If a child asks in KS3 science class "is it possible to change sex?"...

[musicalfrog]

What answer would they be given by the teacher?

This seems like the answer right here. The trick is to be factual without saying yes or no to avoid the complaint from either side of the debate.

No, it's really not. It's unclear, and children should be given clear answers. It also infers that a lack of breasts mean man and facial hair means woman. Women have to have mastectomies for cancer and can also have facial hair due to certain conditions. It's bollocks from @DadJoke who believes that trans women are women and trans men are men. That's not true and we shouldn't be lying to children.

Jeez. It is not pedantic to point out the difference between changing sex and changing gender.

Perhaps the teacher could say “I think you’re talking about gender reassignment surgery”.

There's no point being a science teacher if you are not going to teach factually correct science.

And you mean "tolerant", not tolerable. Tolerable is what this sort of attitude isn't.

Or “gender affirming surgery”, which is what I’ve seen it referred to more often recently.

Biology teacher absolutely should say No. You cannot change sex.

@Bedheadready

'Born in the wrong body'.

I teach some children who are wheelchair users and have physical disabilities. Am I meant to teach them the concept of 'born in the wrong body'?

'Born in the wrong body' is very problematic. There is sometimes a mismatch between 'gender identity' and biological sex, usually because the child is autistic and has sensory/cognitive/proprioceptive challenges.

'Gender identity' is in inverted commas because research is beginning to suggest that it's a catch-all term for explaining why some autistic children/adults feel there is a mismatch between how they perceive themselves and their biological reality.

gender confirming surgery to alter your body

As science requires accuracy - cosmetic surgery to create a superficial facsimile of features of the opposite sex. These do not, and cannot, replicate the actual features they are trying to imitate.

Could you say it is possible to alter gender through a variety of options, including behavioural & medical, as it is a social and behavioural feature rather than biological. Sex for humans is immutable although some species of fish can achieve this.

we should teach children to be tolerable and respect everyone in society

Assuming you mean ‘tolerant’ then why should be do this? Not everyone in society is worthy of respect and there are many behaviours they absolutely should not tolerate. We have come so far from safeguarding and ‘stranger danger’

Given it’s a science class, I think the teacher should probably say that some animals such as clownfish are sequential hermaphrodites who are able to change sex in some circumstances.

To be fair it would be great if we could also teach children to be tolerable

Actually I think transexualité and transgender are two different things.

Transexual live as the ither sex whilst knowing very well they weren’t. That’s the ‘old’ type of transexual.
Nowadays, transgenders be,ieve tyat theyrctransistion made them the opposite sex. There is no acknowledgment that their biology hasn’t changed.

I think it’s a huge shift ahd not everyone in the trans community agrees with that shift.

And then perhaps discuss how sexist and misogynistic it is to suggest that in order to be girls or boys they must conform to those societal and behavioural features.

The one thing a female can never be is a 'fully functioning man'.
The only 'functions' that differentiate a man from a woman are his sexual function, the ability to get an erect penis, penetrate a woman, ejaculate into her vagina and impregnate her.
Even after medical treatment that will sterilise her and shorten her life, a woman will never be able to do that.

Please teachers, don't spread misinformation out of misplaced 'kindness'. Humans can't change sex, and children need to be taught this, because at the moment a lot of them are getting the idea that they can. It's not 'kindness' to allow children to believe this if that belief is going to lead them down a path that causes massive damage to their physical health.

It's even more cruel to lie to someone and tell them they can be something that actually they can NEVER be, no matter how hard they try, and no matter how much they suffer in that attempt.

This year a 24 year old woman called Griffin Sivret, who posted prolifically on Tiktok about her 'gender reassignment', including about the multiple complications of her phalloplasty surgery including kidney failure, died, likely because of those complications. A death that could have been avoided if her doctors had told her the truth, that there is no such thing as a 'sex change', and that there is no good quality evidence that the homonal and surgical interventions that are referred to in this way actually improve the mental health of those people who believe they have a 'trans gender identity'.

There are some big differences between being gay and 'being transgender'.

You are right that learning about gay people won't make a child gay. Also, being gay is not going to lead a child into pursuing harmful medical treatments.

Unfortunately, learning about 'transgender people' IS actually likely to make some children believe that changing sex is a valid option. And end up causing enormous damage to their healthy bodies.

Until about twenty years ago, only a tiny tiny number of children had gender dysphoria. (Mostly camp little boys who grew up to be happy, healthy gay men).

'Transgender' children seen at the Tavistock Gender Identity Clinic had massively disproportionate rates of being gay, having autism, or being looked after children (and thus likely having a history of significant trauma).

Teaching these children that 'some people are transgender' and that they can 'change sex' offers them a way of framing their distress as a simple problem: a problem with a horrific solution.

Yes and then it could be expanded further to include women were banned from playing football until the 1970’s by the FA (mens team won the World Cup in 1966), the right to vote differed between men & women until 1920’s & there is still a gender pay gap. And then if they want to discuss medical options include the FGM which is still active today.

This is a very good, factually correct answer!

Bedheadready · Today 16:34

Kids are impressionable. My fear is they come across someone who is transgender getting a ‘sex’ change and they say ‘well my science teacher said you can’t change sex…’

Well, as pointed out already, the science teacher would have been entirely correct. The only sore point would be a lack of tact from the kid quoting their teacher.

It doesn’t give a accurate representation of the superficiality of the changes made.

I went to school with a girl and it was very very clear there was something missing in her life. She transitioned. He is now living as a man and I honestly couldn’t imagine him any other way. He’s a fully functioning man

It is simply not possible!

As others have already pointed out, a female can never be is a 'fully functioning man'.

Gender is hokum

This is such depressing nonsense. Wtf does ‘change gender’ mean? ‘Gender’ means ‘masculinity’ or ‘femininity’. A haircut would ‘change’ that, if you want to cleave to regressive and sexist stereotypes. Why on earth would you need to be operated on?

What do you mean ‘changed gender’? Please stop with this bullshit!

I went to school with a girl and it was very very clear there was something missing in her life. She transitioned. He is now living as a man and I honestly couldn’t imagine him any other way. He’s a fully functioning man

Nope. She's definitely still a woman.