‘It’s offensive,’ local elementary student speaks out against Common Core math problem

[CaptainK]

Then punish the bullies and teach about the difference between measuring and judging. This is a school, it's literally their job

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... or how about just don't use math problems about comparing girls' weights?

I'm a bit surprised this doesn't have more support on Era. Girls who are insecure about their bodies don't need a reminder from a friggin' math problem. And it's not just girls who have body image issues. Let's be better, especially when it's super easy to do.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/st...gle-with-binge-drinking-and-other-woes.79766/

https://www.resetera.com/threads/male-body-image-in-modern-television-and-film.125777/

 

[bionic77]

A lot of math problems are dumb and are poorly written because they have to come up with so many of them.

I am surprised there are not more of these issues. Even from the workbooks in Kumon and JEI that my kids have done I see a lot of badly written math problems. I also remember that in school where you could usually figure out what the person who wrote the test wanted, but as I said its probably a consequence of having to come up with so many damn questions.

 

[Brakke]

The reasoning is good and kind and the stakes are so low. It's a nice story.

 

[Z-Beat]

no it's dancing

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It is dancing...WITH GANGS

 

[GodofWine]

I have kids in this general range, I'd probably not have batted an eye over that question, its still a math question, and I'd just say "answer the question".

Its not an offensive question to me, its just trying to use tangible things in the wording vs. 'you have 3 amorphous lumps of stuff'. Some people weigh more, its OK to weigh more, you can't tell people who weigh more they dont weigh more.

You can teach respect though. You can also teach healthy choices over 'body acceptance' (which if used only to mask terrible decisions is bogus), but none of these have anything to do with math. The math question was fine.

(Flip side, they only use boys names in questions - that would be sexist too)

 

[Jegriva]

Now if you want offensive math questions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Reynouard

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Yeah, sometimes I see why some people say libs get offende by everything. People have different weights, nothing bad about it.

 

[bangai-o]

It is a word problem. Is every word problem Common Core now?

 

[Dalek]

Blame text book manufacturers for coming up with this garbage, they're far more to blame for the shitty state of the US education system then any government policy of what students should know by what grade.

People who think common core is bad have gone down the same mental rabbit hole that anti-vaxers have. You've taken misinformation, done nothing to vet the information yourself, and decided it was gospel off disingenuous examples.

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Anytime any conversation comes up about anything where Common Core is even REMOTELY involved-people want to come into the thread and derail it by talking about what "Common Core Is" instead of talking about the actual problem in the news story.

It would be as if I broke my leg and went to the doctor in agonizing pain and then instead of immediately helping me the the doctor said "Wellllll, actually it's not a break. What you have is a small fracture, blah blah blah blah blah...."

As others have said-THIS STORY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COMMON CORE. But here we are with people coming in to tell us what Common Core really is. It's like clockwork in every thread. Test questions like this have existed for decades.

It is a word problem. Is every word problem Common Core now?

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Of course not.

 

[Apath]

.

 

[Deleted member 8860]

Anytime any conversation comes up about anything where Common Core is even REMOTELY involved-people want to come into the thread and derail it by talking about what "Common Core Is" instead of talking about the actual problem in the news story.

It would be as if I broke my leg and went to the doctor in agonizing pain and then instead of immediately helping me the the doctor said "Wellllll, actually it's not a break. What you have is a small fracture, blah blah blah blah blah...."

As others have said-THIS STORY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COMMON CORE. But here we are with people coming in to tell us what Common Core really is. It's like clockwork in every thread. Test questions like this have existed for decades.

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It's right there in the title of the thread and the linked news story — blaming common core is clearly an angle the journalist is going for.

 

[Shining Star]

How is that offensive? it's just comparing numbers it's not judging them or anything.

 

[spootime]

Sounds like a mom using her kid to push her own agenda.

 

[mugwhump]

Isn't "common core" just a standard of what students are expected to know by certain grades, and doesn't actually specify HOW math is taught? It's ridiculous how common core has become some conspiracy on the right supposedly brainwashing students to use "Feelings over logic"

 

[Deleted member 12224]

Sounds like a mom using her kid to push her own agenda.

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I know the dad, at least. I don't think that's the case.

 

[Ultima_5]

It's weird they specify common core instead of saying a word problem. Didn't conservatives go nuts at Obama due to common core for some reason?

 

[Doomsayer]

So the question was "This girl weighs X and this girl weighs Y, what is the difference in their weight?"

That's offensive? It may be a stupid question but I don't understand how that is offensive.

I also don't think a 9 year old thought this up on her own, but who knows.

 

[Mona]

i guess the Rhythm is going to get you

i don't think this needs to be a national debate, but the situation playing out the way it did seems innocuous enough

 

[NeverWas]

I'm sorry numbers offend you. I hope your family can cope through this tragic, traumatizing event.

 

[Azerth]

i dont see why this is offensive.

