Do you remember what it was like to be 5 or 6 years old? Cool fun! (LAUGHTER) This is the time when lives are shaped and characters emerge. I'm the prime minister of Auckland. And I'm the prime minister of India! Straight posture. In this special show, we're celebrating the anniversary of women's suffrage as we challenge a class of girls with tasks as we watch the hidden drama... I'm having a baby! ...of a Kiwi school where every corner has been rigged with cameras... Hi, guys! ...and wired for sound. Can you hear me? We'll reveal every battle of the sexes... You're not eating that cake for real, are you? ...each tussle for power,... Giraffes are elephants. ...and those times when it just gets all too much... (SOBS) ...as we eavesdrop on their secret lives. Right, sis? Yes, sis. (GIRLS CHATTER) Copyright Able 2018 (QUIRKY MUSIC) 125 years ago, the women of Aotearoa fought hard and won the right to vote. Thanks to their efforts and the generations that followed, girls are facing a far more equitable future. But what would Kate Sheppard make of the girls we're about to meet? It's Monday morning, and the first of our future voters through the door is 5-year-old Manaia. See ya, Mum. (KISSES) Would you like to take a seat? You can choose which colour you wanna sit on. Orange. That your favourite colour? Observing our children are early-learning specialist Dr Annette Henderson and neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis. And looking after the girls are teachers Emile and Josie. When are we gonna play in here? Oh, we're gonna be playing in here lots. What do you think we're gonna play in here? Mummy, Daddies, babies... Mummies, Daddies, babies. Straight to family. Really? Straight to family in that... girl-type play. Yeah, yeah, yep. I love you. I love you too. Mm! I love you too. I'll miss you. I'll pick you up in the evening, OK? Have fun. OK. OK. Hello. What's your name? Amairaa. Amairaa is not a Kiwi kid. She is definitely a multicultural kid. Immaculate manners are definitely from her mum. Yeah. Thanks for saying that, cos I totally agree that comes from me. (CHUCKLES) Didn't want to cut you off, sorry. No, but` Well, we know those kind of parents who have a lot of rules. Thanks to our elder daughter, Ahanaa, you know, she's the one` ...who draws the line. Yeah, she draws the line for her younger sister. Amairaa. Yeah? Seriously? (CHUCKLES) Yes, at times she is bossy, but not with her friends. But definitely with us at times. She knows how to negotiate. She's got many tricks up her sleeve. My favourite thing about Amairaa is that she... she's got so much love to give. She's got so much love to give. So she's a very warm personality. I think that's what I love about her. I like your earrings, Manaia. Thank you. You're welcome. Cool to see you making friends already. Hi, Ariya. Amairaa. Amairaa. We kinda make mistakes, but that's all right. You could call me Am-raia. (CHUCKLES) I mean... Whether it is... And you could... And I could call you Manaia. Already, Amairaa and Manaia have decided they might be real sisters. Cos we both live in the same house. Eh, sis? Yep. Say sis! So what? So, sis. Yeah, what? OK, sis. What's...? Why did`? Sis. What? (SIGHS) (LAUGHS) Can we sit next to each other? Yes. (CHUCKLES) How old are you? I'm 5 too. (CHUCKLES) Wanna play with me on the playground? Yeah. And do you wanna play 'rock, paper, scissors'? Yes. JOSIE: So, are we gonna be friends with the next person who comes through? BOTH: Yeah. Yeah? Who do you reckon's coming through? I don't know. Maybe a girl. EMILE: Even if it's a boy, will you be friends? Yes. Yeah. JOSIE: Are girls better than boys? BOTH: Yes! Why? Because they're stronger and faster. Yeah, I'm faster than her. But she's a girl. What do you think their name's gonna be? Uh... Deana or Hope. Deana or Hope. Or Mariah. So that whakawhanaungatanga just means to establish relationships, and you can see them doing that straight away. 