What is "ideology" and what rights to parents have? and what is "sex education"?

[worstofbothworlds]

This is a bit more general but follows on from my other thread about a boy in my DC's class whose mum says he is now a girl.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3414798-Mum-says-child-in-my-DCs-class-has-transitioned

I enquired what material was used around this explanation to the class and was told - roughly - what video was used and have shown my DC a snippet and they confirmed that it probably was that video.
HT is telling me that "this is not sex education so you don't have the right to withdraw your DC" and "this child has always been a girl". Both the HT's explanation and the video that my DC thinks they saw are very stereotyped (you know you're a girl because you like dollies/dresses/pink/mermaids/long hair and cars are boys toys).

Now, obviously, there will be many here who agree with me that this is a political ideology AND relevant to sex education.

I will be checking that the sex education syllabus to be delivered over the course of this school year - and Y3 will be puberty - will be anatomically correct and will refer to the correct sexes i.e. they will not be telling children that some girls have penises or some boys have periods. As this is National Curriculum stuff too I guess I could report them to Ofsted if they are teaching something in science that isn't science?

But there is also the issue of ideology - some people DO believe that a boy with a boy's biology can be, actually, a girl all along. What are my rights and what are a school's obligations to teach a balanced version of a political belief system?
And we also believe that gender stereotypes are imposed by society and not a feature of individuals. Again, what are my rights on my child being taught the opposite under ideology/what are the school's obligations to teach a balanced view?

Aargh typo in my title - what rights DO parents have?

But there is also the issue of ideology - some people DO believe that a boy with a boy's biology can be, actually, a girl all along. What are my rights and what are a school's obligations to teach a balanced version of a political belief system?

I would say this was more a religious belief than a political one. I think you have the right to remove your child from lessons which conflict with your religious beliefs. If your belief system is based on science and they are teaching anti-science gender ideology, you should be able to remove your child.

I don't work in a school or have a child in school, so I'm not totally sure of that, but religion and belief are protected under the equality act.

Did the HT really say the child had 'always been a girl'?

The HT said "X is a girl who [and here the red mist was descending so I wasn't listening properly] just happens to have a boy's body/was born in a boy's body/was born as a boy" or similar guff.

HT also said "it's not RE so you can't exclude your child" and when I said this conflicts with our beliefs said "we are a community school, not a faith school" though was a bit taken aback when I said this is NOT due to religious beliefs. I was, as I say, a little upset at this point so forgot to insert the word "feminist" or "political".

This reminds me of religion- our DC were constantly confronted with religious practice and views that conflicted with what we believe. I did once confront a teacher about this as she had (according to DD) presented as fact something that was actually a matter of belief.
But in general we told them to be quiet and respectful when other people were (eg) praying and that everyone had different beliefs etc etc

• this worked for us, they grew up sharing our views but understanding other people thought differently.

I'm not sure how helpful this is, as saying a boy is a girl is on a different scale- more like if a teacher had taught creationism as fact. But if I had young DCs, I think that's the kind of line I'd take. But how to do it without undermining a teachers authority I don't know. 'yes, Fred, you are a boy we know this because you've got a penis. When you grow up you will be a man. But of course, you can be any kind of boy you want, it doesn't matter what you wear or play with, you'll still be a little boy. Mrs X says boys can change into girls? Well, Fred, we all have different ideas and we must respect Mrs X and her delusional beliefs' .......hmmmm......my kids would not have bought that.

Yes, "religion and belief" are the same protected characteristic - presumably so that those whose "beliefs" are humanist, political, or atheist cannot be discriminated against even though it's not "religion".

I've always classified my feminist beliefs as "political" (and I do have, separate, beliefs that are related to religion though not in the way that the HT thinks, I imagine).

newt I did double check with the relevant DC that they (the DC) don't think that X's willy has dropped off.

unfortunately we did too good a job of teaching them to be kind and considerate of other's beliefs and now I have a 30 year old who calls me a biological essentialist

I have found this about the definition of sex education by the DfEE (as was, 2000)

"It is lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional development. It is about the understanding of the importance of marriage for family life, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care. It is also about the teaching of sex, sexuality and sexual health. It is not about the promotion of sexual orientation or sexual activity – this would be inappropriate teaching. "

The DfE definition does not say "sexual activity" or "sexual intercourse", it does say SEX i.e. both sexual activity AND the sex class of individuals.
So, I think I probably have a fairly strong case that teaching a class about whether a child is a boy or a girl is sex education as it is, literally, education about a child's sex.

I think I should be putting this all together in the same letter though so I will try and find out more about "ideology".

This from gov.uk

www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/other-compulsory-subjects

"Sex and relationship education (SRE) is compulsory from age 11 onwards. It involves teaching children about reproduction, sexuality and sexual health. It doesn’t promote early sexual activity or any particular sexual orientation.

Some parts of sex and relationship education are compulsory - these are part of the national curriculum for science. Parents can withdraw their children from all other parts of sex and relationship education if they want.

All schools must have a written policy on sex education, which they must make available to parents for free."

