Do you remember middle school? It’s an awkward time. It’s often when children hit puberty and their bodies start to change to look more like adults. There’s sometimes that awkward phase with braces and lanky limbs. Meanwhile, all many kids want is to fit in, which can be hard to do if they don’t look like all of their peers.

Body positivity hasn’t always been a thing, and people haven’t always felt comfortable talking about mental health struggles. Instead, many of us grew up being taught “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” While words can’t exactly break bones, they can be quite damaging.

A TikToker named Elyse Myers recently shared a story about something that happened to her when she was 11 years old, and the memory of that moment still impacts her 17 years later. At the age of 28, she is still struggling to get over the damaging words that a teacher said to her.

Myers shared that she was in middle school at the time. She was talking to some of her friends, telling them that she wanted to be a cheerleader one day. She went on to explain that they had a substitute teacher in class that day. For whatever reason, the teacher, a man, felt the need to walk over to Myers and her friends, interrupt their conversation, and tell Myers that she should not be a cheerleader.

Myers shared that she was “round” in middle school. She knew the teacher was referring to her size as the reason she shouldn’t be a cheerleader.

The point of Myers’ TikTok was not to bash an old teacher or to look for sympathy. Instead, it was to tell adults to pay attention to their words. She said, “So if you are an adult, if you are around children, if you’re around humans in any way, I need you to understand how powerful your words are. As easily as they can tear someone down, they can build them right back up, but it’s going to take a hell of a lot more work to build them up after you’ve torn them down.”

Watch Myers’ TikTok below to hear the full story about the harmful words that still haunt her 17 years later.

@elysemyersYour words are powerful. ##coffeetalk ##theadhdway ##words♬ original sound – Elyse Myers

Did a teacher or adult ever say anything to you when you were a kid that still haunts you years later? Are you going to be more careful about what you say to children and other adults after watching this video?