School Video. Words just can’t convey...

[ConcreteUnderpants]

For all those who PM’ed and wanted me to put it on its own thread.
Here you go.

This is the video my year 6 watched at school (without any consultation with parents)
I’m just speechless.

They were also told about Robert/a Cowell and puberty blockers were mentioned, although I’m not sure of those details.

Head and deputy are the safeguarding leads at the school, so where do I start with the Governors? Overwhelmed.

@Stealhsquirrelnutkin

I can see myself using this video as a teaching tool. I'd use it to teach children to look below the surface of an online video, and analyse the content.

I can see it being very useful as part of the curriculum that teaches them critical thinking skills and helps them spot the techniques used in advertising and online videos that aim to manipulate them, and do not have their best interests at heart.

I'd want to help them them to recognise the tricks the presenter is using, coming up with their own suggestions as to what might have motivated her to choose that syrupy, sing song voice, the chalk board, scattered crayons, and the "Teddy is my best friend" schtick.

Then I'd ask them to consider the "gender assigned at birth" statement. What really happens when a baby is born? How do we know what sex a baby is? Then I'd ask them if they thought all boy babies grew up to have be interested in doing the same things? What does it mean if a girl prefers playing with "boy" toys or a boy likes "girl" toys? Is it possible for adult males to enjoy cooking and keeping the house tidy? Do grown women ever use power tools? Does it make them any less male or female if they do those things?

I'd show them photographs of children from the past and ask if they could spot which were the girls and which were the girls? Looking at formal portraits from centuries past when they all wore dresses and had long hair, and then photographs from the 30's, 60's, 70's and 80's. Including photos of David Bowie, Adam Ant, Joan Armatrading and Annie Lennox, asking if they could tell which of them was male and which was female?

Then I'd ask them to consider why the Queer Kids videos were made. What was their intended influence? Who was the target audience? What does the presenter gain from making those films and getting children to watch them?

That's just off the top of my head, but I do think that children are susceptible to to pernicious online propaganda, and teaching them how to spot fraud, lies and unsavoury intent so that they have some defence against the things they'll encounter online is important. Year six is probably a reasonable time to start equipping them to resist online manipulation, you can't leave it too late or their immaturity and inexperience will make them easy prey.

Absolutely bloody excellent post. This.

Children need world proofing these days, from aggressive marketing from all directions, including this one. Critical thinking and being alert to manipulation is now a key life skill.

Thank you for sharing this, it has prompted me to request detailed information from school about exactly what is being taught in their sex education sessions after half term. If there's any shit about doctors assigning gender, or suggestion that it is possible to actually change sex, I will be getting straight back to them.

@OldTurtleNewShell

Holy fuck. I've got a year 6. I wouldn't want him watching that sexist tripe. As to what the problem is? Seriously? The problem is that sex =/= gender. No doctor looks at a newborn and assigns them a 'gender' stereotype. They note their sex. The only people 'assigning' gender to children are those in the video. I'm so sick of seeing sexist, regressive stereotypes being peddled as 'progress'. They're not.

This has been taught to children AGED 6, not year 6, don't worry (My DD is 6 and I'm now questioning my child!)

It's sinister because of posters like @waitingforthenextseason suggesting this video was shown to 11, 12 and 13 year olds. Repeatedly asserting that children are older than they actually are is a red flag for boundary breaking

FFS. That's not what I suggested. I was referring back to my original fucking post that said my own child had experienced these issues in her Year 6 class last year, and an increasing number of the same issues in her Year 7 class THIS year. And how it has been handled at both schools ... well ... and how accepting the children have been to each other's differences.

There is nothing in my post about asserting that children are older than they actually are. My own daughter is a summer baby, so didn't turn 11 until summer of her Year 6.

This has been taught to children AGED 6, not year 6, don't worry

OP’s child is in Year 6.

@waitingforthenextseason

It's sinister because of posters like @waitingforthenextseason suggesting this video was shown to 11, 12 and 13 year olds. Repeatedly asserting that children are older than they actually are is a red flag for boundary breaking

FFS. That's not what I suggested. I was referring back to my original fucking post that said my own child had experienced these issues in her Year 6 class last year, and an increasing number of the same issues in her Year 7 class THIS year. And how it has been handled at both schools ... well ... and how accepting the children have been to each other's differences.

There is nothing in my post about asserting that children are older than they actually are. My own daughter is a summer baby, so didn't turn 11 until summer of her Year 6.

And yet both you and mockolate failed to mention that most of the children that watched this video would have been TEN YEARS OLD.

You can dissemble all you like. I see you.

"The doctors get it wrong" WTF? Do they get diagnosing chickenpox and treating cancer wrong too? This is so dangerous.
Suggests to me someone has an agenda if they are showing this. That or they are stupid.

@SkodaKodiaq - the lesson was for Year 6 children, so 10/11 year olds.

The teddy has it, 'Now, I'm confused'!!

@Italiangreyhound

The teddy has it, 'Now, I'm confused'!!

It's the only part of the video that makes any sense.

Indeed!

If you want to get very precise, doctors don't observe sex at birth either.

They observe external genitalia and, based on this observation, the child is assigned M or F in official documents.

That method is imperfect. Depending on how you define sex - the external genitalia don't always match other sex characteristics (e.g., chromosomes, hormones).

Why do you persist in propagating this utter nonsense?
In all but a tiny, tiny proportion of cases (0,018%) sex is observed at birth. Even those with differences of sexual development are a male or a female disorder, and even so this has the square root of fuck-all to do with trans.

WTAF have I just seen? The world has gone completely and utterly mad.

If you want to get very precise, doctors don't observe sex at birth either.

In most cases it is the midwife.

I thought there was often testing done at birth now as well? So any DSDs are picked up early (I could be wrong).

For instance, someone who has a condition like Caster Semenya's would have been identified at birth.

However, in over 99% of cases sex can be correctly determined from external genitalia.

Presumably if the video was shown in May and birthdays are even roughly distributed over the year, close to three quarters of the children will have been 11. I don’t think that’s a point to get hung up about.

In all but a tiny, tiny proportion of cases (0,018%) sex is observed at birth.

Even in the 0.018% the sex is observed, just wrongly.

If I make a mistake in measuring someone's height it doesn't mean I wasn't measuring their height...

Same for sex.

@NecessaryScene1

In all but a tiny, tiny proportion of cases (0,018%) sex is observed at birth.

Even in the 0.018% the sex is observed, just wrongly.

If I make a mistake in measuring someone's height it doesn't mean I wasn't measuring their height...

Same for sex.

Not quite. In the 0.018% further testing is carried out eg scans/genetics etc.

But, but ... gender isn't 'assigned' at birth. Sex is observed at birth. Gender is the bloody stereotypes that society assigns to boys and girls!!!

What's the requested follow up discussion about your gender in class going to be, like, other then a reinforcement of those gender stereotypes?

'I'm a boy.'
'Why?'
'Because I like boy things'

I have a 7 year old boy and I put huge effort into telling him that there's no such thing as 'boys things' and 'girls things'. I push back really strongly on the idea that x is for girls so that means it somehow lesser.

Why can't all this energy go into pushing back against gender stereotypes rather than reinforcing them?

Not read the whole thread but just wanted to say that www.safeschoolsallianceuk.org has loads of resources to help parents question and challenge schools.

OP I have sent you a DM.

This story's made the DM

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9613555/Mother-vents-fury-10-year-old-shown-video-discussing-transgender.html