The way a teacher corrected a kid's answer on a quiz has enraged math nerds everywhere.

A simple math problem sparked a massive debate on Reddit, racking up more than 10,000 comments. Or, 2000 + 2000 + 2000 + 2000 + 2000 views.

A student was asked to use the “addition strategy” to solve 5×3. They wrote 5+5+5, which equals 15. Correct, right? Not according to their teacher, who docked points and insisted the answer should be written as 3+3+3+3+3—also 15.

Now people are arguing: Is this nitpicky grading, or a sign that something’s broken in how we teach math?

Photo by Artturi Jalli on Unsplash | Math on a chalkboard.

Does that seem pedantic to you?

Comments seem to be mainly focusing on how pedantic the teacher’s response was, and how it essentially discourages kids from any interest in math they might have. Math is boring and hard enough without being petty.

One user writes, "What pisses me off is that this is teaching the kid 'Why even bother learning anything in school? Even if I do it right, it's still wrong.'

They’re being prepped for the real world, maybe?"

This article originally appeared last year.