Just asked to comment on primary schoolSexual Education policy in Ireland. Your help needed.

[XXSex]

Can’t out myself too much.

Lots of resource books about transgender listed.

One - only one - book on female empowerment. None on male breaking down the sexist stereotypes apart from 3 (!!!!!) boy becomes girl books and now boy is happy because he can finally become himself.

I suspect that this is going to be a standard roll out in Irish primary schools (ages 4-12) and want to get my points across.

Help please with

• additional books on female and males books breaking stereotypes and ultimate acceptance.
  
• comments that I can give to the school.
  

They are bringing in concepts as transgender at 4-7 and not including anything about not having to confirm to what societal bonds there might be! FFS

[NewAccountForCorona]

I've been avoiding this thread out of guilt

Sadly I think Ireland is fucked, and there is nothing you can do to stop this. I'm just hopeful that the population as a whole with think "bollocks" and that when the battle is won in other countries, then Ireland will gradually drop the whole thing.

I'm so thankful my children are adults, and I'm hopeful it'll all go away before I have grandchildren. I'm a complete coward, though, as even my family has drunk the coolaid due to a vociferously "feminist" family member who is aggressively on the side of male women

[ForeverFaithless]

Well I made the mistake of looking up the article to read, just awful, twisting everything JKR said.

Then to make matters even worse, they tagged in the wrong Louise O'Neil on Twatter.

I don't know how we'll survive this cult.

[contactusdeletus]

In most schools parents have to give permission for their kids to take part in school sex education.

If you can't shunt the gender identity stuff down the road to an age where kids might be more critical of what they're being taught, then you should at least be able to prevent your primary-school-aged children from being exposed to this ideology.

I suggest drafting a consent form which clearly spells out what children will be taught - so parents understand it's not just the old-fashioned birds and the bees stuff they grew up with.

[contactusdeletus]

If enough parents pull their kids out of the class, the powers that be might rethink their stance. A seven year old does not need extensive sex education

[StayinginSummer]

Child prot

[StayinginSummer]

Aargh! Child protection must be number one. Which is

My body is me
My body and no keeping secrets etc
Relationships. Being able to be honest, go at your own pace, trust, respect.
Ability to debate, to argue, to have a voice, to question. To respect difference in yourself and others.

All very important.

[Deadringer]

I am in Dublin, my 11 year old dd hasn't been taught anything about trans, i will be watching out for it though.

[notyourhandmaid]

So basically sex education in Ireland is now either the lunatics with those connections to Youth Defence and the sticky-tape-impure-girls crew, or trans ideology? Ah here lads.

(context for the non-Irish: www.irishtimes.com/news/education/what-are-our-children-being-taught-about-sex-1.3467341)

[Heygirlheyboy]

The rse programme has not changed. Your school's policy is available either online and/or in your school office for your perusal. As a pp said you should be asked consent yearly ahead of the rse/stay safe programme. These safeguards should help as changes are, inevitably, introduced. Any update of policy will necessary include parents' involvement, perhaps through PTA, as well as at BOM level.

[TheLurkingOne]

Following. This worries me.

[MayFayner]

Thanks for the info @Heygirlheyboy

It’s good to know there’s no official change to the programme.

[Heygirlheyboy]

I should say, I'm at primary level. Husband at secondary and they had a 6th year trans student who they supported in social transitioning. However the student was given a third space for toilet/changing. He later detransitioned and came out. I haven't heard any word of any update there though I know there is tolerance of students who transition. I asked a friend in an all girls' why if the student she knew was 'a boy' he was not moved to the boys' school.... No answer. They had been spoken to about trans issues (likening them to attitudes to homosexuality in the past) and I was surprised she didn't hinkt a bit more critically about it. I have a young teacher colleague who is a big Harry Potter fan and who refers to her 'trans' friends ie doesn't say they are women etc so I think there will be some informed pushback..

[EarlofEggMcMuffin]

I have child at single-sex boys Secondary.
Found out a week after the fact, that a trans woman had come in to speak to a group .

Was not happy. Would have liked to have known in advance; as it was, the opportunity to offer an alternative POV was lost.

(BTW - no problem with a trans woman coming in to speak to the group in the broadest sense....as long as it is offered with the alternatives of "you cannot change biological sex" or alternatives regarding support if you are gay etc etc).

[Bedroomdilemma]

My son is at an ET and in I think junior infants or senior, not sure when, he told me that at school they were talking about how boys could wear dresses, and I agreed that indeed they could. Nothing about if a boy wants to wear dresses that in fact makes them a girl. The school does do things re LGBT (and racism - I was v impressed when a few months ago he told me his hero was Martin Luther king, and also Rosa parks) but so far nothing specifically about trans. Some of the parents can be a bit “right on” which concerns me if this trans ideology comes up later, I hope not. Anyone so far the values being imparted are more in line with mine than a catholic school (though I do miss the nativity at Christmas...) but I’ll just have to see what happens next. I wish there were more books about boys breaking gender stereotypes (without it meaning they’re a girl!)

[Annasgirl]

Hi ladies - I'm in Dublin too. Have been active on this board for the past year or so. I am in despair at Ireland - I can't even talk to my own sisters, who are all woke as woke. And we are all middle-aged, middle class mothers who I would have said were all feminists - but they now think I am a traitor to the poor Transwomen (they have all bought into TWAW - and yes, we all have daughters!).

I'd love to meet up if any of you are interested.

[TheBeastAwakens]

Educate Together schools are definitely on the trans train. Most will be happy to promote transgenderism at primary and secondary so do be careful. If you're on Twitter, try tweeting at them to see if there's any caveat that parents will be told if there is any talk of trans coming up - particularly at primary level.

[TheBeastAwakens]

Also @Annasgirl - would love to meet up with any Irish GC women. I've converted my partner and working on a few others but it's slow going.

[Heygirlheyboy]

That is very poor re transgenderism promotion with no communication to parents. I would always say read every school policy, many don't. In an ET are so involved with policy etc that it's important to be heard and even more important if principal not keeping all parents informed. It is hardly something that has come up in conversation say, so having talkers in, which would have been organised possibly months in advance, without telling parents, is very poor communication at the least.

[TheBeastAwakens]

In many ET schools you'll also have a lot of very right-on parents who wouldn't have a problem with the likes of TENI coming in and talking to kids. Would not like to be a GC parent in an ET school

www.teni.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Transforming-the-Classroom.pdf

[GeorginaEstonia]

My children in ET were told this year that you can be anything you want to be and someone who feels like the opposite sex is very very brave and people must be kind to them. Ive only discovered this since lockdown - but yesterday one of my kids asked me if they could be a chicken. I said not that I was aware of but they’d have to ask their teacher.

[Heygirlheyboy]

Georgina. Nothing wrong with be nice and feels like really... You can do anything you want in terms of gendered toys/roles/interests but you can't actually be the opposite sex. I do know a child who socially transitioned in JI in an ET and his peers still don't know that the child was originally a Sam, now a Samantha..

[GeorginaEstonia]

Agreed. However I am paraphrasing - they were also told that Little Timmy IS a girl.

[Heygirlheyboy]

Stop! Oh gosh... I wonder what the teachers in the school think. I worked in an ET in Dublin but I don't know what the vibe there is now. I'm curious about which schools people are referring to!! But as an ET is by definition democratic it's essential they listen to their parents.

[GeorginaEstonia]

They are pretty good at that in my experience. But I do wonder how this will unfold when they all go back.

[Heygirlheyboy]

Well that's great you feel they will take parents' views on board.