RSE lessons in your child’s school - whether primary or secondary

[ScrollingLeaves]

I was wondering if any parents here had views to share about their experience of how this is being taught at your child’s school?

Alternatively, you may be a teacher who has thoughts to share.

For example, is RSE at your school outsourced to a specialist provider? If so, have you been allowed to scrutinise the content?

Are you happy with everything being taught, or do you feel some aspects are related to adult political ideology and not appropriate for their age?

Have you had any sense that your child has been taught that everyone has a ‘gender identity’ which may be different to their sex “assigned at birth” stated an accepted fact?

Well, we fundamentally disagree and it is clear you are not going to change your mind.

Sex is a biological fact.

Pronouns are a social construct that exist in our language. There is nothing in my body that is "she" or "her," there's just some ovaries and a vagina.

I personally see no problem ascribing the social constructs she/he fluidly. Yes, it is true that some children will be damaged by people pushing ideologies onto them. But there will be others who feel freed because of greater levels of acceptance and tolerance of all sorts of difference.

I do think that you're right about the material in that jigsaw lesson, so that's one thing.

Thanks for answering even though I agree we must disagree.

All language is a social construct but it is useless as a language if it has shifting meanings for very basic material things. It changes, but a lot of it needs to have some ground of common of understanding to make any sense. Up until very recently, and still in most people’s language, man, woman, boy, girl, male, female, he, she has a meaning based on the material sex we are as humans and without which there’d be no life for us.

Imo, the more children are taught that they have a pronoun for a sex they aren’t, instead of a single unique personality which includes a huge array of identities and passions special to them regardless of their sex , the more distressed and ill they are going to become. The other factor is that the other young children should not
have to lie or be told off for ‘getting a pronoun wrong’ or ‘misgendering’ them.

Having said that, I can see that it would be a real dilemma if a young child had been told he/she had a non sex-based pronoun and was very upset a the idea of an adult ignoring it. But as a pronoun doesn’t have to be used in place of a name, I’d try to tactfully use their name.

Not necessarily in relation to this exact subject of small children being affirmed in a trans identity in school, this video de-bunking statements made by a trans champion on television is very good, and a lot relates to children in case, anyone is interested.

It is unusually clear and easy to follow in its logic, and also has a clear format with slides for illustration and emphasis.