Mermaids.......what do I do?

[lucymaudmonty]

I was on twitter reading something about GRA and the mermaids logo was on the screen....9yo ds sat next to me and said "oh that's mermaids". I asked him what he knew about mermaids and he said they had been into his school and talked to them about "transgender people".

I had no idea this had happened, we have had no info from school about this, and I'm furious. Where do I start? I would like to write to the school and express my concerns, but if anyone has done anything similar, and could let me know how they got on, it would be much appreciated!

I would be fuming too. We have to get these people out of schools. No advice but solidarity. Hope you get some sensible pointers from others.

I went to see the headmaster after we had engaged in conversation before about his equality policy being incorrect.

He was very open about not really understanding the issues completely. Gave the school a transgendertrend school pack and told him to watch some videos of Stephanie Davies Arai.

Explain the issues with Mermaids. Just go armed with facts.

Ok no experience of this but as a hypothetical I would talk DS about it in a calm, curious way to try to understand what she took from it, as in does she now think that you can change sex.

I would request a meeting with the Head quite urgently to ask when this was done, why, what the content was and which teacher was in the class. I would also like to talk to that teacher. I would also want to know why the parents weren't informed as parents are meant to be convulsed about RSE/PHSE (I believe this has been written somewhere, it's certainly best practise).

I would use the meeting as a fact finding mission and express surprise and disappointment.

Following that I would write to the head and the governors listing my concerns over mermaids, their history, the day at breach etc and ask for the decisions making process to be investigated.

All this is what I expect I would do if I was in your situation, what I would probably do is rage and scream and withhold my child from class, as is my right as a parent, as this teaching is not yet mandatory and you are able to do so until the last term when they are 15/16, under current law.

I hear you OP. My school has a policy based on the Oxford County Council guidelines. This states EXPLICITLY that parents do not even need to know if a child socially transitions at school and that teachers should lie on the phone and use the child's birth name to keep it all a secret. Basic safeguarding thrown out of the window. FFS.

My question if I were you would be what else have they not told you about?

Yes exactly, so many good points made. I will have a go at putting my thoughts together for a meeting. Does anyone have any examples of letters they have written to schools about similar issues?

I just went on their website out of curiosity.

WTAF:

When you are born, it’s decided whether you’re a boy or a girl, based on the way your body looks. But for some people, looks can be deceiving and they’re given the wrong gender.

Words fail me.

FWIW I think any young person struggling with their identity and mental health needs love, support and caring. But not from this deluded Mermaid organisation.

It is terrifying. Truly. How schools have lost their collective minds over this I do not know but they have.

It's ideological bullshit. Pushing the idea that personality are sexed and that means more than our sex. Reductive, sexist, clap trap.

Inform the Head that Mermaids is a lobby group (as is Stonewall) It's in their aims. Schools are meant to be politically neutral therefore lobby groups have no business in schools persuading children about their personal and political demands.

When the new rse curriculum starts in September the crazy will go up to eleven. Start raising it with your mps now.

lucymaud The Safe Schools Alliance UK website have some resources such as fact sheets and template letters which you may be able to adapt and use.

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/resources-2/

I think what you need to do is establish that Mermaids came into the school and who they delivered the teaching to.

Did they also provide training to the teachers or suggest policy changes?

Perhaps then ask the school how they ensured that what Mermaids said was biologically and scientifically accurate as for example, confusing children about their bodies and the words children should use to describe the parts of their body is a safeguarding risk which could lead to children being less able to recognise and communicate about any abuse they are subjected to.

I would also want to know how the school have assessed that Mermaids is an organisation that would be safe for their children to approach either now or when they are a little older. Just this week Safe Schools Alliance have tweeted this about Mermaids and their chat facility, which demonstrates that they think breast binders are appropriate for children 10yrs old (despite plenty of evidence of them causing serious damage to people, including to a person on a BBC programme this week). Mermaids also fails to suggest that there may be other reasons, that a child suddenly develops anxiety about her breasts. Some of the reasons for anxiety about breasts or genitals can actually be incredibly serious and therefore this symptom should be seen as possible a possible ‘red flag’ which needs talking through with the child further and and a child should not simply be affirmed as a trans child in need of breast binders by an organisation’s chat facility employee or volunteer.

mobile.twitter.com/SafeSchools_UK/status/1231951925391888385

If the school has also recieved staff training or policy writing help from Mermaids then you will have even more questions to ask them.

Oh and just to demonstrate further about how little Mermaids understand safeguarding they have recently put this picture of an 11yr old child with an adult drag queen. The drag queen appears to like to dress up as a version of a young girl. Mermaids have put this up to acknowledged their new partnership with Starbucks.

mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/mermaids-tales/

Hmmm... the photo