Center for Psychological Research, Shenyang: Words can be Weapons

Shockingly tragic acts of youth violence are on the rise in China. In recent years, the number of juvenile criminals sentenced by courts more than doubled even when the population of youth was dropping. An even lesser known finding is that in China, childhood verbal abuse has a strong link to adolescent delinquency. The Center for Psychological Research, Shenyang and Ogilvy & Mather Beijing have joined hands to launch a creative campaign that raises Chinese public awareness of the serious and detrimental effects of verbal abuse - "Words can be Weapons". In China verbal child abuse is a taboo topic that is not widely discussed nor easily detected. To help Chinese parents and guardians see the real-life, destructive consequences of verbal abuse, O&M told the stories of six juvenile offenders in Shenyang Detention Center, who are serving time for serious crimes like murder and assault. Each teen spoke candidly about the scarring words that their parents and caretakers said to them as children, including 'Moron', 'You're good for nothing', and 'Go away and die."