivered to the child are what never really heals. Homeless people are categorized and therefore less able to maneuver in this world due to those worded categories. Indeed, horrible words, painful words, words associated with tragedy, words heard in a heated moment, can, and and often serve as triggers to anger, hurt, violence, depression, loss of self esteem, and conversely, joy, happiness, pleasure, love, understanding, and inner peace. But they're just words. The words above are just little letters on a screen, but looking at them spurs certain emotions or recall of experiences in each of us, regardless of our background, color, or social position.