To be really, really pleased about the explicit ban on the proactive teaching of gender identity?

@Beowulfa There’s no denying that periods are a bodily change that are very challenging to get used to but we grew up hearing that they needn’t hold you back from doing anything you enjoy. This is the message I have passed on to my DDs.

I think not teaching contraception etc until 13 is a big mistake. Girls of 9 are having periods these days and knowledge is power.

Dialing back the gender stuff to 'some people believe ' is fine by me. And telling teenagers that puberty can really suck in some ways is probably a good idea.

if the topic is banned at school they won't have a place to discuss and think about the issues and are more likely to be captured by gender ideology.

Surely the place to discuss it is at home with caring parents who can help them navigate the complex landscape of growing, changing bodies, sex and sexuality, changing sense of identity etc?

There's a consultation and we're all invited.

https://consult.education.gov.uk/rshe-team/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance/

Scroll down for link to pdf of draft guidance.

It is England only. Education is devolved.

Scottish government that is

I am liking this announcement too. But just wondering does anyone know if it’s England only? I wouldn’t be surprised if Scotland does something different just cos they want to been seen to be different

I totally agree that adolescents should be enjoying healthy fun activities. However, if your hobbies are swimming and horseriding, like mine were, it's dishonest to pretend that periods aren't really quite shit. However, being pissed off with them doesn't mean you're actually a boy, or in the "wrong" body that needs to be fixed with medication and extreme surgery; it just means you're a completely normal teenage girl who's allowed a hormonal rant.

I'd also like it reiterated that if you don't particularly like the idea of sex, with anyone, it doesn't mean you need to be put in a group with a special label. You don't need to join the LGBQT! lunchtime club, or the unofficial straight gang. You can know the theory of sex without having to be interested in it (for now).

Same, delighted

Yanbu op and this

It’ll take them several years to take all the steps backwards necessary to make documentaries on the issue given that they’ve both been instrumental in normalising and endorsing the “born in the wrong body” message.

I'm a little uncertain about this. Children - including teenagers - aren't growing up in a vacuum isolated from the rest of culture. They will hear about gender ideology outside of school and if the topic is banned at school they won't have a place to discuss and think about the issues and are more likely to be captured by gender ideology.

Ideally children should be taught that some people believe in an inner sense of gender identity which may or may not be different to birth sex but that other people just believe that everyone's body has an intrinsic sex and don't believe in gender and either position is ok and should be respected but no one should force their beliefs on others. They should be made aware that the puberty time they are currently going through is a naturally dysphoric time for everyone and feeling uncomfortable with oneself is part and parcel of being a teenager, so they won't be able to truly explore for themselves what they really feel until they are all the way through puberty and have been living their adult life for a few years - but until then they certainly don't ever have to be constrained by the sexist stereotypes associated with their sex and should just be themselves.

Unfortunately I think so many school staff have drunk the kool aid that it would be difficult to have guidelines that would allow all this to be communicated without there being a danger that a teacher who was a fan of trans ideology giving it a massive ideological spin.

Absolutely. It’s an anachronism

When I did Shakespeare Gender identity didn't exist ! We talked about misogyny, sexual stereotypes, women's rights the patriarchy. Absolutely possible not to go into Ggender ideology when discussing Merchant of Venice. Can also bring up that dressing young boys as women in the play was a useful tool when women were not allowed to act. Infact GI rather narrows the Shakespeare area

I agree but I would like a broader look at teachers and schools peddling ideology to kids. Eg critical race theory. I’d like to know how it happened that schools felt they can do this.

I would also love it if schools were not allowed to use the curriculum for their hobbyhorses, particularly English lit, which often seems to be entirely focused on political or social messages.

I don’t think it’s helpful for children to dwell on any potential discomfort during this phase of life. I don’t remember a single friend saying during teenage years that he or she felt “uncomfortable in their body” or similar. Puberty needs to be “re-normalised”, and adults need to encourage adolescents to stop navel gazing on social media and get busy with activities that take them away from negative thoughts and focus instead on enjoying themselves - sports or music or cooking or just taking a dog for a walk.

The policy has been infuriatingly misquoted and misrepresented at every turn by every journalist and contributor that I have heard on MSM this week. Even Eddie Izzard was putting in his 2 pennyworth on the radio this morning.

So pleased about this but there’s much to undo.

Yeah fully agree with this.

I have no problem with kids being taught "some people believe X about gender" just as they'd be taught about other beliefs systems, but it shouldn't be taught as fact.

Opponents to this guidance will have to carefully work out how to straddle both the "this is unnecessary no one is teaching gender ideology as fact" and "gender ideology is fact and should therefore be taught" arguments. I have every confidence in their ability to at least make a good attempt.