Teacher's ingenious balloon method showing kids how to wipe properly goes completely viral
By Robin ZlotnickAug. 15 2024, Updated 2:11 p.m. ET
There are a lot of things I wish we were taught in school. How to do your taxes, how to make a personal budget. These are things that would have been really applicable for real life that were never touched on during my formal education.
An unnamed teacher in an unnamed country went viral for the very real-life lesson she chose to spend time teaching her students. In a short but comprehensive video, this teacher uses a combination of classroom chairs, strategically-placed balloons, and toilet paper to teach her young students how to properly wipe after using the bathroom.
The video has garnered nearly 50,000 retweets and over 165,000 likes. Her students sit there absolutely rapt as she shows them the piece of toilet paper, simulates wiping once, folds the paper over, simulates wiping again, folds a third time, and then simulates one last wipe.
She makes sure to highlight the front-to-back method, using two balloons positioned next to each other as butt cheeks. It is absolutely brilliant. Because here's the thing. Kids are terrible at wiping. Some adults are terrible at wiping! I am of the mind that this should be a standard lesson in schools for kids who are just learning how to go to the bathroom by themselves.
And most people agreed, with one user writing, "I believe you're right. I'm sire some are offended, but I this imaginative and wise. Thanks."
These kids are clearly at an age where they are potty-training and figuring out that whole bathroom thing. I can't imagine this teacher wants to spend all day inspecting her students' backsides to make sure they're not carrying pull-ups full of poop with them everywhere they go.
And the balloons are a particularly genius touch. Not only do they look like butts, but what kid can resist balloons? Kids love balloons. They were all completely enraptured by this essential lesson. You can tell.
But not everyone agrees that this is something that should be taught in schools. There were many comments from people who believed that intimate lessons like these should be reserved for home and taught to children by their own parents. "Seriously?" one Twitter user wrote. "Should be taught at home."
But, first of all, not all parents have the time and resources to devote to properly teaching their kids how to wipe. Second of all, even if they are taught the proper way at home, it's never bad to reinforce something as important as this in school! And third of all, as one Twitter user points out, kids probably listen to their teacher more than they do their own parents anyway.
"I believe you're right. I'm sure some are offended, but I this this is imaginative and wise. Thanks." one user tweeted.
Not to mention, there are also some adults who still don't know how to wipe the right way. We can't expect them to teach their kids the right way if they're still doing it wrong. You know? Someone suggested that they hold this class for adults too, and honestly, that's not the worst idea I've ever heard.
Other tweets were more playful, with one writing "the balloon butts are taking me out."
But the most important thing is that this teacher is a brilliant genius. She is doing a massive service to a whole grade full of kids and clearly, she does not get paid enough. Give this woman a raise.
She's like the fairy godmother of wiping. A benevolent all-powerful being who controls future generations with mesmerizing balloons and life lessons. A Mary Poppins who dazzles you with toilet paper. She is, in short, a hero.
This article was already published on October 21, 2019. It has since been updated.