October 22nd, 2018 was quite a day for some of Anna Trupiano’s first-grade students.

Trupiano teaches at a school where the deaf, hearing impaired, and those with normal hearing all take classes together. And an embarrassing moment in the classroom turned into a teaching moment in an unlikely way.

It all started when one of Trupiano’s deaf students farted loudly in the middle of class. As one would expect, the student’s classmates all looked over and started laughing.

Hey, farts are funny!

But the student couldn’t figure out why everyone was staring, so he asked the teacher. That’s when Trupiano had to explain in American Sign Language that farts are audible.

Her student was horrified.

She recounted on Facebook the roughly 15-minute conversation that subsequently took place between her and 3 of the deaf students in her class.

Kid 1: Why are they looking at me?
Me: Because they heard you fart.
Kid 1: Whhhhat do you mean?!?!
Me: Hearing people can hear farts.
Kid 2: *Totally horrified* Wait, they can hear all farts?!?!
Me: Well no. Not all farts but some of them yes.

Yes, it’s hilarious, but it also gives us a good sense of just how hard it is to be deaf in society and what one misses out on (that no one might think to tell them) when they’re hearing impaired.

A third student then entered the conversation to ask a tough question.

Kid 3: How do you know which farts they can hear, and which farts they can’t?
Me: Hmmm….you know how sometimes you can feel your butt move when you fart? A lot of those they can hear. But if your butt doesn’t move it’s more likely they didn’t hear it.

Could you have explained it better?

The original farter was pretty upset that people were listening in on a private moment. The student didn’t understand that people can’t choose what they hear.

Kid 1: TELL THEM TO STOP LISTENING TO MY FARTS! THAT IS NOT NICE!
Me: Hearing kids can’t stop hearing farts, it just happens.
Kid 2: I just will stop farting then.
Me: Everyone farts, it is healthy. You can’t stop.
Kid 3: Wait. Everyone? Even my mom?
Me: Yep.
Kid 2: My dad?
Me: Yep.
Kid 1: ……You?
Me: Yep.
Kids: *Laugh hysterically*

To be fair, that’s a pretty life-changing realization.

The average person farts between 10-20 times a day, so finding out that those moments have been obvious all along must have felt like a bit of a betrayal at that point. How were they only finding out about this now?!

Kid 1: …So you can hear and smell all the farts?
Me: Some of the farts yes. Not all of them.

That’s got to seem pretty confusing to a first-grader.

The kids – who, remember, are only roughly 7 years old – then wanted to know just how many other senses were stoked by farts. But the conversation descended pretty quickly into joking around.

Kid 2: Can hearing people see farts?
Kid 3: Yeah. Green smoke comes out of their butt, I saw it on TV.
Me: That doesn’t happen in real life.
Kid 1: What?! Ugh. I don’t understand farts.

While Trupiano then jokes that she went to college for 8 years just to have conversations like this, it’s one that will stick in her students’ heads forever.

And, in fact, it’s probably one of the more important life lessons she’s taught.

Be sure to scroll down below to see Trupiano’s original Facebook post, which has been shared over 11,000 times, and some of the over 3,000 comments.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Love What Matters, Anna Trupiano via Facebook, Vox,