Parents in the U.K. are finding yet another elementary math assignment difficult.
At first glance, the problem, which was designed for 10-year-old students, may seem easy enough.
“Calculate the perimeter of these composite rectilinear shapes,” the question asks.
But the father of one of the students posted a photo of the homework on Facebook, hoping his friends could help him with it.
“My son’s grandma had spent a while helping him with his homework and most of it was straightforward but this one question left her stumped,” he told the Manchester Evening News. “I then spent an hour or so trying to work it out but found it impossible. I even sent it to a friend who got a 1st class degree in economics and they were baffled by it as well. A couple of friends are maths teachers too so I’ve sent it to them but so far I’ve heard nothing back. I really do think it is impossible and it is certainly not something a ten-year-old can answer. It just does not make sense.”
But one twitter user had no difficulty answering the problem. Find out what the correct answer is on the next page
When the news outlet tweeted the 43-year-old dad’s dilemma on their official twitter account, they received criticism from parents who believed it wasn’t really that difficult.
Some responses even questioned the dad and the reporter’s intellectual capacity.
While others pointed out that the question was not framed properly.
Ending the discussion, one twitter user provided the best solution quite simply for the benefit of those who still couldn’t solve it.
This isn’t the first time parents and non-parents alike have been stumped by a math problem for kids, providing further evidence that math skills tend to fade in time and that it’s nothing you can’t relearn in no time.
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