'Oh, you be my sis?' Mm-hm. That's establishing those familial relationships. Yep, and making promises. Yep. And what about that humour that she used at the beginning? Oh, when she got her name wrong. Yeah! That was really nice. Instead of being all apologetic, she was like, 'Oh, you can call me Mariah if you want.' Right. That was a good strategy. Wanna sit here? Yeah. Would you like to play with us in the playground? Yeah. Friends? Yeah, I'll love to. Look, another girl! Another girl, guys. EMILE: What's your name? Shiloh. Hi, Shiloh. As the girls meet for the first time, friendships and hierarchies soon become apparent. AMAIRAA: But you have to share. Sharing is caring! EMILE: Nice to meet you, Mei Mei. A vi-cano! Yeah! Do you know what's happening? What? The people are over there and there. They're watching us. # ...oh! # (SINGS INDISTINCTLY) That's the song. Excuse me, do you wanna join my meeting? Yeah. Come on. We're having a meeting. Meeting over, and the classroom has been set up with three distinct types of toys to pick from ` dolls, a camping scene, or the chance to play on a pirate ship. Often see that girls are left with the dolls, really, when the boys have bowled in and taken all the moveable toys. Mm. So I wonder, when there isn't any competition from the boys, if they will just make a beeline for the pirate ship. That'd be really great to see. Looks like the most fun option to me. And really exciting to see who's gonna take control. Yeah. Oh my God. Sorry, my little sister went here. (WHIMPERS) She lived here. Um, do you have a little sister? Yeah. Thanks. It's clear that the dolls and camping only appeal to a minority of the class. Is this real food? Maybe you could try it out. Instead, the girls flock to the pirate ship. We're sailing the seas! Pirates sailing the seas! I'm playing now. Arrrr! PIRATE VOICE: Arrr, let's sail the seas! OTHERS: Yeah! Can I please be the captain? Aww! But I've never been a captain. Me too. I know, you can be a different captain. Yeah, but I still help you drive. You mean this dress? Yep. That's the prettiest dress. Aah! And I promise... I promise... (LAUGHS) Bra! I'm driving as well! Ohh! I wanna drive! Can I drive now? I'm pirate captain. I've never been a driver. Help me, then! No, not with your pirate hook. Arrr! Let's both be the captain. So this is interesting. We're starting to see a struggle for dominance and leadership here. Yep. Everyone else seems to be standing back, and these two are the two prime candidates for captain. Yeah. Fighting over the wheel. But that wheel's definitely symbolic for more than just the wheel. (CHUCKLES) Absolutely. It's the leadership wheel, isn't it? I'm not the captain. I've got the brate! You` You's my` You my mum and I'm the daughter. (POT CLANGING) Daughter! Put that down. I need` Now, thank you for doing what I said. Captain, co-captain, daughter. Yeah. And then Shiloh, you saw that she was a little bit removed from the group at that point. So it's interesting how she's kind of... She's doing it on her own, in a way, right? Yeah, mm. Yeah. INDIA: Get it! Get it! Put it in the pie. No, leave it! Sharks are on you. I'm cap` # All the food. We won all the food. QUIETLY: Do you mind telling her to shut up? # We won all the food. We're pirates, we're pirates! # We're gonna take` # Can you please shush? She asked Shiloh, the previous co-captain,... Right, yep, yep. ...to tell somebody to be quiet. Yeah, now, that's gotta be a strategy on her part. Why couldn't she just tell her to shut up herself? SOFTLY: Should we be like this? And I'm your captain, so what I say goes. That means you do what I say. She's taken that power and run with it. She's being quite overt now. 'I am the captain! 