upworthy

oprah winfrey

Teachers

First grade teacher's fierce 'private parts' song is shifting the way we talk about abuse

"They need to know the value in their 'no.'"

Photo Credit: Gelda Waterboer

Gelda Waterboer sings to first grade class about consent.

First grade teacher, Gelda Waterboer, went viral across the world in August of 2025 for passionately singing a song to her students at a school in Namibia. This wasn't just any song, though. It was a cautionary tale about understanding body autonomy and reporting abuse. She sang this with her whole heart—and quite possibly, the most moving aspect of it was that the kids knew every word. There was nothing unclear about the message.

The lyrics of the song, set to a familiar nursery-rhyme melody, were simple: "These are my private parts, private parts, private parts, these are my private parts, no one should touch them." As she sings, she vaguely illustrates the areas that are considered "private." She continues, "And if you touch my private parts, private parts, private parts, if you touch my private parts, I will tell my mother. I will tell my father. I will tell my teacher."

The clip, which has now received over 16 million likes on TikTok alone, has been described as brave and essential, albeit for some, it's a bit divisive. Many in the comments mention what they describe as "aggression," so Waterboer took to TikTok to address it.

As you hear the sound of kids playing in the background, Waterboer points out how many views (and counting) the clip has. "This makes me (to) realize, that there is a great need of awareness that needs to be spread when it comes to the safety of the kids. I wish I had a teacher like me growing up."

Referring to the comment section, "Some of the comments are really funny. But some are like 'the teacher is taking this personal. The teacher is so aggressive. I'm so scared.'" She adds, "I wish I had a teacher who would firmly tell me that it is okay to say no to people you also trust. That you have the right over your body. I take this personally because I wish I knew that growing up. And if you are someone that grew up in a safe environment, if you are someone that is privileged enough not to undergo certain things these kids are going through, you would sit there and say that she's so aggressive."

"Guys, I'm telling you some matters need to be addressed with seriousness. They need to know the value in their 'no.'"

She also notes how taboo the topic has traditionally been, which might halt children from speaking up and may be the root cause of some of the negative comments. "As Africans, we take such topics as taboo...For me, as long as I'm a teacher, I have vowed that I will be the teacher that I never had growing up...I will make sure that I'm that teacher that I needed when I was growing up. I will be that teacher that will provide protection for these kids. I will be that teacher that will make sure that they will come to their highest potential of their self. So excuse me, if I was so 'aggressive.' Because yes, it's personal for me. It's very personal."

Waterboer spoke with Upworthy and shared that the kids' parents were grateful for the song. "None of my parents showed negative emotions. They were rather glad and happy that such education and awareness is being brought to their children." She also noted that while this was the first time she recorded the song, she does it every year. "At the previous school I was at, all of the teachers at the time (grade 2) did the song in the classes. It was something we used to do together as an awareness for our learners. I encourage teachers to introduce this song to their leaners as early as possible."

Joe Vercellino, voted Detroit's Teacher of the Year in 2021, shared his thoughts on the video with Upworthy, heaping praise on Waterboer. "In a world where parents are wondering what their kids are being taught in school about their own body, you should be grateful to have this in the playlist."

Vercellino tours schools, visiting nearly half a million students a year, with his group The Lion Heart Experience. They provide much-need positive programming to students, also sharing catchy songs about self-worth with lyrics like, "I have worth, I have value, I have a beautiful future."

The Lion Heart Experience shares their song about self-worth. www.youtube.com, The Lion Heart Experience

With regard to the people who find it offensive, he says, "It almost throws you off-guard at first, you are almost hit with a wave of offense then you realize, this is exactly what I want my kid to know and believe."

Ciara Bogdanovic, LMFT, also spoke with Upworthy, adding how valuable these kinds of difficult conversations with children are. "Talking about this is not a one and done conversation. It’s an ongoing teaching of helping children say no, assert their own boundaries, and to learn that they have agency over their bodies."

It's a vulnerable topic for sure, but one that must be continued for the safety of kids. Oprah Winfrey has been extremely open on the subject, sharing her own experience with childhood molestation to caution children and their parents on how insidiously common it is. Just a few years ago, she re-broached the topic on her Apple+ TV series, The Me You Can't See, which was co-produced by Prince Harry. After sharing her story of being sexually assaulted by a cousin starting at age nine, she told Harry, "I had no idea what sex was, I had no idea where babies came from, I didn’t even know what was happening to me, and I kept that secret."

