Assignment:
The article, "Sticks and Stones May Break...In Reality, Names May Indeed Hurt You", is an interesting article about the power of a name to either benefit an individual or hurt them. The authors contend that names that a society is familiar and comfortable with are names that portray confidence, power and success. These are names such as Michael, John, Paul and William. Strange, unusual or little used names such as Horace, Ivan and Ingrid, on the other hand, are names that can be prejudicial to a person's schooling, social development and future economic success.
The authors contend that the problems related to unusual names begin in childhood. Children with these names may be teased by their peers. This teasing can result in anti-social behavior and a withdrawn personality. The authors claim that many criminals and people who suffer from mental illness have strange names. It seems that even adults behave differently toward children with strange names. Teachers may expect less out of students who have unconventional names. They may assume that the student is slow or in some way different from the rest of their classmates.