'You will do as I say!' And did you see how she` She's standing up high, so she's up high. All of the other girls are, kind of, below, height-wise. Yeah, like the visual. Yeah, the visual. And she's taller than everybody else. And she's just really taking control of the whole situation. (LAUGHTER) Naughty pirate! Go on the plank. You're going on the plank, naughty girl. And there's... There's actually sharks in there. Yeah, so if you wanna go on the plank, you have to, miss. # The nicest captain in the world. # So Shiloh's story as captain has now come to a complete end, right? Yeah, yeah, now she's getting eaten by sharks. Yep, she's been eaten by sharks. There isn't much lower status than that, really. No. She started up at the top... (CLICKS TONGUE) Probably quite a good strategy on India's part, though. I mean, if there was ever gonna be a revolt, it would probably come from that same person that's challenged your captaincy before, so... have them walk the plank. (FUNKY, PERCUSSIVE MUSIC) It's break time, and the girls are ready to let off some steam. (KIDS CHATTER) I'm the prime minister of England. Yeah! And I'm the prime minister of Auckland. And I'm the prime minister of India! Right in here. OK, I'm here. So I better lock my car. No one come in the car, please. Did you know, when we crack a lizard in half, it still moves. It's true. I've done it before. When you see a bad witch, just pretend you're a bad witch, OK? Cos we... So do we`? Bad witch! (LAUGHS) Bad witch! (IMITATES CACKLING) Well, at this age, these girls' pretend play is at its full swing, right? Mm-hm, yeah. They're playing different kinds of characters. And the reason why pretend play is so powerful is that you can be mean, you can be aggressive, you can be what you're not,... You can experiment with all the different ways of being you. ...and it still being OK, because, 'Well, I'm just pretending to be a witch.' Gives you licence. This is my secret hideout. This is the Scotland bad witch's secret hideout witch place. ...it's forever. Do you know what I just got, sis? A microphone! Yeah, me too. No! This is a witch privacy. You have to be` If you wanna come in my house, you have to be a witch forever. I am going to be a witch. OK, but until you die you'll be a witch. Yep. You have to have one of these on. Yeah, I do. But` And you have to have, um, shoes on. No, it's just, um, cos, like, my shoes are annoying me. And my shoes are annoying me as well. Look ` I have bare feet as well. Well, whoever doesn't... Like, cos they're really annoying. Whoever has... no dress. Whoever has no dress can't come up. Whoever has a dress, come up here. Whoever doesn't have a dress, they can't come up here. Excuse me, this is privacy. This is privacy, please. Please can I come up? Ohh! I'm outta here. I'm outta here! You have to get out by the time I jump. And... jump. No, you jump first. OK, good. Now can you please... Fine. Can you please, please, please not annoy us again. We don't expect to see polished leadership skills when you're a 5-year-old girl. We expect you to be a bit bossy. But I think what we're seeing is unrefined leadership skills that will turn into, probably, a great leader. Our makeovers go seriously astray. * EMILE: Having a seat. Make sure you're sitting down. GIRL: What are you? For this next task, the girls have bene asked to make themselves look just like one of their parents and then do an impersonation in front of the class. NATHAN: I would worry if it was my kids. They would imitate me being grumpy. And I don't think I am grumpy all the time, but that's probably when they see the most emotion. Right. That's right. I'm wondering if it's more about emotion or if it is what they're seeing regularly, all the time. Seeing regularly or... Or if it's something that` Cos one thing with children is they might want their parents to interact with them quite often, but sometimes the parents need their own time and are doing other things, so maybe they'll actually imitate those times. Whole lots of parents going, 'Yeah, in a minute! In a minute. I'm busy.' Yeah, yeah. Aurora, would you like to come up? Wow! JOSIE: Who are you going to pretend to be? Um, my dad. Your dad, OK. My dad likes to scream at the TV while watching the Warriors. And he shouts so loud that I can hear him in the shower. Wow! What types of thing does he yell at the TV? Um, when they score a goal and when the referees be silly. What does he say to the referee when he's being silly? Um, they say, 'How could that be a penalty?' Like, um, because it's` Because they didn't do anything wrong. What does he do with his body when he says it? Um, he just stays still and just makes a bit of a angry face. Can you do the angry face for us? Oh, whoa. Can I see? I didn't see. Yeah. So it must be quite intense for her to hear him scream that loudly. Yeah, yeah. Well, she even seemed a little sad about it at the end. Yeah, yeah. My mummy... cooks meals. For me and my family. Sometimes when she's angry, she does not yell that much; she yells a bit. What does she say when she's yelling? 