Last Updated on October 3, 2019
A 9-year-old 4th grader in Utah spoke out after refusing to answer what she considered to be an offensive math question.
The question, in question, contained three hypothetical girls and their weight.
Rhythm Pacheco, 9, refused to answer the “rood [sic]” math question.
In the age of female empowerment and body positivity, however, the math problem could be deemed problematic by some.
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Perhaps a question in relation to hypothetical boys and their respective heights might have been in order.
CTV reports:
“Sorry I won’t (write) this it’s (rude),” wrote 9-year-old Rhythm on her homework, circling the question and adding “What!!!!” above it. The question presented the weights of Isabel, Irene and Sue and asked students to determine how much heavier Isabel is than the lightest of the three.
“I thought it was offensive,” said Rhythm in an interview with Fox 13 News in Murray, Utah. “Girls shouldn’t be comparing each other. I know it was a math problem, but I didn’t think that was really OK.”
Instead of completing the question, the girl wrote a letter to her teacher. “I don’t want to be rude, but I think that math problem wasn’t very nice. I thought that was judging people’s weight,” she said.
The girl’s mother, Naomi Pacheco, said the teacher was responsive and supported her decision not to answer the question. “I feel like it’s such an irresponsible way to teach children how to do math,” said Pacheco to Fox 13.
Other questions on the students’ homework involved dogs and watermelons.
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It is the second time in as many days math education has entered the news cycle.
Earlier today, it was revealed that the Seattle K-12 math curriculum had been give a Critical Race Theory/Ethnic Studies makeover, injecting themes concerning liberation, disenfranchisement, and oppression into mathematics.
