Middle School Test Quizzed Students On 'Boy Toy' And 'Trophy Wife,' Parents Say

A teacher who issued a quiz to middle school students in Hopewell, Virginia, was criticized by parents who deemed the content inappropriate, according to CBS-affiliate WTVR Monday. The school later claimed the test wasn’t part of the curriculum.

Parents at Carter G. Woodson Middle School said that a teacher assigned the "Family Quiz" worksheet to young students Friday. The quiz included subject matter not suitable for children, the parents claimed.

One of the questions on the test read, "What do you call the much younger and beautiful wife of an older wealthy man?” The answer was "trophy wife."

Another question read: "What do you call the much younger boyfriend of an older woman," with the answer being "boy toy."

Tara Sample, a parent of an 11-year-old who received the quiz, posted a message on Facebook regarding questions she said were unsuitable for her child.

"I couldn't believe that an educator would be giving something like that to an 11-year-old," Sample wrote. "No one in the school's system needs to be teaching my daughter what a mistress is or a trophy wife or boy toy. It's inappropriate for a school. Period. We send our kids there to learn math, reading, science, and history not to learn this other stuff that goes on in the world that they eventually going to learn anyways."

The school system responded to parents who raised concern over the test in a statement from Superintendent Dr. Melody Hackney.

"We were made aware last evening of the Facebook coverage of the assignment given to students in the Family and Consumer Sciences program at our middle school. We immediately began to investigate," Hackney wrote. "Upon further review, we have determined that a teacher downloaded this worksheet from the Internet.

"This content was not a part of the current and approved the curriculum for this course nor was it in any way an appropriate learning tool for middle school-aged children. This assignment was also not included or referenced in the teacher's weekly lesson plans that are reviewed and approved in advance of instruction."