'Go to your room!' (MOUTHS) (NATHAN LAUGHS) ANNETTE: Oh my goodness! Manaia knew exactly what she was gonna say! Yeah, yeah. I think Manaia may have experienced that before. India, would you like to go next? You come up for us. Mm-hm. (SHOES CLATTER) Ooh, would you like a hand up the`? OK, carefully. I actually don't want these on. Oh, OK. They are quite hard to walk in, yeah. My mummy goes to the gym, and she drinks vodka. (PLAYFUL MUSIC) Yeah. Now she sits down and watches telly. And... (WHISPERS) Stupid TV. Yaaay! I think India gets her personality from both of us. Um, she's... musical, like me, and she's vivacious and determined, like her mum. She started talking when she was about 8 months old, so she was quite an early talker. And that's, really, probably never stopped. Yeah, and it hasn't really stopped, ever. (BOTH CHUCKLE) It's called over-acting. WHISPERS: Over-acting. She knows what she wants, and she'll get it... Mm. I hesitate to say 'at all costs'. (PARENTS CHUCKLE) I think she's a gorgeous little girl. Very proud to call her my daughter. We're very blessed, yeah. She's really happy. Feel really excited for her and her future. Yeah. But then she does gym. JOSIE: OK. What does she do at the gym? Show us what types of things she does. She does push-ups. OK. Can you do some of those for us? I need to get off here. Ooh. Wow. After that, she drives home and she... drinks a cup of vodka, (SLURPS) and... watches telly. The end. (SLURPS) Bye. Awesome. Thanks, India. Lovely. Come and sit down. Oh, you need to put those back on? Yep. OK. I like the way we're sitting still while we're listening. That's really cool. Careful. Can I take off this? Kids just take one little episode in their mind, and they tend to transfer that. So she could've seen Mum having a drink of vodka once, and now every time Mum picks up a glass,... It's vodka. it'll be, 'You're drinking vodka.' One voter isn't happy. * EMILE: Today we're going to have a vote. Who knows what a vote or an election is? I know. Zara? A vote is like... a... Years and years ago, women weren't allowed to vote. Yeah, I know that. And... Um, Kate... Kate... A vote is something that we guess. Kate Sheppard allowed us to vote. (GASPS) Um, a vote means, um, something that you want to win ` the vote. Kate changed everything. In this test of democracy, the girls have two choices ` either playing with the plastic pukekos on a pond or in the spine-chilling tunnel of terror. Um... tunnel of pro. Tunnel. The tunnel. Pro. Tunnel. Tunnel pro. Me too. What's terror mean? It means something ferocious. Terror. Tunnel of terror. Tunnel of terror. Tunnel of pro! But, girls, there's a catch. Only the girls that are sitting on the orange seat get to vote. Aww! I don't w... Oh! EMILE: Hm, what do you think about that? GIRLS: Sad. EMILE: Why? Because we don't get to share our answers, and we don't know who might win or who might lose, and we might like our answer. But the orange team will share, right? Yeah! We can share. I'm really sorry, but you don't get to share your vote. It's just the girls on the orange seats. You girls are voting today. Ohh! Yeah. Girls on the blue seats, you're not voting today. Why is that not fair, Manaia? Because they'll be sad, and other people, like... I feel like I'm going to cry. They'll be all upset. Hm, we're really sorry, but that's just the way it is. Girls on the blue seats, you won't get to vote today. What about the girls on the orange seat? How do you feel? They w` We feel a bit happy, but we feel sad for those people. INDIA: Yeah. We wanna let them vote