At least three female students at my school now identify as the male gender.

[TheFoodtheFadandtheFugly]

Please don't judge me for posting this, I am only posting to try and understand this more and maybe hear from others teachers, feminists, people in public roles etc. Many conversations have been had and it increasingly a topic so I am trying to make sure I understand it as well as possible, and express things fairly and respectfully.

I have followed and read several of the threads on here regarding transwomen, gendered spaces and specific issues for women. We have a fantastic LGBTQ+ group at the school which has done a lot of campaigning and work with students. I have my own views about how society creates and polarises gender by dress, role, emotion etc. I don't think having short hair, wearing trousers and enjoying football makes me male, to oversimplify, and it is interesting hearing these debates.

These students are now in Years 8/9 and have changed their first names. I don't teach either of them. I know of at least two other students, both female, who have done the same. I suppose what I find interesting is that I don't know of male students who have done the same, but that female students doing this seems to have increased more recently.

Ultimately, they are young adults who I want to be healthy, happy and secure. They will make choices for themselves that are none of my business. I make sure I never express political/ personal beliefs at school anyway in most situations. I suppose part of me is still working out the language around it all. I guess I just wish we could be clearer or more open to identities that weren't polarised and there weren't these certain pressures on young girls. But at the same time, I know these girls have their own histories and reasons for making the decision they have, and they will not have done so lightly.

That was incoherent, sorry! I want to keep reading and hearing from people surrounding these areas so I understand it better, and so I can keep shaping my own views and make sure I approach it in conversation appropriately when it arises at school.

They aren't young adults, they are children, who are being led to believe that in order to be their authentic self they need surgery and hormones. For a very rare condition, 3 kids in one school is unlikely. Hopefully they can be given space and time and kind support to just be children.

are you a teacher?

I think clarity will come if you focus on their safety and that of the other students first and foremost.

But be clear about safety: they won't be "safe" because you learn their language. They need boring old-fashioned physical safety from other students and from people encouraging them to sterilise and otherwise damage their bodies before they are old enough to make such a decision.

Do you have fantastic support group for girls who are struggling to cope with their body changes and societal expectations? Or is trans the only support offered!? Do you have groups for gender atypical girl, such as a coding group for girls only or girls football? Has anyone actually checked that these girls are not victim she of sexual abuse? Just curious really. I certainly wanted to be a boy around that age. Realise now that was stupid wishful thinking and I a, glad I was able to give birth.

At DD's all girls school there are two 'male' pupils and one teacher who went the other way. It was all very sudden

Year 8/9 - so ages 12 to 14? I agree with Starkstaring, these are children, not young adults.

as far as the children are concerned, just teach them whatever you are paid to teach them.They can dress as they want, be called what they want, its best not to react, in my opinion.

My problem is what I am supposed to say as a science teacher.I get asked. I just have to say people can legally change their sex but not biologically. Because that's the truth. I can't really teach outright lies, can I

There are three girls at our school who identify as boys. At school they have changed their first names and use the disabled changing rooms/ toilet.

Both sexes are allowsed to wear trousers, so uniform isnt an issue.

To an outsider, one appears to have very serious mental health problems and the other two seem to have autistic traits. They are viewed as “troubled “ by most of the others teens , as opposed to being seen as either cool or weird. They are not bullied.

The parents have very wisely not sought any publicity.

The school has been very low key about it as there are many Asian pupils. I think they have judged that the local community won’t care about being woke .

What’s scary to me is that instead of just being gay it’s encouraged to be labelled as trans. With the massive push on trans everywhere, schools, media, social media im really not surprised there is now a sudden rush to declare being trans rather than just being gay. Which is really fucking bad for young minds especially when you have cranks like mermaids advising schools

I watched Louis Theroux's programme 'Transgender Children' on BBC iPlayer a couple of days ago and I found it very sad. The 14 year old MtF at the end seemed unconvinced that the treatment they were receiving (in the US) was actually going to make them happier. Like any 14 year old, they were worried about who they were going to have a relationship with and it struck me that the penny had suddenly dropped and they realised that their dating pool was going to be severely curtailed.

Worth a watch.

Definitely get a copy of the transgender trend school information pack-have a good read & check if the head of school has also read-if they are only being advised by stonewall & mermaids they are only seeing part of the picture. Re yr thoughts that a child might be on the autistic spectrum, is there a senco within the school who could talk to the parents about this-get a diagnosis?

I know Mermaids, etc claim - when asked why we're seeing such frequency of this when previously there was hardly any (in my long experience working with large numbers of teenagers: none at all; the average number you'd expect gay or wondering if they were, however) - that it's because it was taboo previously and now they can all come out about it.