Oprah Winfrey shares vulnerable thoughts about trauma on The Today Show www.youtube.com, The Today Show

But it was a teacher who intervened and saved her from the situation. "It’s the reason why for so many years I wanted to be a teacher, to be able to give to other kids what my teachers had given to me.”

From Your Site Articles
teaching consent
TeachersEducation
Identity

Oprah's controversial 1992 secret racism experiment on her audience is still matters today

People turned on each other quickly.

via BrightBeagles/YouTube

A woman gets angry on an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

On an old episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in July 1992, Oprah put her audience through a social experiment that puts racism in a new light. Despite being over three decades old, it's as relevant today as ever. She split the audience members into two groups based on their eye color. Those with brown eyes were given preferential treatment by getting to cut the line and offered refreshments while they waited to be seated. Those with blue eyes were made to put on a green collar and wait in a crowd for two hours.

Staff were instructed to be extra polite to brown-eyed people and to discriminate against blue-eyed people. Her guest for that day's show was diversity expert Jane Elliott, who helped set up the experiment and played along, explaining that brown-eyed people were smarter than blue-eyed people.

Elliott is an internationally known teacher, lecturer, and diversity trainer who, in 1968, after the assignation of Martin Luther King, Jr., performed the controversial and startling "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise" in her third-grade classroom.

What is the Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes Exercise?

Watch the video to see how this experiment plays out.

oprah, racism, oprah wingrey, blue eyed/brown eye, jane elliott, oprah controversywww.youtube.com


One of the most interesting parts of the video is when, even though the blue- and brown-eyed people were segregated by Oprah's staff, they became angry with one another. One woman with brown eyes began to chastise the blue-eyed people, remembering the blue-eyed friend she had in the past. "I had a girlfriend in school who was blue-eyed," the brown-eyed audience member said. "She was so stupid. She was always copying off of my papers. These people were so rude and so noisy today. We couldn't hear any ourselves, not even talk; it was ridiculous."

From the stage, Eliott, pretending to be a brown-eyed supremacist, sternly talked about how brown-eyed people were superior but were called out for having blue eyes. She defended her position by saying she's learned to act like a brown-eyed person. "I've learned to act brown-eyed. I have a brownie husband and three brown-eyed children," Eliott told the audience. "Why did you get the message in this room is? It's to act brown-eyed, and you, too, can take off your collar. Act intelligently, and you, too, won't need your collar. None of you have acted intelligently yet."


Eventually, the audience realized that the experiment was about race, and Eliott stopped the brown-eyed supremacist posturing and began explaining how this experiment plays out in everyday America, but it's about skin, not eye color. That didn't stop one of the audience members from trotting out an old racist trope. "We can see where this is going. She's saying that everybody has racism in them. It's not really about the eye. She's trying to teach about racism," the male audience member said. "But she can't get away from the fact that God created the races, and you are going to be different. You can't help it."

Elliott had the perfect retort to the man who claimed that racism was divinely internet: "God created one race, the human race, and human beings created racism."

Watch the entire segment here:


- YouTubewww.youtube.com


This article originally appeared six years ago.

From Your Site Articles
racism
IdentityRace & Ethnicity
Joy

19 brutally honest pieces of advice that 'everyone should know'

"When someone shows you who they are believe them."

via Canva/Photos

A woman coming to grips with a harsh truth about life.

Life is filled with lessons; unfortunately, there are some we must learn the hard way, whether it’s how the real world works when you start your career or the first time someone breaks your heart. These lessons are essential to learn so that you don’t have to go through the same pain again, but don’t you wish you learned them the easy way — by hearing the harsh truth from others — rather than going through the pain yourself?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could download all of these harsh truths into your brain to learn them the easy way? Some folks online got together and did just that. And, for those who pay attention, it can save them a lot of grief in the future. Many touched upon the thornier issues in life, love, family, friendships, the transitory nature of relationships, and how you can do everything right and still lose.


We chose the top 19 “brutally honest” pieces of advice that were the most important so you don’t have to learn them the tough way.

1. Take care of yourself

"If you have poor hygiene, you will be treated poorly."

"People can and will judge by appearances, so don’t make it any easier for them to do so."

2. Don't ever expect the world to be fair.

"But work to make the parts of the world you influence as fair as possible."

"The concept of fairness is a human invention, which implies that fairness only exists in reality when humans put it there. That's the only way it exists. Do your part."

3. Your job doesn't care about you

"Your company doesn’t give a sh*t about you. If you die, your job will be posted within the week to replace you. You might get a bouquet of flowers on the break room table, but once those die, so will your presence at the job."

