Mom Appalled By Concerning Ancient Greece Assignment Her 13-Year-Old Daughter Received At School — ‘Who Okayed This?’
She questioned if the assignment was bizarre for a bunch of middle schoolers to be doing.
SeventyFour | Canva Pro A mom of a middle schooler questioned whether she was overreacting after learning the details of her daughter's recent school assignment.
In a TikTok video, a woman named Nico expressed her shock and concern over the details of her 13-year-old daughter's school assignment. The assignment required all the young girls in the classroom to be subservient to the young boys based on their study of Ancient Greece.
A mom was appalled by the assignment on ancient Greece her 13-year-old daughter received at school.
"How would you feel if your 13-year-old daughter came home with a paper that said they wouldn't be able to enter a classroom without a boy escort and would be required to pick up after them every day?" Nico questioned. "Because I can tell you how I feel about it."
She explained that her daughter's seventh-grade social studies class is doing an immersive lesson on the history and culture of ancient Greece, which she doesn't have a problem with specifically. Her main issue is the details of what the simulation will entail because, in ancient Greece, women were considered second-class citizens compared to men, and her daughter's teacher is apparently trying to recreate that in the classroom.
Her daughter brought home the details of the assignment and expressed to Nico that she was "uncomfortable" and "frustrated" by it.
"Now, me being me, I would have made a big deal of this regardless, but the fact that it's upsetting and making my child uncomfortable, it's just unnecessary and highly inappropriate," Nico continued.
She pointed out other cool aspects of this classroom simulation, including the students getting Greek names, wearing traditional Greek clothing, and performing a short drama about ancient Greece.
But the part of the simulation where the young girls have to give up their autonomy for the name of the experiment is just not sitting right with Nico, rightfully so.
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Classroom simulations can be both good and bad, mostly because teachers, especially public school teachers, don't necessarily have the correct training to ensure that they're fair on both sides of the spectrum.
If done wrong, they can end up being upsetting and traumatic for the students participating in them.
It would make more sense if this classroom simulation about gender roles in ancient Greece had a lesson at the end or if there was a switch where the young boys would need to be escorted into the classroom by the young girls.
Just something that emphasized how enacting the archaic practice connects back to a modern lesson plan.
After considering it, the mom decided to talk to the principal of her daughter's school about the lesson.
"I just talked to my child's principal who had no idea, allegedly, that was even part of the simulation. She told me it read to her like they just wanted to be as accurate as possible and that this simulation has gone on for several years, and no one has ever brought it up to them."
Despite the principal's initial attitude about it, she assured Nico that she would speak with the teacher about it, but Nico stuck with her argument that she just felt doing something like this in a classroom with middle schoolers was inappropriate.
You don't need to teach young women to be subservient to make the point that it's wrong.
"I'm very proud of my daughter for immediately recognizing it as problematic and coming directly to me and feeling comfortable with that," Nico said. "I will be teaching all three of my girls to never accept that kind of treatment."
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.