A small victory- sex ed in Scottish schools

Ah OK. I hadn't appreciated that it was all mandated from one single source.

The English (and I presume Welsh) system is more fragmented. Some schools, like my daughters' school, are academies, so have autonomy to make their own choices. In this case, it's the senior leadership team and school governors who are the stakeholders. Not an easy task because they have a diverse range of views, which is why this isn't a fast exercise even then.

There are other schools that have autonomy but those that don't are under the Local Authority's mandate. I'm also liaising with my local MP on this side of stuff as well on all things gender identity related (the PHSE materials and the general impact of compelled belief).

So two different problems on either side of the border but two very similar goals: to remove the influence of a compelled belief in gender identity, it being positioned as a truth, in what children are learning. Sadly both need to be approached in a piecemeal way but thankfully more parents are speaking out.

I agree about the need for a more realistic portrayal of periods. And that you should see your GP is they are painful or heavy. A friend’s daughter was hospitalised due to blood loss from her exceedingly heavy periods. And I remember struggling for years as a teen with painful periods - I was at university before I saw the GP who gave me mefanamic acid.

In Scotland RHSE materials are produced by the Scottish Government in conjunction with a dubious list of organisations as OP lists above. That makes it harder for the schools to set aside.

Great stuff!

I've been in active dialogue with our local school for quite some time now on the difference between fact and belief.

I've been through all of the PHSE materials for two year groups (years 7 and 9) and highlighted the issues. Including where there is signposting to external websites.

It started very much like the OP said, one email at a time. In fact it all came off the back of getting some safeguarding for my autistic daughter on gender identity built in to her EHCP.

The dialogue continues and has snowballed from that one email (and the associated conversations) where there was mutual acknowledgement that what was influencing my daughter to believe she had a gender identity was also putting other vulnerable children at risk. So far so good. The school is reviewing all PHSE materials and I'm also in active conversations that go beyond this.

Bravo OP. Every little helps.

Adding on from that, it would be good if some mention could be made (in the older stages particularly) about issues girls might experience which affect menstruation - for example PCOS and endometriosis. It would have helped with a quicker diagnosis and better understanding if I'd known what the hell PCOS was earlier on.

I hope you got the help you needed. Anything that stops you functioning should be investigated and helped if possible.

In addition to the obvious issues with saying not all girls get periods, I'd like them to be a bit more realistic about what having a period is actually like, too - I know it's for 9-10 year olds and you don't want to scare them, but I had a lot more than a bit of pain or discomfort, and I couldn't do all the things I normally did because I was curled up in front of the toilet throwing up. I'd like to have been told what level of pain was normal, what a doctor could help with and how, things I could do to help myself - and also to have other people understand that periods can often be really quite painful. I know adults (both men and women) who don't believe that women can be that badly affected by periods, get migraines, get sick, faint, need a fair bit of pain relief etc, because they've never known women who do or because they aren't affected like that themselves.

Well, you should take your small victory in knowing that at least this Scottish mum will be thoroughly reading the material tomorrow and writing an email about it. Thank you.

No I agree, it was never something I learned in sex ed. so was slightly unprepared for the experience.

But 9-10 yr olds should really only need to be learning about normalising puberty, not sex ed. I hope.

Well they can, sort of.

This is the usual pattern I see everywhere: It is the female sex and people who are women/girls because they have female bodies which are being erased. The male sex is hardly erased at all, even after so many of us pointing this asymmetry out.

This, to me, has been a true revelation about how deeply baked-in sexist thinking is in everything.

Because not all boys will have erections, either, according to their philosophy/belief system. Those who were not born with penises, for instance.

It seems the guidance for RSHP is being revised and is supposed to be under public consultation at the moment. This is news to me (and probably most people).
https://www.gov.scot/publications/guidance-delivery-relationships-sexual-health-parenthood-rshp-education-scottish-schools/pages/3/

Ridiculous.

Clear explanation needed: Is this about trying to be all modern and positive about girls with medical conditions which will include girls with DSDs, or is this about pretending that some boys are girls and it's totally norms for a girl to have a boys' body? Let's have it. What tangled mess is this all based on in order for adults to look cool and down with the kids?

And why are we fucking up the next generation of girls for it? We're going back to the bloody dark ages for generations to come as confused girls grow up to be confused mums raising confused children, and all so a bunch of adults can show off to each other.

FFS

It is interesting that boys have erections but not all "girls" have periods.

While are you complaining to them, it might be worth pointing out that a lot of teen girls favour period pants over tampons/towels/mooncups.

I've honestly never noticed this but I've not taught at second level for a while. It should come with a note attached that this would be due to a medical condition. I'm sure there is something in second level which says to visit your GP if it hasn't come by the age of 15. Making a bold statement like that needs explanation.