today. Yeah. That would be the kind thing. So we could both be happy, like, together. My team wanted her team to vote. Right, sis? Yeah, sis. SADLY: I wanna cry. She's already crying. (SOBS) So, the girls on the orange seats, who are voting, you're going to get some very special voting hats. So... And you get to wear that one. And here's your one, Aurora. Pop it on your head. So they don't get to vote at all? WOMAN: How does that make you feel? Makes me feel sad. So, this is exactly how blunt this was 125 years ago. Right, yeah. Just arbitrary. If you were a male, you could vote; if you were a female, you couldn't. Mm-hm, mm-hm. Completely arbitrary. Yeah. EMILE: So, Amairaa, would you like to come up first? Sit down for me. Right. Awesome. Put the one you want into the yellow. Aah! I can't see. I see. (GRUNTS) Yellow box. And the one you would not like, you leave on the table. (QUIRKY MUSIC) Saw your picture. Nope. (GIRL GIGGLES) What did you vote for? I'm not telling you. It's annoying. Please stop. You know, it's really interesting to watch the girls who are able to vote, right? Cos they should be really excited that they've been able to vote, but I feel like there's some regulation going on where they're not being too excited... Right, yeah. That's empathy. ...so they're protecting the other girls. That is empathy, yeah. It's taken the shine off a bit for them, but yeah. So, here are the cards. The first vote was for the tunnel of terror. The second vote was also for the tunnel of terror. The third one was for pukekos on a pond. The next vote was for the tunnel of terror. SOFTLY: Yess! And the last vote was also for the tunnel of terror. SOFTLY: Really happy. Who is brave enough to go` Oh! ...to go into the tunnel of terror? GIRLS: Me! Me! OK, Aurora, how are you feeling about going in the tunnel of terror? She looks pretty brave. Ah! EMILE: What can you see? AURORA: I can see bugs! And it's all slimy and gooey! Oh my God, there's a huge spider. JOSIE: What? Can you describe the spider to us? Um, it's all furry and it has black and white and red eyes, um, and it has really pointy teeth. (GIRLS SQUEAL) The fear is there, but it's actually the feeling that you get afterwards about overcoming the fear. Mm, yeah. That is really, really important to children's development of their confidence and self-esteem. Absolutely, absolutely. Tolerable stress. EMILE: We need to give her a chant. Go, Aurora! KIDS: Go, Aurora! ALL: Go, Aurora! Go, Aurora! Go, Aurora! Go, Aurora! Ooh! Go, Aurora! Go, Aurora! Ooh! (SQUEALS) Slime stuck to my foot! BOTH: Three, two, one! Go! (KIDS GIGGLE) JOSIE: Ooh! Where is she? (LAUGHTER) (JOSIE CHEERS, CLAPS) AMAIRAA: Everybody wants to get the slime. I can see you. EMILE: What can you see, India? Aah, I just got slime on my` (SCREAMS) (GIRLS LAUGH) JOSIE: What happened, India? EMILE: What can you see? I can see` (SQUEALS) Scorpion and... it's... yuck! JOSIE: Whoo! How was that, India? (LAUGHTER) (INSECTS CHIRP) (TICKET RIPS) (DRUMROLL) (DRUMROLL CONTINUES) (DRUMROLL STOPS) Whoo...! (SCREAMS) I won! Arggh! Hah...yeah! VOICEOVER: The Monopoly game is here! Get that peelin' feelin' with Suzuki scooters, Caltex fuel gift cards and millions more prizes. Peel in store and more. * This deceptively simple task has just one rule ` to get the most marbles and win. It's totally up to the girls how they do it and what skills and tactics they employ. The girl with the most marbles at the end wins. And they get an awesome prize. (GASPS) What is it? You'll find out later on, but it's really cool. A test of everyday capitalism right here. Yeah. Let's see how they do. Off you go. I'll bring it to Amairaa and then I'll give it to you. This is a test of friendship over ambition to win. I want red. I like this colour. Hey, sis, can I have some from you, please? Hey, no, you can't. Can I have some of your marbles? No. I'll change you some. These are mine. You have to share. These are mine! No! I'm wanting to win! (GIRLS CHATTER, MARBLES RATTLE) Can I have one? Can I have some? Can I have, um, five? Thank you. Mei Mei seems to