Teacher's clever lesson on bullying

The teacher's clever lesson has gone viral on Facebook. Photo / Facebook / Relax Kids Tamworth

A teacher's simple yet powerful message on bullying has gone viral.

Rosie Dutton, from Relax Kids in Tamworth, UK, used two apples to demonstrate to her class the damaging impact of school bullies, in a lesson that has resonated with adults and children alike.

Prior to the lesson, Dutton had repeatedly dropped one of the apples on the floor to ensure it was bruised, but from the outside, both apples looked perfect.

"I picked up the apple I'd dropped on the floor and started to tell the children how I disliked this apple, that I thought it was disgusting, it was a horrible colour and the stem was just too short," Dutton wrote on Facebook.

She then told the class to pass the apple around, and to tell it how much they hated it.

As the children passed the apple around, calling it names and dropping it on the floor, the teacher then produced the other apple, and told the class to say kind words to it.

She then collected both the apples, and showed the class how both looked the same from the outside.

As the curious class gathered around, she cut both apples open, to reveal the difference between the two fruits.

"The apple we'd said unkind words to was bruised and all mushy inside," she wrote.

"When people are bullied, especially children, they feel horrible inside and sometimes don't show or tell others how they are feeling. If we hadn't have cut that apple open, we would never have known how much pain we had caused it."

As the children took in the message, Dutton told them of her own experience of dealing with hurtful actions from others.

"The tongue has no bones, but is strong enough to break a heart, she wrote. "So be careful with your words."

The simple message has been shared more than 230,000 times on Facebook.

-nzherald.co.nz