Would you ever tell your kids that certain activities, like cooking or playing with Legos, are only for girls or boys? I know I would never do that and I certainly wouldn't want a teacher to do so either …which is why I completely understood why one dad felt compelled to tweet about his third-grade daughter's recent school assignment that seemed to promote gender stereotypes.
Steve Bowler took a picture of his daughter's worksheet and tweeted it with the caption: "Proud my 8yo girl failed this worksheet. Wish she had failed it even 'worse.' #GenderBias." The image showed the little girl's completed assignment, which asked students to sort items and activities, like "Barbies" and "War video games" into one of three categories: boys, girls, or both. As can be seen in the photo, Bowler's daughter had crammed almost all of the answers into the "Both" column. Pretty smart little girl, right?
However, according to Bowler, the teacher didn't acknowledge the young girl's insightful response, instead focusing on her failure to complete the sheet the way he had assigned. "We talked about how each square needs to be filled in," he wrote at the bottom of the paper.
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Bowler's picture sparked outrage in the social media world, causing many to question the purpose of the worksheet. After speaking to the teacher, Bowler posted an update for all of his followers, clarifying that the teacher was part of a bunch of worksheets regarding a story in which a girl is made of for playing "a boy sport"–basketball–and that the assignment was actually a (very misguided) way of pointing out gender stereotypes to the children, not promoting them.
Okay, I know the teacher didn't have bad intentions, but I have to agree with Bowler. This worksheet is an awful activity to have kids do, especially when I can think of about a million better ways of teaching them about gender bias. Plus, the teacher seemed to have handled the situation in completely the wrong way–instead of praising Bowler's daughter for not showing biases, he "corrected" her. Um, doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of the worksheet in the first place?
I understand and agree that these lessons need to be taught to young kids… but teaching them about gender biases by having them act biased is confusing and unnecessary. Why not just skip the hoopla and have a straightforward discussion?
In any case, I think Bowler had reason to react the way he did…if that had been my child, I would have been just as proud!
Image via Reddit
