'Privilege Bingo' Activity Mentioning Military Kids Draws Scrutiny In Fairfax County Class

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County Public Schools issued an apology after a "privilege bingo" high school class activity drew criticism. The focus of the criticism was on the activity including being a military kid on the bingo card.

As reported by NBC4, the activity in a high school English class had a bingo card with boxes identifying privileges. A few of the categories included being white, a native English speaker, heterosexual, male and never racially profiled.

But the category that caused some military veterans to speak out was the military kid category. Fairfax County has a significant presence of military families, given its location near the Pentagon, DC and Fort Belvoir. In 2021, 11 Fairfax County public schools were recognized as Purple Star Schools for military family-friendliness.

In response to the "privilege bingo" activity, one Army veteran whose child attended FCPS told NBC4 it is a "difficult thing" to be a military kid.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity also criticized the activity in a tweet.

"This is over the top - time for FCPS to get away from identity politics and back to teaching our kids," Herrity tweeted, sharing an image of the "privilege bingo" card.

FCPS apologized for the activity in a statement to NBC4 and said it has altered the activity.