The 59-year-old teacher told The Mail on Sunday he was concerned that the ‘out-of-the-blue’ request amounted to social transition, which could put the teen on a pathway to irreversible medical treatments.
‘I wanted at least to make sure that my student had parental support and was making an informed decision,’ he said. ‘As a parent myself, I would have been furious if my child had taken this step and I hadn’t been told anything.’
Because the school isn't named, and now every parent in Swindon will be wondering if this is their daughter.
Mr Lister said he was ‘gobsmacked’ when he approached the safeguarding officers and was told the parents would not be informed about the student’s wish to identify as male in the classroom.
The school’s guide to supporting transitioning students states that staff should ‘maintain confidentiality and only tell others about the person’s trans status with their permission’.
Has anyone ever read anything to utterly bonkers? What, exactly, do they think they are 'safeguarding'?
Last month the then Attorney General, Suella Braverman, said the law was clear that under-18s could not legally change their gender, meaning schools were under no legal obligation to address children by a new pronoun.
Mr Kruger, MP for Devizes, Wiltshire, said: ‘I am very concerned that a school agreed to affirm a child’s transgender identity without parental consent.’
A spokesman for the school said: ‘We are unable to comment.’
You should be commenting. To your lawyers.
I always think of George of the Famous Five when these issues come up.
ReplyDeleteAs my son is approaching the age where Famous Five books might be suitable I decided that it was time to re-read them. They were things I absolutely loved as a child and one fond memory was of being on holiday with my parents in Devon and sitting on the beach reading FF books, that I bought with my pocket money from a seaside shop, under a towel to shelter from the wind and very bright sunshine.
ReplyDeleteI never took the character of George as anything other than a Tomboy, a category of girl that I had encountered a lot during primary school and later in secondary school. George is not, as the trans rights activists try to claim, some precursor of trans identified children, she is merely a Tomboy a girl who likes stuff that would be seen as stereotypically boyish. Re-reading these books today I can again see that there's no trans aspect to George, she just likes fishing, exploring, going out in her boat and similar activities. She is also a counterpart to Anne who is everything that George is not but still plays a big part in the Five's adventures.
The trans activists are traducing the character of George by claiming her as one of their own. George is a role model for those girls who are, to use a modern phrase, Geezerbirds not an encouragement for teenage girls to get their tits cut off by the modern day Mengele's of the gender identity cult.
"I always think of George of the Famous Five when these issues come up."
ReplyDeleteIt seems you're not alone!
"I never took the character of George as anything other than a Tomboy..."
No-one did, certainly noy Enid.