be not too worried about winning the competition. Nope, she is the one, right, who is always trying to placate, right? Right, yeah. She's the one who wants to, um,... ...make friends, yeah. ...make friends, give... give her toys away. Maybe she's not interested in the prize. Well, it doesn't seem that way. Can I have a hug? Can you give me a marble? Just one. That's nice. Commerce coming in. Yeah. Sell a hug. (PLAYFUL PIANO MUSIC) Please can I have some? I begged. Like this, 'Please!' Who took my marbles without asking? If you do, give them back. Mei Mei. Yeah? Look, is this the same amount that I had before? Yeah. (GIGGLES) People stole marbles. ...our marbles! Yeah. Like, when I went and played` And that made us feel sad like we were going to cry. We didn't actually cry. Well, I was going to. I wasn't. I was going to. We're halfway through, and some girls have abandoned an increasingly tense fight to be victorious. This is how everyday society works, right? That's right. Some of us engage in the capitalist trades, and others of us do not. Some of us go and live on a hippy farm somewhere. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) Hey, I'm getting them! No, you're not. Stop! I'm getting... Thanks. Hey, those are mine. Those are mine. No, those are mine. They are mine! Those are mine. (GROANS UNHAPPILY) Under here so no one gets it. (GASPS) No! No, stop it! Stop! Some of those were mine! (GIRLS SHOUT, CRYING) Waiting here. WOMAN: Who stole the marbles? Um, so` It was Amairaa. Amairaa stole the marbles. (GIRL CRIES) GIRL SHOUTS: No one's allowed to steal anybody's marbles without permission! No one! (GIRL CRIES) No! I had more than this! I had way more! (SOBS) Give her back all hers. No, I'm just gonna talk to her for a minute! India, India. Yeah, you're not allowed to steal! India. India. India! (CRIES) Stop it! Um, when they noticed mine was under the table when I was going toilet, I came back... (IMITATES CRYING) because some people were taking all my marbles. WHINES: I would like all my marbles still... My marbles now. And I pretended to cry, so that's how I got the most. That micro-expression at the end, you know, 'I'm looking really sad,' but then we see this flash of... Yeah. 'I need to take control of this situation.' And those micro-expressions are so telling of what's actually going on in her mind. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. She's got a strategy going there. (SOBS, WHINES) No! Can I have two of yours? No! Why? Because I'm going to hide them where no one's allowed to have them. (QUIRKY MUSIC) (MARBLES RATTLE) WOMAN: Why did you steal them? Because I really wanted to win the prize. (CHUCKLES) (LAUGHS) Ooh! I just found another one. (LAUGHS) Please can I have some of yours, Zara? No. Thanks. (WHINES) Secret hidden marbles here. My secret hidden marbles. No, there's none in. Somebody stole all my marbles! (CRIES) I did not do that. CRIES: Somebody stole my marbles! Should I help you? Have some of mine. No! No! It makes me want it the worst day ever! (SOBS) All righty. What I'd like you to do is hold your marbles up in front so we can see how many marbles you have in your jar. And I think our winner might be India. So well done. Come up here, India. India, come up here with your marbles. Well done. And your prize is a hug from Josie. You get a big hug. JOSIE: Aww! And that's the awesome prize. AMAIRAA: I knew it was a hug. I think a boy might've been quicker to go, 'Is that it?!' I thought the prize would be something nice, and that was nice. WOMAN: Are you happy that India won, though? Mnh-mnh. Mnh-mnh. Mnh-mnh. (GIRLS CHATTER) In the aftermath of marbles, some fresh air is well overdue. (PLAYFUL PIANO MUSIC) One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15... Amairaa! She stole all of my marbles and your marbles. (GASPS) Did she? Did you? Yes. I didn't even` I anyway did steal her marbles, not yours. Are you still our friend? So there's something going on with the sisterhood friendship that started right at the beginning. Yeah. Well, her sister grassed her up, and