The assignment paper suggests, “If you think you’re too fat, keep it to yourself,” and other wildly misogynistic advice.
When the mother of a 16-year-old girl saw what her daughter brought home as a class-issued assignment, she was so dumbfounded she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Her daughter was enrolled in a class called “Adult Roles and Financial Literacy,” which was to serve as a sort of catch-all for all those topics that you “wish they’d taught you in high school.”
Well, this assignment was certainly something no one asked for. The homework crossed a number of lines, not only asking girls and boys to go on a date together that cost just $5 (which is interesting, but maybe not something that should be in the school’s purview) but also issuing “SUGGESTIONS FOR THE GIRLS” as stated by the boys.
Naturally, the instructions and guidelines for the girls were printed on pink paper because...why hold back on that one, right?
As one would imagine, there’s no shortage of frustrations to be found on this sheet of paper. The general concept of the assignment, the solicitation of boys’ “suggestions,” and the far-from-academic nature of the list all demonstrate pretty big lapses in judgment, if not ill intent.
Lacy’s mom, Jenn Oxborrow, shared the above photo on Facebook to both make sure she wasn’t crazy for being outraged here and to let people know that this sort of thing happens in high schools...at the behest of teachers. She said to local news station ABC4, "I was shocked. I was completely disbelieving that this could be a real assignment."
The station then aired a story that made this assignment a very public matter:
It didn’t take long for the Utah State Board of Education to start receiving calls asking what this assignment had to do with a high school education.
The school board was quick to repudiate the assignment. "As soon as this was brought to our attention, it's clearly inappropriate, and we had it taken down," spokesperson Mark Peterson went on record as saying.
There’s no word yet on the fate of the teacher issuing the assignment, but it’s been revealed that it was taken from a Utah teacher’s forum online, but not sponsored by the school or school board.
For those curious, the boys in the class were also given a sheet based on suggestions from girls that included delightful advice like “no gross noises,” and not to bemoan the fact they’re spending money on a date. Admittedly, that’s decent advice but surely it can come from life experience rather than forced dates administered by a teacher.
It’s clear Lacy did learn something from the lesson plan, even if it wasn’t what was intended. She said on the matter, "I mean this is 2017 a girl can decide what she wants to do. There were just a lot of gender bias comments on those pages."
True, and you hope that a teacher would have recognized that before sharing them with the students.
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