"A coworker of mine passed away from cancer a few years back. I think about her sometimes, though we never worked closely, but they sent out an email, and that was that."



4. No one has to forgive you

"Just because you apologize to someone doesn't mean they have to forgive and forget what you did to them."

"The reverse is also true, you don't have to forgive someone just because they apologized to you."

Even though we are conditioned to say "it's okay" when someone apologizes to us, we don't have to condone their actions. Karina Schumann, a psychology professor who studies conflict resolution, apologies, and forgiveness at the University of Pittsburgh, says we only owe them a genuine response. “It’s important to be genuine without being hostile,” says Schumann. “Research shows that using a ‘constructive voice’ — where you voice your concerns in a positive, calm way — is the most effective way to invite behavioral changes and better relationships. Sweeping things under the rug and pretending to forgive when you’re not ready is not going to fix the problem.”

5. 'Brutal opinions aren't always true

"People who describe themselves as brutally honest are usually more interested in the brutality than the honesty."

6. Not all friends are forever

"Friends come and go and some were never really friends."

"And some that ran their course years later start again and it’s like a totally new relationship since you’re in a completely different phase of your life!"

"Can I add that just because you may have had good times with people, that does not make them good friends."



7. Some people shouldn't have kids

"People who are dumb, trashy, or otherwise not great will lack the critical thinking skills to realize they won’t be great parents, or maybe that they won’t have the money to raise a child well. People who are smarter, or have better jobs and lives, will be more likely to not have kids so they can preserve their good life, or will maybe think “maybe I won’t be a good parent” and will not have kids, these people are infinitely better equipped to have kids. This means that a majority of people having kids will not raise them well, a majority of kids will be raised poorly, and a majority of kids will display the same poor personality traits as their parents."

8. No one else’s life revolves around you

"Yep, we all suffer from Main Character Syndrome, but we’re all just extras in someone else’s world."

9. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time

"I kind of guess it means. Don’t let yourself be fooled and do not gaslight yourself. Don’t excuse bad behavior; say sorry that’s not acceptable, and I’m no longer going to tolerate it. Bye bye, Felicia."

This quote is believed to have been first written by writer Maya Angelou, and Orpah Winfrey would later expand on it to share how it applies to our daily lives. "Remember this because it will happen many times in your life," Winfrey said. "When people show you who they are the first time believe them. Not the 29th. time. When a man doesn't call you back the first time, when you are mistreated the first time, when someone shows you a lack of integrity or dishonesty the first time, know that this will be followed many, many other times, and that will some point in life come back to haunt or hurt you. Live your life in truth. Don't pretend to be someone you're not. You will survive anything if you live your life from the point of view of truth.”



10. Sometimes you lose

"'It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.' Jean-Luc Picard."

"Another from sports: The best team doesn't always win; the team that plays the best does."

11. Some bridges are worth burning

"Don't hang on to toxic people, INCLUDING FAMILY. Don't fall for the 'But they are your family...'"

12. If it’s not yes, it’s a no

"Particularly helpful dating advice."

"If they like you, you’ll know it. If they don’t, you’ll feel confused."

"Also add, stop saying no when you mean yes. People can’t read minds."



13. Learn to deal with yourself

"The person who you spend the most time with is yourself. Literally, 24/7 til you die. Learn to deal/exist with that person."

"If you can’t like yourself, why would anyone else? Instead of complaining that no one likes you, work on making yourself into someone likable."

14. Use protection

"Wear a condom. Especially if she tells you you don’t have to and you don’t know her very well."

"In general, when anyone tells you that you don't need something that is for your protection/safety/peace-of-mind, YOU NEED IT."

15. Simple isn't always right

"We live in a complex world, and you should be wary of simplistic explanations."



16. Don't be afraid to fail

"Doing nothing is often worse then doing something wrong. Go make mistakes. Live your life and collect memories and wisdom. If you are in the box. Be there cause you chose to, not because someone told you to be there."

17. Maybe you just don't want it

"If you keep making excuses as to why you aren’t meeting some goal, maybe you just don’t actually want to achieve said goal. And if you just accept this, then you can spend your time focusing on a goal you actually want to achieve."

"You make time for the things you care about and excuses for the things you don't."

18. Be wary of critics

"Only accept criticism from someone you’d take advice from."

"And only take advice from someone successful in the topic at hand."

19. Be pleasant

"Once you reach adulthood, being an a**hole is going to close a lot of doors for you: at school, at work, with friends, and with family. Some of those doors don’t open again. Adults don’t go out of their way to help unpleasant people."