So I'm assuming that the "written policy" must be accurate in that it must tell parents what they are ACTUALLY teaching in their sex education classes.

.

I've found this which is not specifically on religious worship or RE:

faithschoolersanonymous.uk/the-law-and-your-rights/faqs-for-pupils-parents-and-teachers/

My child’s primary school teaches the creation story – is this legal?

"State schools should absolutely not teach pseudoscientific ideas such as young earth creationism or intelligent design as scientifically valid, as they are not scientifically valid and so to do so would break laws requiring the curriculum to be ‘balanced’. This extends to a ‘teach the controversy’ approach which treats creationism and evolution as equivalently valid theories."

So not only can they not just teach a non-scientific theory but they can't teach it as "one alternative". I'd probably settle for "one alternative" and the freedom to tell my DC which one is actually right, myself.

But the government hasn't made their position clear on other "beliefs", only this one.

That's really interesting worst. School should of course be factual and neutral. It is scary how easily unscientific content has infiltrated teaching material.

There has to be a way of being genuinely inclusive and tolerant of all students whilst remaining unbiased.

All kids should be allowed to wear any of the uniform and have their hair long or short and be called by whatever name they wish. And all kids should be kind and respectful to each other. I think a newly trans child should be introduced with the minimum of fuss and explanation. They really will not be the only child in the class who has something going on in their life.

I'd say pronouns are at the discretion of the child's friends. No child should be told that their own happiness rests upon what word is used by others to describe them when they are not there. That's very unhealthy. But if they ask their genuine friends to refer to them as the opposite sex there's every chance they'll comply out of courtesy sometimes.

If I were a teacher in a school with a trans child I would want to really look at the environment I was creating for the children and the examples that were being set. I would make a conscious effort to make things less pink and blue if that makes sense! The staff should lead by example unless they really do believe in the innateness of gender stereotypes.

Ask the HT outright if they think humans can change sex.

They’ll waffle. Insist on cutting through that. No not gender, I mean sex. Biological sex.

They’ve always been a girl? How can humans change sex?

Born in the wrong body? That’s a belief in souls. That’s a religious belief.

Always been a girl? Then what are they transitioning FROM?

Don’t be scared to push back on waffle. Don’t be scared to clarify a question.

I'm not going to have another lengthy conversation with the HT until I've worked out what I'm legally allowed to ask them to do/allowed to withdraw my DCs from. Then I'm going to write to them.

And it's not really about what the HT believes, anyway, is it? It's about what they school is teaching my DCs. The HT can believe whatever they like, if they believed in creationism that wouldn't be my business - as long as it wasn't taught in school.

It shouldnt be about what the HT believes, no. But you can bet that anything the HT really objected to wouldn’t be allowed in like this if it wasn’t a compulsory teaching.

Good luck. I think I said on your other thread but phrasing like ‘if there was a serious case review then it would be noted that you’ve been informed of concerns over blah and blah’ could be useful.

I always thought sex ed was a dodgy thing. It is necessary, however, children get exposed to age inappropriate things and get encouraged to experiment while they are not ready. Question is WHO DO WE TRUST WITH THE CURRICULUM?

It’s chilling to think that children are being indoctrinated with such a damaging ideology. I wonder what schools would do if large numbers of parents demanded that their children not be subjected to this theory. I know someone who asked for her children not to take part in faith based school assemblies. Naturally the school obliged so they now sit and read with a TA instead of attending collective worship. Perhaps pupils whose parents hold ‘GC’ beliefs should also be entitled to alternative arrangements when aspects of the ‘curriculum’ are at odds with scientific facts.

There was a government consultation on sex and relationships education that closed last night.

Thankfully I saw it before it closed and filled it in.

I'm trying to think of other examples where schools can't impose an ideology.
Have schools been told they can't force children to wear red poppies/tell them to remove white poppies? Looks like some have told children not to wear red poppies (but on grounds of size!)
Clearly they could not force a child to eat meat.

Have you asked for clarification on the MN the teaching boards (staffroom, I think)? There are probably a few HTs knocking around who might have insight.

Ooh good idea, thanks Dragon3

Yes, "religion and belief" are the same protected characteristic - presumably so that those whose "beliefs" are humanist, political, or atheist cannot be discriminated against even though it's not "religion".

Unfortunately this is not quite right. Equality Act 2010 protects religion unconditionally. But philosophical belief is protected ONLY if it does not conflict with the Act's principles.

So a homophobic religion is protected, but a homophobic philosophy is not.

Thus if you believe that gender reassignment is nonsense, and the belief is grounded in nonreligious intellectual system like science or radical feminism, your belief is not protected.

(At least that's my impression, I have no legal training, so take with heapings of salt!)

Not helpful but in the recently closed consultation on RSE I wrote repeatedly that parents must have the right to withdraw children from RSE that is ideology-based rather than grounded in science, biology, and evidence.

Does anyone have a link to the description of the proposed curriculum from the consultation? Because if it includes anything like gender roles then that is what this was.