9-year-old's 'girl code' answer to math problem

Maddy was not marked wrong for her response to the complex problem. Photo / Facebook

Primary school student Maddy Douglas has become a hit online after her mum shared her hilarious response to a dating question in her math homework.

The question stated: "In high school, Frank, Mike, George, and Ron each went out on a total of 4 dates with 4 different girls. The second time Frank dated Rose and George dated Kay. The third time Mike dated Mary and Ron dated Louise. The fourth time, George dated Louise and Ron dated Kay. For each of the 4 times, tell which girl dated which boy."

Rather than working out the answer as requested, Maddy opted for what people are calling a "sassy" response: "I can't answer this because my mom says [according] to girl code you shouldn't date a friends x boyfriend", Maddy wrote.

Her mother, Jenn Douglas, had advised her 9-year-old to skip the question because she wanted to talk to Maddy's teacher about its appropriateness.

Douglas told BuzzFeed: "She did a little thinking of her own and showed me what she wrote. To me, her answer was too cute not to share online."

Maddy was not marked wrong for her answer, but her teacher and guidance counsellor did laugh at it, her mum said.

So where did Maddy learn about 'girl code'? According to her mother, she discussed the concept with her daughter following a disagreement with a friend at camp.

She said Maddy told her she had a new boyfriend who had previously been dating her friend.

"I explained the importance of having girlfriends in your life, but it was her choice as to how she handled the situation," Douglas said. "The next day when I picked her up, she told me her BFF and her had made up because she chose her girlfriend instead of the boyfriend.

"Problem solved, life lesson learned, so much so, she brought it up again in her math problem," Douglas said.

- nzherald.co.nz