A lot of people have been passing around a screenshot of the headline to this New York Times opinion piece from April Fools’ Day, no less. It blows away a few things we were told were advancements, such as a concerted outreach to involve girls in STEM careers. And what was the point of coming out with that line of Barbie dolls with lab coats or pilot uniforms?
Did you know? By the year 2034, 94% of all small talk will be problematic. RT to spread awareness. pic.twitter.com/aqYuZZjVZB
— Ruth Graham (@publicroad) April 3, 2019
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant argues that the question “forces kids to define themselves in terms of work” rather than the kind of person they’d like to become. Is it OK, though, to ask your 19-year-old college sophomore what she’d like to be when she grows up?
Whoa, whoa, whoaaaa….what's this from????
— (((L.N. Smithee))) (@LNSmithee) April 4, 2019
Let me guess…the Times?
— Julie10128 (@julie10128) April 4, 2019
Bingo.
Hmmmm, your tweet might be problematic. And this reply to your tweet is also problematic. I denounce myself. ?
— Marie Arf (@schwingcat) April 4, 2019
OMG, this is exhausting.
— Rachel Held Evans (@rachelheldevans) April 3, 2019
My kid wants to be an astronaut, a mermaid, and 100 years old. Clearly she has already been corrupted by a careerist mindset.
— Ruth Graham (@publicroad) April 3, 2019
When my kids were little, one of them answered "yellow" and the other said "a baby chicken." I think the kids will be alright.
— Ellen Di Giosia (@ellenlurks) April 3, 2019
Recommended
My oldest daughter wanted to be a tree.
— aimee stephens (@aimee_stephens) April 3, 2019
Asking kids questions and listening and responding to their answers is HOW WE CONNECT
— Amy Dickinson (@AskingAmy) April 3, 2019
Who are these kids who have to be asked? My kid tells everyone within a 100 foot radius she’s going to be a princess mermaid ballerina when she grows up.
— Fleurde (@leighchaux) April 4, 2019
it doesn’t force them to define themselves in terms of work if you just let them tell you they want to be a train or a unicorn or whatever
— flglmn (@flglmn) April 3, 2019
When I grow up I want to write articles telling people to stop doing something
— Tokyotronic (@robotopia) April 4, 2019
There’s a big future in that — it’s a growth industry.
I can't be the only one to have noticed just how bossy op-eds have gotten. pic.twitter.com/XFkmvpN8Jz
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) April 4, 2019
I like asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because I love it when they say things like: "A traffic light."
— Susan Davis (@DaviSusan) April 4, 2019
you should stop doing that, apparently
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) April 4, 2019
A friend’s sister used to say she wanted to be a chair when she grew up. Fit THAT into your capitalist paradigm!
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 4, 2019
This tweet offends me.
— Critical (@CRITICAL) April 4, 2019
To be safe, just never talk to your kids. Or, frankly, anyone under 30.
— Levi Davis (@LeviDavis111) April 4, 2019
Related:
'Is this a parody account?' Sociology prof gets schooled for this boast about harassing a working man [pic] https://t.co/r56L2nVFl0
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 4, 2019