Scottish schoolkids to be taught to ‘choose their own gender’ in class

[Tinycitrus]

According to The Sun: It says that children need to “learn about what we mean by gender, that this is different from the sex we are assigned at birth”, and that “gender is about how we see and present ourselves in the world”.

Here

I’ haven’t seen the new guidance but it will
Become part of the Curriculum for Excellence and is aimed at children between five and nine.

It doesn’t make sense to me. Apparently it starts off explaining to children that girls and boys can all play football and cry etc (hurrah!)

But later will talk
About how we aren’t necessarily the gender we are assigned at birth.

But that doesn’t make sense. If we start out saying that gender stereotypes don’t matter because girls and boys can play football then what is the point of telling children they can choose a gender?

Surely the point is that there IS NO SUCH THING AS GENDER rather than reiterating the stereotypes but tell little kids that they can choose?

Short article in the Times today:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/five-year-olds-to-choose-their-gender-26m3x2frt?shareToken=88691da1832d9f43bfe1eda5d21efaba

I desperately wanted a Scalextric aged nine. I used to wish for one every birthday (never got one)

I had one. Hadn't realized till now that this means that my parents recognized my inner bloke identity!

Igneococcus fuck. I’m more inclined to believe the Times than the Sun, and there’s a quote from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde too.

Looks like I’m just going to have to prepare DD for this shite, and hope it doesn’t sink in.

What do I say in response to her if she asks? Any ideas? She’s 5.

If anyone finds the actual document please will they link here? Thanks

If this story is true - and The Sun and The Times articles are very similar - then it means that primary school children will be taught a gender ideology which could only serve to reinforce gender stereotypes under the guise of progression.

I think teens need to discuss gender and are hopefully capable of critical analysis - although in the current climate any critical
Analysis of gender and transgender ideology, any questioning of the orthodoxy, will results accusations of bigotry.

I would be a brave 14 year old who
Would question any of this.

It reminds me of Sunday school - none of that made any logical sense either

Perhaps it’s my male brain making me apply logic and reason instead of virtue signalling feelz, rainbows and unicorns.

Primary school kids are just too young to wrap their heads around this stuff, at that age it's indoctrination rather than exploration.

Lemonjello I can’t find anything specific. I’m guessing they are referring to some guidance on supporting transgender pupils published a while ago. But I could be wrong.

This is beyond ridiculous if true. I will have to speak to school about it and find out what my kids are being told

Story is also in the Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News. Comments seem to be universally negative.

I have one child who couldn't care less and at the moment seems immune to this stuff (but I need to keep strong, because he's already emo-hood-bound, so kinda the target market), and one who's a little barbarian who likes pink and sparkles, mixed with black and flames - and who takes no nonsense.

I hope I'm innoculating them with my puzzled looks and 'but colours are for everybody' repeated whenever they come home with some new gender-based rule from school - Christ knows what'll happen if they're told this shit by teachers though, we're still reeling from the healthy-eating talks the oldest had, and trying to give him a bit more nuanced understanding than fat == bad, fruit == good.

I found this story www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.scotsman.com/news/politics/confusion-over-transgender-guidance-1-4765713/amp

But it was published back in July

I'm so incensed by this sexist rubbish.

What possible reason would a child have for claiming the opposite sex?

Toy/clothes/lifestyle preference.

Then what???

Are they told no, you're wrong. You can like all that stuff but you're still a girl/boy?

Or are they told they're trans?

It's unbelievable. There can't be this many stupid people, surely?

I think this is new- the previous guidance was about supporting transgender young people in school rather than specifically about indoctrinating all children to know the light and the glory of gender identity. Although the previous guidance did touch on making transgender identities more visible in the classroom, it did not go anywhere near as far as this seems to.

In relation to education I mean. It went plenty far enough in terms of ignoring and eroding girls right to privacy, dignity and safety.

If the utterly illogical, stupid, dangerous idiots leading this nonsense movement can't and won't explain what a girl is, what a boy is, and how you know the difference, how in the everloving heck do you expect a 5 year old to know either?

I can't tell you what a girl is, children, but you will just know, like magic.

