'Girls in tech' competition won by boy
EDF Energy has been criticised after a 13-year-old-boy won a competition that was part of a campaign to attract teenage girls to the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Children were asked to think of ideas for a connected home bedroom product.
Home bedroom product? Like a condom unwrapper?
EDF said that while its Pretty Curious programme is still aimed at girls, the UK competition was later opened up to all 11 to 16-year-olds.
It continues to share the same website and branding as the girls' scheme.
The BBC understands that the decision had been made to open the competition up to both genders in the interests of fairness, and that the contest attracted "a couple of hundred" entries.
Following three events held in the UK for girls last year, the contest was extended online and made available to boys as well.
The winner's idea was for a games controller which harnesses kinetic energy from thumb action using wind-up triggers.
I guess for a teenage boy, a game controller is a home bedroom product.
Three of the four runners-up, whose ideas included smart curtains, a smart fridge and a sleep monitor, were submitted by girls.
Clearly, not enough time was spent indoctrinating the judges.
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