Nauticant, I so agree with you. Non-conforming youngsters are a threat, and they are being conveniently neutralised and instrumentalised.
Now how can we as mothers tell our ostracised children that it is perfectly fine to be who they are? Because children who are different.... who are on the spectrum, who look different, who have hi IQs, an artistic sensitivity, who suffer from depression, who have rare interests/talents or any number of things..... children who are different are ostracised by most other children.
There is definitely a feeling of not wanting to be "who I am" in these kids because of the hurt they feel, which reaches heart breaking intensities during the teenage years when belonging to a group is so important.
Past generations just "stuck it out" until adulthood (physical and mental) set in and "being ostracised, weird or non-normal" became "being exceptional". What did teachers/parents do or not do back then that isn't happening now?
Please, please, please world, stop sterilising our children during the painful teenage years, even if they think they want it. There is a reason we do not let them vote or get tatoos or breast enhancement, nose jobs, etc. It doesn't mean we don't love them or have no regard for what they are going through. Its because we think they need to wait until the hurt calms down and they have the experience and knowledge to make good decisions for themselves. The vast majority of time, the hurt calms down with simple time.