"Similarly, way too many people focus entirely on 'I don't owe anyone anything' and don't focus enough on common courtesy and basic respect. If you refuse to ever help someone else unless you're strictly obligated to, don't be surprised when nobody opts to help you when you need it."

From Your Site Articles
advice
JoyCommunity
Health

People are sharing the 'telltale sign' that someone is a selfish person. Here are 17 red flags.

“When people show you who they are, believe them.”

via Sarah_Loetscher/PixaBay

"Who me?" A woman asks if she is selfish.

In 1997, Oprah Winfrey spoke with Maya Angelou for an “Oprah’s Lifeclass” episode, and she revealed one of the most important lessons the “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” author had taught her: “When people show you who they are, believe them.”

“When a person says to you, ‘I’m selfish,’ or ‘I’m mean,’ or ‘I am unkind,’ believe them,” Oprah says in the clip. “They know themselves much better than you do.”

Oprah recounted the life advice while discussing a relationship with a man she felt had let her down. “[Dr. Angelou] was saying to me, ‘Why are you blaming the other person? He showed you who he was,'" Oprah recalled.

Angelou’s simple advice is a great way to detect potential red flags, whether someone has a new romantic partner, coworker or friend. It’s especially helpful when we’re unsure of how to judge someone or in denial about their questionable behavior.

A Reddit user with the username Potatoe_stealer asked the online forum, “What is a telltale sign that someone is a selfish person?” and the question received over 7,000 responses. Many of them explained how selfish people often disregard others in conversations or downplay the seriousness of their problems.

This is a great way to determine if someone will be selfish when a conversation turns into action. According to this group of Reddit users, if someone is cutting you off when you speak, they may not be there for you when things get rough.

Here are 19 of the best responses to the question: "What is a telltale sign that someone is a selfish person?"

1.

"They feel no remorse for how they’ve hurt others." — avidhiker96150

2.

"Doesn’t think they’re wrong in the slightest bit. They can’t shoulder any bit of responsibility." — No_Key_6276

3.

"They don't remember the times people helped them, but remember clearly all the times they have helped others." — GoodMerlinpeen

4.

"They respond how worse their situation is when you’re sharing your problems with them. No try for help or listening, just trying to draw attention on their side." — seyfgs

5.

"They gladly take any favours you do for them, but when asked if they could reciprocate once, they get defensive and or aggressive and act like you're the selfish one for daring to expect something in return. It doesn’t make you a bad person to expect reciprocation in a relationship with someone else, romantic or platonic. Relationships are give and take and that makes them healthy. It's not entitlement to expect kindness if you give kindness. If you're the only one giving, you're being taken advantage of." — random-sh**-writing

6.

"Every bad thing you do to them is drama-worthy. Every bad thing they do to you are details and should be moved on from, and why can't you just do that? You're so dramatic!" — Pasdusername

7.

"If you are in a group and there is one person that is constantly interrupting the middle of what you or anyone else is saying generally to brag about themselves with a 'one-upper' story, is generally a precursor to stop associating with them. I've met too many of them in my days and they are more often than not happy to throw you under the bus whenever the opportunity arises." —Philay_shio

8.

"If they always talk about themselves." —Effective-Craft-1173

9.

"They have that superpower to lead everything back to themselves. Even when you're actually talking about your own life or a specific problem of yours, they somehow make it that you start talking about them instead without even changing the topic." — Anskin12

10.

"They have that superpower to lead everything back to themselves. Even when you're actually talking about your own life or a specific problem of yours, they somehow make it that you start talking about them instead without even changing the topic." — AnnaVonKleve

11.

"Cliche answer but I have found the 'return the shopping cart' test to be pretty accurate. It is such a small thing, but it does tell you if a person thinks small things like that matter." — LeeroyTC

12.

"They're rude to waitstaff or just staff and employees in general. Or if their situational awareness is severely lacking and they don't seem to have a problem with it." — SpeedBlitzX

13.

"Trauma dumping and then not reciprocating if someone else had a bad day/felt comfortable enough to open up to them." — PessimistThePillager

14.

"People who have kids on purpose, and then act like their kids owe them (well above and beyond basic kindness and human respect) for the rest of their lives." — femmetastic

15.

"Poor listener." — Pristine-Practice-51

16.

"When they monologue at you. Every conversation is just them performing and everyone else is just part of the audience." — blocky_jabberwocky

17.

"People who always talk about money or the grind. Usually, they will sell you out in a heartbeat or take advantage of others for money which is pretty selfish." — stonebutts

From Your Site Articles
psychology
HealthMental Health
Trending Stories