New Supporting transgender young people in schools: guidance for Scottish schools

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-transgender-young-people-schools-guidance-scottish-schools/

I've not read it closely but some sections look slightly promising eg:

Recognise that some transgender young people may not be comfortable using a single sex toilet or changing room that matches their gender identity. In which case providing a gender-neutral space or accessible toilet can be the best alternative.

If a young person raises a concern regarding sharing facilities with a transgender young person and it is established that they will experience disadvantage as a result, then the school should seek to respect the rights of all. To do this the school should seek to come to an arrangement, to accommodate everyone involved, after discussion and consideration of options available.

Specific considerations will be required for residential trips, as young people are in closer quarters than usual. Talking about respect for boundaries, privacy and shared living space will help all young people, including transgender young people. For certain residential accommodation it is possible under exceptions provided by the Equality Act[56] to treat a transgender young person differently in the provision of single-sex communal accommodation if this is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim[57]. This means that schools are not required to place a transgender young person in a dormitory that aligns with their gender identity if this treatment of them is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. This will require careful consideration[58].

Hmm, spoke too soon...

National Child protection guidelines[62] require agencies and professionals, including teachers to follow particular procedures for confidentiality and information sharing. But, being transgender is not a child protection issue in itself

A transgender young person may not have told their family about their gender identity. Inadvertent disclosure could cause needless stress for the young person or could put them at risk and breach legal requirements. Therefore, it is best to not share information with parents or carers without considering and respecting the young person's views and rights[66].

[Infographic with 57% transgender children attempt suicide if unsupportive parents]

Recommends Mermaids

Sorry Eresh I can never make them work. Some bits

Government guidance aimed at making schools more inclusive for transgender children should be withdrawn because it includes “irresponsible” and “incredibly unsound” data on suicide, a former senior civil servant has said. Shirley-Anne Somerville, the education secretary, last week unveiled 70 pages of practical but not binding suggestions that are meant to make life easier for some of the country’s most vulnerable young people.

However, a section which suggests that 57 per cent of trans youths with unsupportive parents attempted to take their own lives has come under scrutiny. The figure was based on research that was carried out by the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and Delisle Youth Services in 2012. An infographic in the Scottish government documents also states that 4 per cent of trans youths who had supportive parents attempted suicide. Lucy Hunter-Blackman, a former head of the government’s higher education division, has said that the assertion is based on dubious and “technically incompetent” data.

They never seem to mention that young women don't use loos at school if they are mixed sex. Just a thought

Share tokens aren’t working just now but it is archived here:

<a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/2021.08.15-230618/www.thetimes.co.uk/article/transgender-guidance-for-schools-based-on-flawed-data-rp8scscll" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">archive.ph/2021.08.15-230618/www.thetimes.co.uk/article/transgender-guidance-for-schools-based-on-flawed-data-rp8scscll

I did a post with links to all the research, the survey etc in the other thread on this guidance

Flawed data

Just a guidance 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Says our government

"Teachers are not psychiatrists and shouldn't be involved in colluding with children against their parents. How utter undermining."

True. But parents aren't usually psychiatrists either. Tricky. I wouldn't want to be a psychiatrist who colludes with the parents against the child, either.

Psychiatrists don’t collude with parents against the child. What an odd thing to say.

This part from the Times article is mind boggling:

“ A Scottish government spokesman said: “The infographic contained within the guidance is intended to be illustrative of the concerns which transgender young people may face. The infographic clearly contains the reference to the study as the source, and therefore is appropriate.”

Riiiight, so the infographic is merely intended to be “illustrative”, not an accurate representation of the proportion attempting suicide. Ok, then.

And as long as you include the source if your data, it is perfectly ok to include data that are, at best, misleading, and at worst, made up. Ok, then, again.

The infographic also uses an image of pills to illustrate the suicide "facts"...

The teacher training version by LGBTYS shows a drawing of a noose instead of the pills.

(Both are bad, obviously! )