100 years ago, British schoolgirls made a startling prediction: the forecast began to come true

Yulia Poterianko Life12.10.2023 14:42

A century ago, English schoolgirls predicted quite accurately what the life of their great-granddaughters would be like

Scientists claim that there is no such thing as a talent for predicting the future and that any successful predictions are nothing more than guesswork. But a photo of an ancient document is circulating on the Internet that may prove otherwise. Or at least be an example of a prediction of impressive accuracy.

The photo appeared on the 1923 Live page on social network X, formerly known as Twitter. Some users who had posted the photo even earlier clarified that it was a clipping from the Leeds Mercury newspaper of 1923. This newspaper was published in the English city of Leeds.(To see a scan of the article, read the news to the end)

The clipping tells the story of students at Wood Green Primary School in London. The girls were asked to imagine what life would be like for women in 100 years, in 2023. What they imagined may now seem not just a prediction, but a true prophecy.

For example, one of the students suggested that women would wear breeches. In the first quarter of the twentieth century, trousers were still exotic in women's wardrobes and were rather perceived as a challenge. Especially cropped pants, which are breeches.

The girls also predicted that a century later, women would be able to play tennis, and men (the note even uses the word "heads of families") would do the housework. As you can see, the WTA does exist now, and tennis can be not just a hobby but a career for women. As for men, the prediction has only partially come true - it is indeed no longer considered a taboo and some do indeed do a lot of housework, but sociologists and labor market researchers argue that the lion's share of household duties and unpaid housework still falls on women.

The list of what girls came up with also includes the assumption that women will become as masculine as possible. It can be considered partially realized. Women can indeed wear short haircuts, no makeup, and develop their muscles in the gym. But this is a matter of choice, not a general trend.

As for education, the girls from the Wood Green School in London were not so good at forecasting. They suggested that in 2023, "stupid children will stop bothering teachers because every kid will know the alphabet and count to thirty or even a hundred." The fashion for early development has indeed led to the fact that many children enter first grade already knowing how to read and count well, but all children have different learning abilities. And not all parents want to burden their children with such knowledge in the early years of life and want to provide them with a more carefree childhood.

It should be noted here that the authenticity of the clipping is difficult to confirm. There are no signs on the photo that would indicate the origin of the note. The fact that it is a piece of the Leeds Mercury newspaper and that the issue was published in 1923 is only claimed by the authors on social media. There is no other evidence to support this.