But that's bollocks. It's social media-driven social contagion, which especially seems to be affecting girls more than boys and kids with mental health issues, etc.

As pp said please keep an awareness that some kind of abuse or trauma could be at the bottom of these cases. It has been in every case I personally know of. It is relevant to the young person's health to have this dealt with regardless of whether or not they continue to identify as trans or not and even if it turns out they have a complete dysphoria about their sexed body (very rare) . TRAs should care about this just as much as GC women do.

As a matter of interest, as well as an LGBTQ+ group, is there also a Feminist group? Perhaps these should be encouraged to start pushing the message that girls can do anything and you don't need to 'become a boy' if you don't conform to female stereotypes?

Sad as I am to see more kids identifying as transgender, it is the sheer volume which will finally cause politicians and the medical profession to step back and realise what a toxic situation has arisen. Gender non-conforming young people, often autistic, are being steered down a path to be being sterilised and surgically altered, all in the name of progress.

I know Mermaids, etc claim - when asked why we're seeing such frequency of this when previously there was hardly any (in my long experience working with large numbers of teenagers: none at all; the average number you'd expect gay or wondering if they were, however) - that it's because it was taboo previously and now they can all come out about it.

Yes, it goes back to appropriating homosexuality again, that obvs more people are gay now because its a lot more acceptable to be gay. But the thing with being gay is that no one can 'teach' you to be gay. Being exposed to material which says it OK to be gay isn't going to turn you gay because you can't help what you like, you can't force yourself to be attracted to the same sex if you are not. No one needs to tell you if you are gay, you know you are gay by definition if you are attracted to people of the same sex. So all the people who are out as gay now are actually gay.

This is entirely different to the situation we have now where children are being taught that if you are uncomfortable with your body or if you like certain things that perhaps your sex doesn't normally like, then there is something 'wrong' with you and it needs 'correcting' in some way. In that situation of course more and more children are going to think they are 'transgender' because they are being told they are. Entirely different to being gay.

This is entirely different to the situation we have now where children are being taught that if you are uncomfortable with your body or if you like certain things that perhaps your sex doesn't normally like, then there is something 'wrong' with you and it needs 'correcting' in some way. In that situation of course more and more children are going to think they are 'transgender' because they are being told they are

Indeed. And of course it’s entirely NORMAL to be uncomfortable with aspects of your changing body when you are a teen. As many (if not most) MNer have said about their own teenage years.

AND the emphasis on appearance is much higher than it was a generation ago, without selfies and Instagram

AND the standard of what is an acceptable way for a teen girl to look are so much higher maintenance and narrower. Eg 20 years ago , girls could have all sorts of hair styles. Now it has to be long and straight unless you are a lesbian . You MUST have your nails done and wear fake tan, be pencil thin and wear inches of make up to school. So much work, time and money.

AND the things you are allowed to be interested in are so much more sex segregated than they used to be. A girl who likes Lego used to be a girl who likes Lego . Now she’s a trans boy.

And on top of this we have the rampant lesbopobia, which tells girls who fancy girls that really they are damaged boys who need surgery and drugs to correct their faulty bodies.

Throw in trans activism and a little touch of autism and you have a prefect storm.

As someone who works in education:

1. Safeguarding
2. Safeguarding
3. Safeguarding
4. Mental health support (there is almost always something else going on)
5. SENCO involvement (about 1/3 girls id-ing as boys have some degree of ASD, ADHD or other SEN, often that's been missed)
6. Promotion of non-gendered interests AND sex-specific spaces (e.g. anyone can play football, even learn skills together, but teams need to separate for safety because of the disparity in strength). Ensure your LGBTQ group is not just a T and Q whinging shop and actually listens to Ls.
7. No wishy-washy biology. Facts about genetics and anatomy.
8. Media analysis & critical thinking skills particularly relating to the internet.
9. Proper SRE including consent and porn culture.

10. Diversion tactics. Many kids get caught up in the social media cycle where identity is EVERYTHING. Cutting them off is counterproductive, but involving them in things that take up time, away from screens, that don't depend on identity, will help a lot to dilute the immediate drama and rewards of an online peer group.

And you must check the source of any trans PSHE training materials. Mermaids is well-known for promoting dreadful safeguarding and most of the others provide no alternative to the affirmation/medicalised route. Get hold of the Trangender Trend pack, and listen to the speakers at the last Let A Woman Speak meeting in Plymouth; that will give you a good round-up of the issues.