Nearly 22% of students report being bullied during the school year, according to a 2015 survey from the National Center for Education Statistics, and that's not including the 64% of children who don't report it. Bullying has been a problem for years, targeting youth for a variety of reasons from color to disability, weight, or even sexual orientation.

Recently, a teacher from Relax Kids introduced an innovative and hands-on activity demonstrating the effects of bullying. Relax Kids is a training program for healthcare professionals, therapists, parents and caretakers, entrepreneurs, and educational professionals dedicated to helping kids overcome some of life’s biggest obstacles. Through these trainings, teachers and therapists alike are taught to help kids relax and overcome struggles with autism, ADHD, and other special or emotional needs.

About a week ago, Rosie Dutton, a program coach and teacher from the company, posted a valuable lesson to Facebook, showing the seemingly invisible effects of bullying.The demonstration and post soon went viral:

“I introduced the children to two apples (the children didn't know this, but before the class I had repeatedly dropped one of the apples on the floor, you couldn't tell, both apples looked perfect). We talked about the apples and the children described how both apples looked the same.

I picked up the apple I'd dropped on the floor and started to tell the children how I disliked this apple … it was a horrible color and the stem was just too short. I told them that because I didn't like it, I didn't want them to like it either, so they should call it names too.

We passed the apple around the circle calling it names, 'you're a smelly apple', 'I don't even know why you exist', 'you've probably got worms inside you' [and so forth].

We then passed another apple around and started to say kind words to it, 'You're a lovely apple', 'Your skin is beautiful', [and] 'What a beautiful color you are.'

I then held up both apples, and again, we talked about the similarities and differences, there was no change, both apples still looked the same.

I then cut the apples open. The apple we'd been kind to was clear, fresh and juicy inside…[and] The apple we'd said unkind words to was bruised and all mushy inside.

I think there was a lightbulb moment for the children immediately. They really got it, what we saw inside that apple, the bruises, the mush and the broken bits is what is happening inside every one of us when someone mistreats us with their words or actions.”

Focusing on the power of words and the impact we have on one another, Dutton made a point that has never been so perfectly portrayed: “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 cut that apple open, we would never have known how much pain we had caused it.” Physical and verbal abuse like this can have serious and long lasting psychological effects, especially on youth. Dutton's lesson provides hope and serves as a vital reminder that we need to teach our children, often, that bullying just isn't okay and will not be tolerated. Just because you can't see a bruise on the outside doesn't mean that the words didn't leave scars within.

This lesson should be a reminder to everyone, young and old, that words really do matter, and bullying has an impact that can be masked by a smile. Words have the ability to cause permanent damage to a person, however, “Unlike an apple, we have the ability to stop this from happening" (Dutton). I'd like to imagine that if we taught more and more lessons like this, bullying, especially amongst youth, would diminish significantly.

The emphasis on the effects of bullying, long term and short term are seldom expressed and this is why Dutton's lesson is so vital, especially in an age where technology plays a large role our lives. We not only have to worry about physical and verbal bullying, but also cyberbullying, which is becoming far more prevalent. By teaching lessons like these, and on a more frequent basis, there is hope for a change.