4th grade teacher ingeniously uses toothpaste to teach students how their 'words have power'

Some of the simplest things in the world such as kindness have become a rarity and that's why unconventional methods need to be used to inculcate such values among kids from a young age. To show kids how their rude behavior affects others, a fourth-grade teacher from Minnesota named Natalie Ringold, who goes by @always.upper.elementary on Instagram, used a toothpaste tube and shared her method through a video.

"Are students being rude? Try this!" Ringold wrote in the caption of her video, which was meant for teachers and guardians. She then went on to add, "In this lesson, we discussed how we are responsible for our words and actions, how we need to spread kindness and love, how we choose what to put out into the world and how our words and actions have power and an impact on others." The caption also listed out a few other pointers explaining that once our words and actions are out in the world, we cannot take them back, and how apologizing is crucial to make things right in case we make a mistake.

"Of course, there are small, random exceptions to this 30-second rule but making this concept concrete for my students has been incredibly helpful!" she adds towards the end of the caption. At the beginning of the video, Ringold tells her class, "If somebody can't change something about themselves in 30 seconds or less, then you shouldn't be mentioning it to them." She gives examples of a few instances when kids point out something minor such as someone's shoe being untied or pants unzipped, which can be addressed within seconds. However, making comments on someone's hair color or body type is not right, since they cannot change it within 30 seconds or less.

"Your words have power," Ringold reminds everyone before squeezing out the toothpaste from the tube, and then tries putting it back in without any success. She shows how one can't take back their rude words even if they want to despite their best efforts. Ringold expects her students to walk out of the classroom and spread kindness to others because that's what truly matters. The comment section was filled with people appreciating Ringold's simple but effective way of teaching kids a crucial life lesson.

@sueziclaire_ commented, "I love the Minnesota school system. Their emphasis on kindness and respect is impeccable. You're an incredible teacher. Your students are so lucky to have you." @marilynbernheisel noted, "This teacher is a treasure. Her students will never forget her or the life lessons they learned in her class." @tatteramos mentioned, "The amount of adult people debating this simple rule of kindness that this teacher is teaching the kids is concerning. Very concerning." @kiakjensrud shared, "I truly love this. There’s only one perspective she is missing, which is that someone’s hair color or haircut or any other of the things she mentions that people can’t fix in 30 seconds are also not necessarily things that need fixing. So other examples might be even more useful, so the kids learn not to judge people by those things."