Right, sorry this is long and probably a bit all over the place, just don’t know what to do anymore. DD is 14 (well, says she’s a trans boy now so technically DS? still getting my head round it tbh) and her behaviour’s gone completely downhill the last year or so. Been holding it together best I can but today she got excluded from school and I’m at the end of my rope.
She’s always been on the more ‘tomboyish’ side – hated dresses as a kid, preferred climbing trees and football to dolls, all that. Never been overly girly, which was fine obviously, we just let her be who she is. But this last year it’s taken a real turn. She told us around Christmas she’s a boy and wants to be called a different name and we’re to use he/him. Said she’s known for years but only just had the courage to say it.
Me and DH were shocked but tried to be supportive, though tbh I’ve been struggling a lot more than him with it. I want her to be happy and herself but also feel like we’ve lost our daughter overnight. She’s now dressing completely different – baggy boys clothes, beanie hat glued to her head, voice dropped an octave (she forces it deeper), and she’s cut off all her old friends. Now only hangs round with this group of older boys who all seem a bit dodgy tbh. Some of them have been in trouble for vaping and nicking stuff and they egg each other on.
Since she came out as trans the behaviour’s been worse. She’s angry all the time. Everything’s a row – we use the wrong pronoun and she’s slamming doors and shouting she wants to die. She’s self harmed a few times and left notes in her room about hating herself. I’ve tried speaking to her but she just says we’ll never understand because we’re “cis” and “transphobic”. I’ve never said I don’t believe her or anything like that, just asked questions and tried to get her to slow down and talk things through, but she sees that as an attack.
School’s been an absolute nightmare. She’s barely in class anymore – constantly getting put in isolation for bad language, defiance, walking out of lessons. She got sent home a couple of months ago for fighting another girl – apparently over someone calling her by her old name. Then last week she had a proper meltdown in school, shouting at a teacher and pushing a boy, and today we got the call saying she’s been excluded for a week. They said it was aggressive behaviour and repeated rule breaking. We’ve got a meeting Thursday to discuss what happens next and I just feel sick about it.
We’re on the CAMHS waiting list but god knows when we’ll actually be seen. GP was sympathetic but said there’s not much they can do beyond referring. Tried to get her to speak to someone at school but she refuses, says everyone’s against her. She’s barely eating, sleeping at weird hours, and just glued to her phone 24/7 watching TikToks about being trans and cutting off toxic parents etc. It feels like she’s being pulled further and further away from us and I don’t know how to reach her.
For the record I’m not anti trans, and if this is really who she is then I’ll support her 100%. But I just don’t know if it is who she is, or if it’s something else – trauma, mental health, trying to find an identity in a group. She’s clearly unhappy and struggling massively. I’m terrified she’s going to get kicked out of school permanently or worse.