then, um, when she's tried to put her arm around her, she looks like she's pushed her away. Yeah. But sometimes we're harder on our families, too. True. True. So we're harder on the ones that we love. Because we... I think sometimes we expect better of them. Right. So when they don't act the way we think they should, then we have to let them know that we're not so pleased by that. OK. Come on. Let's go, baby. When Amairaa said sorry that she stole the marbles, um, you... went somewhere else. I shouted at her. Yeah. She shouted. Sorry what happened. Go away! Wait, I wanna talk to you. Can I tell you s`? This is my teddy bear! Give it back and don't do that again. We can't snatch! Everyone actually hates me at school. (GASPS) Really? Ooh, Mei Mei! Oh, is that a strategy? I didn't expect her to say that. Did not. It seems that she's really uncomfortable with what's going on here, and she's trying to distract the attention away from the fight that's happening. Absolutely. I wonder if that's even true. Is she disclosing that she's getting bullied at school, or is that entirely just to defuse the situation? My friend actually hates me a lot. She actually beats me up. Mm... My friend too. I don't wanna be your friend any more or your BFF! I want you to get out. I'll be your friend. I promise I won't... Just... (SNIFFLES) Here Mei Mei has shown that she has an incredibly sophisticated sense of social understanding. She's aware of her friends disagreeing with one another and she doesn't like it, so she creates a situation where she can deflect that anger so that that sisterhood can be restored and they can be friends again. I'm playing with my sister. Are you still my friend, then? Yes. Good. Hey, sis. She's still our friend. She's still our friend. Oh, there we go! Well done. All sorted. Excellent. Sisterhood is restored. Yep, all is well. All is well. But really, Amairaa should be very, very grateful to Mei Mei. Yeah, yeah. Let's tell them the truth. What? We are sisters! We're the sisters club! Yeah. (LAUGHS) She's so adorable. * Come and have a seat. Whoa! Quickly. We are in 1893. How many years ago do you think that might be? A long time. Oh, put your hands up if you wanna talk. Aurora? Um, years ago. Mm. How many years, do you think? A thousand. A thousand. Mei Mei? Sixty-hundred. Sixty-hundred? Kayla. Ten-hundred. Ten-hundred. 1893 ` 125 years ago. The year it all happens. What is it, 19th of September was the date. Yeah. New Zealand women got the vote. First country in the world. There you go. Fantastic. Proud moment. My name is Mr McArthur. Mr McArthur? (GIRLS GIGGLE) And I am Miss Adams. And there's gonna be a couple of rules today. So first off, if you need to talk, you put your hand up. Yes. You fold your arms, sit up straight, look to the front. This is like school. And there's no toys, so I need to grab your toys from you. No toys today. Thank you. How does that make you feel, having to do all of these rules now? Aurora? Um, it makes me feel sad. Why? Because Sparkles makes me learn the most. JOSIE: What makes you learn the most? Sparkles. There's a girl with some metacognition. She knows how she learns. She has her strategies. Learns best with Sparkles. So, 125 years ago, we came to school to become young ladies. So we were learning to become good wives and good mothers. We didn't learn science, math, technology. That wasn't for us. Mm-hm. We had to learn how to be good in the house. Yeah. Good mothers, good wives. Zara, did you have something? In the olden days, um, dinosaurs were here. Do you think dinosaurs were around when this type of school was around? Yes. AMAIRAA: A long time ago the dinosaurs were here. Sit up, Shiloh. Um... Um, maybe a thousand and a hundred years ago, the dinosaurs were alive, and they died because a big meteor was coming to Earth. JOSIE: Sorry, there's people in the back who are talking. Girls, there's no talking at school. Sit up straight like young ladies, please. Thank you. Yes, Ina. Well, to be young ladies, we need to dress like young ladies. (LIGHT MUSIC) I'm Cinderella. Cos Cinderella has` had