 

[Ivy Veritas]

Isn't "common core" just a standard of what students are expected to know by certain grades, and doesn't actually specify HOW math is taught? It's ridiculous how common core has become some conspiracy on the right supposedly brainwashing students to use "Feelings over logic"

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Yes. The journalist, or at least the person that wrote the title of the article, is obviously pushing an agenda that has nothing to do with whether the question is offensive or not. As near as I can tell, the most closely relevant standard for fourth graders is the following. It's not an exact match, but it's possible the exact match came from an earlier grade, or is a combination of multiple standards.

Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), ...

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For those who blame the Common Core, I'd be very curious to know exactly which part of this paragraph they consider to be offensive.

When there's an offensive question, or a stupid question, in every article I've ever seen on the subject, it's been the fault of the teacher, or the school, or the curriculum publisher. So why, then, do the articles always blame the Common Core?

 

[mugwhump]

Yes. The journalist, or at least the person that wrote the title of the article, is obviously pushing an agenda that has nothing to do with whether the question is offensive or not. As near as I can tell, the most closely relevant standard for fourth graders is the following. It's not an exact match, but it's possible the exact match came from an earlier grade, or is a combination of multiple standards.



For those who blame the Common Core, I'd be very curious to know exactly which part of this paragraph they consider to be offensive.

When there's an offensive question, or a stupid question, in every article I've ever seen on the subject, it's been the fault of the teacher, or the school, or the curriculum publisher. So why, then, do the articles always blame the Common Core?

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Yeah that seems completely unremarkable. I think it's just that some textbooks advertised themselves as being "common core compliant" and slapped "common core" on the bottom of every page. Then when a parent sees some question they find silly and posts a picture of it on social media everybody thinks it's common core's fault instead of the textbook's fault.

 

[Lafazar]

As a math teacher myself I would definitely avoid asking a question like that.

Even though I personally don't find this example to be particularly offensive myself, I can totally understand where the criticism is coming from and I consider this a sensitive enough subject. So why pick girls' weight as quantity for comparison when there are thousands of other possibilities?

 

[Rendering...]

It's weird they specify common core instead of saying a word problem. Didn't conservatives go nuts at Obama due to common core for some reason?

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No black man is going to tell MY children what numbers mean!

 

[DJ_Lae]

My daughter is 9 and I cannot imagine her having any real emotional response to that question. Those sort of math problems are all nonsense in and around the important numbers, anyway, although you could change weight for height or make it about boys and I suppose it would draw less attention.

The name Rhythm is completely unrelated, too, although it is interesting. I had to look and in the last 30 years there have been 19 kids named Rhythm here in Alberta - 10 girls and 9 boys. But while odd it's definitely nowhere near the bottom of the list.

 

[Z-Beat]

If you don't have two kids and name the other Blues then what's the point

 

[Ultima_5]

No black man is going to tell MY children what numbers mean!

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i kinda felt this article was written this way to get conservatives angry for 1) the common core thing, 2) the girl not liking the question. if it just said math problem i wouldn't think it was a bait article lol

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

I was expecting worse. I'm sure someone out there will write a really messed up question now.

 

[Bleu]

she has a bright future on twitter.

 

[Cat Party]

I'm gonna give a big HELL YEAH to the 9 year old and a big FUCK OFF to the posters doubting or belittling her concerns.

 

[bangai-o]

Anytime any conversation comes up about anything where Common Core is even REMOTELY involved-people want to come into the thread and derail it by talking about what "Common Core Is" instead of talking about the actual problem in the news story.

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It is in the thread title. Lecture the OP who put in the the thread title.

 

[Top NHST Product]

I'm gonna give a big HELL YEAH to the 9 year old and a big FUCK OFF to the posters doubting or belittling her concerns.

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It's almost like teenagers and younger kids can develop eating disorders too. Hell, maybe as a little girl she's even seen it in peers since she's on the verge of hitting middle school and probably associates with some kids in that age group?

I really hope we continue producing more people like her than the amount of dudes outraged over a little kid thinking something wasn't nice itt.

 

[RPGam3r]

People have different weights and like all things that vary they can be compared. What's offensive is how little shit like this is being called "offensive."

 

[HellforLeather]

"Rhythm"

What woke white people name their kids

 

[Deleted member 21709]

I have kids in this general range, I'd probably not have batted an eye over that question, its still a math question, and I'd just say "answer the question".

Its not an offensive question to me, its just trying to use tangible things in the wording vs. 'you have 3 amorphous lumps of stuff'. Some people weigh more, its OK to weigh more, you can't tell people who weigh more they dont weigh more.

You can teach respect though. You can also teach healthy choices over 'body acceptance' (which if used only to mask terrible decisions is bogus), but none of these have anything to do with math. The math question was fine.

(Flip side, they only use boys names in questions - that would be sexist too)

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Maybe you should say more than 'answer the question'. And of course you're not offended by the question, you aren't a young girl.

totally thought this was an Onion article when I got to this point.

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Name shaming again?

Sounds like a mom using her kid to push her own agenda.

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For some reason this thread is bringing everyone out of the woodwork.

 

[Baccus]

Jeez. Just use cows next time or something.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

Lol, really? you are going to bring in the history of social gender oppression in saying a person is more heavy than another person? In a problem for 9 years old?

Goddamn, the projection you people do.

Just because something you make a correlation in your mind does not mean it's right

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I agree, nothing is offensive when you ignore history and context. Another stellar post from you.