I am coming perilously close to hating people who are advocating this pure bilge upon children.

If you believe yourself intelligent enough to educate a child then you must challenge yourself to actually educate yourself.
If you yourself possess no knowledge of any definition of girl or boy that you can offer, then you have no business trying to impart knowledge and guide a child.

Yes that was the one where the guidance was that parents had no right to know if their child had changed gender at school
And social services should be involved if they are not fully supportive.
Parents were pretty much positioned as the opposition in this brave new world.

This is a much better story. The guidelines are still draft and set to be implemented in 2019.

www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/primary-one-children-will-be-told-your-gender-is-what-you-decide-1-4779133

I mused earlier on how this - and the incidences of various councils in the UK taking on and promoting some rather questionable 'guidance' - came about. Having been present in a number of the types of council meetings where interest groups came to give presentations, I wondered if it went like this:

1. Introduction by parent of TG child, giving the story of how difficult it was until they affirmed and supported their child in its trans journey, etc. No child should have to suffer this and councils/schools must do something.

1. Presentation by interest group, including alarming statistics about rates of attacks, attempted suicides by children and young people, etc. "You don't want that to happen to the kids in your schools, do you?"

1. Presentation of ways in which schools should be encouraged to adopt new policy and practice, including suggested 'guidance' to be sent out to them.

1. Offers of 'support' by interest group, including visits to school leadership teams and governors and presentations/workshops for kids.

1. Council resolves to adopt the guidance. Nobody remembers to think of how it possibly drives a coach and horses through existing safeguarding policies.

Dear children there are nasty things called stereotypes. Some people think girls can only wear pink and play with dolls and boys must wear blue and play construction. This is BAD and we do not want to see evidence of this in school. It holds people back and stops people doing what they enjoy. Girls can wear blue, play football, do engineering and boys can play with dolls, be caring and dress up in princess frocks. There are no rules about what girls can play with and what boys can play with.

Now let me tell you about gender...

This is the link to the source material . Look at 1.4.3 Gender
rshp.scot/first-level/

"assigned at birth"" - FFS, as if it's some random thing like licking your finger and holding it up to see which way the wind is blowing.

I think it would be great if there would be a proper tackling of the narrow sex stereotypes that I see here in my rural bit of Scotland. I have been going on about it ever since I have children that I have never come across such narrow confines what boys or girls are allowed to be/like/wear/do as here. I'm not British though and sometimes don't know if it's cultural or generational. My dd's best friend (13, going into S3 next week) has never been to a Christmas party at the High school because all the girls wear dresses, make up and heels and she doesn't want to and she rather doesn't go than face the comments. My ds (10, starting P7) has the most fantastic curls and wears his hair slightly longer (not long, just not a a Nr 2 cut every 4 weeks) and has no interest in football and he gets called a girl frequently. This is the sort of thing I'd like to see challenged but I have no trust at all that this is what this guidance is aiming at.

The guidelines are completely self-contradictory. There is the positive element: encourage children to be, dress, play whatever and however they wish, tell them any job etc is open to them, tell them boys can be sensitive. However it's completely undermined by the whole "choose your gender" nonsense. It's completely coy about what gender is, but I don't know how else they can define it except using stereotypical behaviour! So: "Johnny, boys can bake cakes and like sparkles! What's that? Today you're going to be a girl because you're wearing a dress and playing with Barbie and Jane is going to be a boy because she's got the monster trucks and had a hair cut. Lovely!"

Mind you, the comments on the Facebook page under the Scotsman article are gold!

The guidelines are completely self-contradictory. There is the positive element: encourage children to be, dress, play whatever and however they wish, tell them any job etc is open to them, tell them boys can be sensitive. However it's completely undermined by the whole "choose your gender" nonsense. It's completely coy about what gender is, but I don't know how else they can define it except using stereotypical behaviour! So: "Johnny, boys can bake cakes and like sparkles! What's that? Today you're going to be a girl because you're wearing a dress and playing with Barbie and Jane is going to be a boy because she's got the monster trucks and had a hair cut. Lovely!"

That would be my criticism. From a pedagogic point of view, the actual teaching points (such as they can be determined) are entirely contradictory.