Writing a letter to school in 2017 seems supremely serious. Not only that a letter elicits expectations of someone being in trouble, the very fact it’s a physical letter delivered to the school is… odd. At the very most, an irate parent would scribe an email, but more likely a phone call is on the cards.
However, one NSW dad has written a letter, and maybe that was prompted entirely by the subject – he feared his daughter had travelled back in time.
In the letter, which was posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Stephen Callaghan addresses a pretty serious issue: “When Ruby left for school yesterday it was 2017 but when she returned home in the afternoon she was from 1968.”
“I know this to be the case as Ruby informed me that the ‘girls’ in Year 6 would be attending the school library to get their hair and make-up done on Monday afternoon while the ‘boys’ are going to Bunnings,” the letter continued.
He adds his concern lies largely in the fact there must be a rip in the space-time continuum, because for no other reason would a school in 2017 be promoting strict gender stereotypes and sexism.
“I look forward to this being rectified and my daughter and other girls at the school being returned to this millennium where school activities are not divided sharply along gender lines,” Callaghan concluded.
The letter quickly went viral on the old interwebs and Callaghan explained why his daughter wasn’t all too chuffed on segregated activities.
“Ruby and I would like to thank you for the great comments of support,” he said.
“At 12 years of age my daughter is starting to notice there are plenty of people prepared to tell her what she can & can’t do based solely on the fact she is female. She would like this to change. So would I.”
So would we. Huge props to Ruby and her dad for fighting the good fight.