this dress. (MUSIC CONTINUES) So, 125 years ago, young girls had to help out a lot at home, and we had lots and lots of chores. So after school, you would come home and you'd help the family. So we had things like folding washing, shining shoes, and then you'd peel some potatoes, and you also had to help out with the younger siblings. So washing babies. And you had to do all of these after school. Mm-hm. Do you do these chores at home? GIRLS: Yes! OTHERS: No! Yes, sometimes. What chores do you do`? Sometimes? All of these chores. Don't call out. Don't call out. Ladies put their hands up, remember. Zara. I do all of these chores at home. All of them? Straight after school? And do you have to do chores for your mum and dad now? Uh-uh. Cos it's not in the olden days now. Can I wash the baby too? I did it. Can I help you? Um, this is only a one, um, job. This is only a one... job. (PLAYFUL MUSIC) Can I do the drying, please? No. I'm already drying her, though. But that's not` Hey, don't flick water on me! Fine, then let us... Should I put on her clothes? I don't know what you could do. I could put the clothes on. I just wanna leave. Stop harassing me. I don't like it. OK, then I'll do another job and leave you alone. I loved that extensive vocab for a 5-year-old. It wasn't 'you're annoying me'; 'you're harassing me'. 'You're harassing me.' All this mud is off. JOSIE: Oh, there's still a bit of mud over there and there. (GROANS) This is so hard. I never clean shoes. The brothers and the... Dads. ...don't do the chores! They get to go play, and all the women get to do the chores. I know, it's so hard. But if our husbands won't be happy, and then we will break up. What does 'break up' mean? Don't live together. Well... Oh no, our husbands are ringing. Uh, hi. Oh yeah. Um, hi. Oh! They're home! And I'm not even done ` and you're not even done! We were pretending I had a husband and she has a husband, and I was, like 30 and she was... 20. Yeah. Yeah, and we're getting married today. I` To each`? No, I'm getting married today. And me. I'm already married. Yeah, and she's coming to my wedding. Yeah, just pretend wedding. And I've got a baby that's a possum. Where did that come from? Yeah. Our captain, our fearless captain! Yeah. I was gonna say, these are the same kids talking about being prime minister that are now, yeah. So it's almost as if those attitudes haven't changed, but they've been added to. So now girls are still showing attitudes like that, um, but on top of that they're talking about being prime minister. So it's not one's replaced the other, they're now doing both. Right. And this is the added, kind of, burden on females growing up these days. Right. They have to be strong, independent, powerful, while still following in society's expectations of caregiving,... Right, yeah. ...and looking after the family. So, Manaia, if you start here and you walk straight down there, and you need to keep your back really super, super straight. Let me see that? OK. So that's called your posture, and you need to put your shoulders down, like this. Shoulders down, back straight, and eyes up, chin up like a lady. And you need to balance this on your head, OK? So look straight forward, and walk like a lady, please. Straight posture. Practice again. What do you think about wearing those clothes? Do you like them? Yeah, but they're kind of hard to walk in. Do you think you could play outside in those clothes? Uh, no way. Uh-uh. Where are we going? Girls, we're going upstairs now. Thanks for your help. EMILE: Like ladies, please. And as our future voters return to modern life, little do they know what's about to muddy the waters. What did you think when the boys arrived? (CHUCKLES) Embarrassed. (ROARS) Aah! They come in the sandpit and they get all dirty. I don't re-gree with you. Aahhhh! Get off the cake. And now we're actually BFFs. And` (CHUCKLES) Thanks, Henry. EMILE: This election, everybody gets to have a vote. (CHEERING) Oh, buckle yourself in, girl! Captions by Tracey Dawson. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2018