Over the weekend I came across this tweet.

[tweet https://twitter.com/gameism/status/264743164802396160]

I can only assume the story is genuine – I’ve no reason not to. I was not alone in stumbling across this. At the time of writing this it had been retweeted over 5000 times, and had trended in the US and Canada! This kind of Twitter activity is usually reserved for the likes of  @justinbieber or @KimKardashian

But have a closer look at the comment from the teacher…

We talked about how each square needs to be filled.

Putting aside the obvious stereotyping that was happening here, the fact the teacher is upset that every square has not been filled implies that the girl was not permitted to think for herself, or at the very best was only allowed to think for herself to a point.

For such an assignment to be set in the first place is surprising – I have NO idea what educational purpose it may serve – but for an 8yo to be criticised for suggesting that Legos, computers or bikes are not necessarily the sole domain of boys is quite incredible.

If you want to see how this pans out, apparently @gameism is meeting with the teacher in question this week. You should follow him, as I’m sure he’ll keep us in the loop!

I’m off to play with my daughter and her Thomas the Tank Engine toys…