 

[excelsiorlef]

*skims page 1* Fuck how did I end up on Reddit

Spoil me has anyone claimed that 9 year old girls like this are why Trump will win in 2020

 

[Deleted member 21709]

A lot of you guys in this thread are saying how just comparing weights isn't an issue since the problem isn't saying if one is better than the other, and objectively that may be true. But kids don't think that way, you guys should try to picture this from their perspective.

Young girls are self conscious about their weight and mentioning it even in a benign way like this might be enough to make them feel horrible about themselves. I mean, they are already feeling bad because they have to do math homework, and now they have a sensitive topic like this brought up to distract them? This kind of thing could even lead into bullying later with the kids joking about a heavier kid in the class being one of the kids in the math problem. Kids don't always think in clear rational and objective ways. I totally understand why this girl would have an issue with this sort of question for that reason.

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Thank you.

 

[Deepwater]

9 year old girl: hey maybe this word problem is inappropriate given how ingrained body shaming is used against women of all ages, but particularly children

Era: what a fucking Over sensitive asshole. We can't compare body weights anymore?! This is why trump won...

 

[Midramble]

Is there a reasonable consensus on the threshold of offense sensitivity?

Is there a line at some thinness of reference/association where all people can agree that the effect of offense is better remedied by the offended moving on vs the offender removing the reference? How important is intention on establishing this line?

 

[Vimto]

People have different weights and heights.. get over it.

Now if you want offensive math questions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Reynouard

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Now THIS is something.. goddamn lol

 

[Deepwater]

Is there a reasonable consensus on the threshold of offense sensitivity?

Is there a line at some thinness of reference/association where all people can agree that the effect of offense is better remedied by the offended moving on vs the offender removing the reference? How important is intention on establishing this line?

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reasonable consensus is what I say it is. If I don't think it's reasonable, then you're just outraged.

 

[uncelestial]

Why compare peoples weights at all? Boys or girls.

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It's pretty common for a number of benign reasons. People's weights are literally listed on baseball cards.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

So the question was "This girl weighs X and this girl weighs Y, what is the difference in their weight?"

That's offensive? It may be a stupid question but I don't understand how that is offensive.

I also don't think a 9 year old thought this up on her own, but who knows.

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You are mistaken about the capabilities of 9 year olds. And girls' weights should not be compared in a math problem. Stop being so offended/outraged.

It's pretty common for a number of benign reasons. People's weights are literally listed on baseball cards.

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......

 

[excelsiorlef]

Quick someone should find her Twitter and call her a whiny bitch or something. Maybe throw in that she should lose some weight

You know really put that 9 year old in her place to fight "outage culture"

But guys to better feel empathy for her, what if she announces that when she grows up she's going to involuntarily abstain from dating. Would that work?

 

[pargonta]

calling them person A, B and C and not calling them students would have done wonders

 

[Astral]

Why are you all so angry? It was cute.

 

[uncelestial]

......

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I can see you're confused, so I'll just continue.

- Doctors and personal trainers use people's weights to recommend lifestyle choices.
- Safety technicians and engineers use weight statistics to determine things like an elevator's proper weight tolerance vs. its available space, diving board strength, car seat mechanics, and more
- Athletic organizations group athletes into weight classes
- NASA uses people's weights when considering stress tests under extreme gravitational force
- Sociologists study macro trends in people's weight as part of comparative health reports about regions/states

It's the wrong lesson to say that in all cases, no matter how abstract, hypothetical, or anonymous, we must never talk about people's weight. But if I were the teacher/school, I would totally capitulate and be supportive just in the name of avoiding being on the wrong side of a story like this. Which, as we can see, would be wise.

At any rate, not a big deal, but I rolled my eyes at this. It's cute, but actually it was a teachable moment where more subtle engagement with the girl (what is the etiquette?) could've occurred instead of saying WOW GREAT JOB YOU'RE RIGHT. Because she kind of isn't.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

I can see you're confused, so I'll just continue.

- Doctors and personal trainers use people's weights to recommend lifestyle choices.
- Safety technicians and engineers use weights to determine things like an elevator weight tolerance vs. the available space
- Athletic organizations group athletes into weight classes
- NASA uses people's weights when considering stress tests under extreme gravitational force
- Sociologists study macro trends in people's weight as part of comparative health reports about regions/states

It's the wrong lesson to say that in all cases, no matter how abstract, hypothetical, or anonymous, we must never talk about people's weight. But if I were the teacher/school, I would totally capitulate and be supportive just in the name of avoiding being on the wrong side of a story like this. Which, as we can see, would be wise.

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Oh ok, definitely let the 9 year old girl know this! Of course we should have math problems in the form of comparing girls' weights. Because NASA. Who cares what an actual girl thinks.

 

[Doomsayer]

You are mistaken about the capabilities of 9 year olds. And girls' weights should not be compared in a math problem. Stop being so offended/outraged.

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I'm so outraged I'm going to start a thread on twitter, then maybe I'll get an article written about me as well.

Really though, I'm just trying to understand how the question was offensive, thanks for the condescending comment though!