Mom stands up for daughter after teacher asks girls to act subservient to boys in Greek history project

Many students show very little interest in school projects, often finding them to be boring and not relatable. To accommodate children’s perspectives, educators often go out of their way to come up with appealing ways to learn. But one middle school teacher took it to another level, as per a woman named Nico (@nicorette on TikTok), who was upset after learning her daughter was expected to act subservient as part of a class assignment on ancient Greek civilization.

The mom was furious at the school authorities for promoting gender stereotypes. “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 asked. Notably, the exercise is part of the seventh graders' task to do a simulation of the history and culture of ancient Greece.

Expressing her feelings, Nico shared that the female students in the class were asked to “show their secondary position,” replicating the ancient Greek society. “They must organize the city-state (which here implies class) clean up each day,” she added. Her daughter felt “uncomfortable” about the whole situation and raised it after coming back from school one day.

“My daughter brought this directly to me upon getting home from school and told me that it made her uncomfortable and frustrated. Now, me being me, I would have made a big deal out of this regardless,” the mother said while expressing her shock. Nico went on to call the project not just “upsetting,” but also highly “unnecessary” and “inappropriate.” However, she praised a few other aspects of the assignment in her video.

Pointing out all the “cool things” about the simulation project, Nico shared, “They (the children) get Greek names, are shown how to wear Greek clothes; they're going to be asked to act in a short drama, build temples, represent their city-states and Olympic events, and take part in intellectual discussions among other activities.” “So why was this even necessary?” the video creator concluded, asking other parents for their opinion on the matter.

Meanwhile, the caption of the widely circulating footage highlighted that the mother would soon be raising the matter with the school authorities. “The office was closed by the time my child got home from school. I’m honestly appalled. Who okayed this?” it read. Nico’s discussion against the project has left the social platform divided, with some viewers sharing their perspectives about the situation.

Among them, @level1traumapct opined, “I am alright with this. It serves as a reminder to female students of how far we have come and a warning of how far we can still regress. It may even inspire some to advocate more vigorously for women's equity.” Referring to the project as “inappropriate,” @sparklygato wrote, “This is akin to requiring Black children to play the role of slaves and submitting to the demands of White children. The teacher's actions are unacceptable.” Another teacher, @donelloz, added, “I wrote my master’s thesis about classroom simulations. They only work if the power dynamics stay equal among students.”

You can follow Nico (@nicorette) for more feminist and lifestyle content.