Parents kept in the dark by teachers about their 16 year old daughter’s medical transition

[rogdmum]

In this case the Head appears to have supported the parents’ wishes that their daughter’s social transition not be supported, but some teachers ignored this and even went further, keeping the daughter’s use of cross sex hormones secret:

“The couple found out how far their daughter had progressed with transitioning only after hiring lawyers to demand sight of school records. To their astonishment, the records showed some staff also knew their daughter was taking cross-sex hormones as a step towards making her body more masculine.

Subsequent disclosures showed she had also been using a chest binder to flatten her breasts, another troubling revelation the school had not shared.”

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c4af6f1c-1276-11ee-9673-09365d127a9f?shareToken=dcf6a82e739f6596fbb7897c6484f5a4

Where did you get the idea the child was estranged from her parents? Did you even read the article?

And both 'cross-sex hormones' and testosterone are mentioned. Why do you think this girl was only given hormone blockers?

I cannot believe the stupidity of comparing paracetemol with cross-sex hormones.

On the other hand, given the level of stupidity of the poster's other posts, I do believe it.

We need to be really careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. A school should not be telling parents if a child is taking medication prescribed by a doctor. It is the doctor's responsibility to ensure the child is competent to make the decision. There are a myriad of unintended consequences if we insist schools step in to tell parents.

We need to get a grip of activist doctors though. Are there no checks and balances in case of a doctor going rogue? Or is it a case of waiting til someone is harmed and willing enough to sue them? That could take ages. Seems bizarre that one person could just completely ignore guidance and cause untold damage for years.

The poster has repeatedly assumed facts not in evidence while challenging others to provide evidence.

Dd carries paracetamol in her bag with the school's knowledge and consent, she is 16.

I'm surprised that's allowed. At my school children can get paracetamol from student services if their parent has signed the form at the start of the year. But we don't allow any child to carry restricted items on school property (to prevent them giving it to someone whose parents haven't consented).

We require parental consent for paracetamol because schools are not doctors. Nobody there is competent to assess whether a child is capable of making that decision.

It should not be legal for any doctor to prescribe powerful drugs which are designed to cosmetically alter the body, but which also result in infertility and loss of sexual function, to anyone under the age of 18. There should be an absolute ban on medically altering a child's body in this way.

I agree. It's a unique situation. If specific guidelines (Fraser) can be developed separately to Gillick for a specific issue like contraception, then it can be done for gender dysphoria.

It would also be a step forward if there was a diagnosis called gender dysphoria by social contagion. With different treatment.

Even for sixth formers ? I think that is infantalisation personally and what a waste of student services' time handing out over the counter medicines to 16-18 year olds.

I think this would be a very good development. Far too many people don’t understand Gillick when PBs and wrong sex hormones are discussed.

Who do they think they are?

This used to be called a criminal offence, fabricated induced illness, and a disabled hate crime. Alas sacred castes don't get prosecuted, so like rape it has become legal.

Some suggest that they are Gnostics.

Jordan Peterson suggests that the women often with no children of their own become the devouring mother / Grim tales stepmother, devouring others children. This fits Layla Moran types.

There was also research that also fits Layla Moran, a domestic abuser who finds within the household isn't enough and they take it out to the public. I think prevent and a feminist came up with that research.

"Also this child was estranged from their parents and children's services were involved- could you be sure they (the parents) were acting in their child's best interests".

And here again we have the activist's trope about vulnerable children being estranged from their parents who were likely not acting in their child's best interests. It's depressing to repeatedly see such ignorance about the dreadful impact this has on children. All the evidence shows that children in do terribly in terms of achievement and future life chances. Glibly suggesting that these parents are not acting in the interests of their vulnerable daughter is shameful.

You're only looking at this from your personal perspective. Numerous schools have similar guidance that places boundaries on what medication is allowed in schools. It's not infantalising 6th formers, it's protecting all children. Just as the brilliant parents in the article are trying to protect their own child.

https://twitter.com/patricej36/status/1672886954168393729?cxt=HHwWgoC9ycn0pLcuAAAA

We have had this in the UK also. This is what's happening in hate speech, self ID utopia.

Parent 1

Parent 2

Parent 3

No mother produced by a surrogate. I can see where this is going.

Random professionals removing parental responsibility and adding themselves as parents without court orders and not being sent to prison.

I'm not an activist far from it, my 16yo frequently describes me as transphobic and I was told I was gender critical at work. What I try to be is balanced and measured. FWiW I don't think the child in the article should have been prescribed hormones, but I don't blame the school or the social workers who were all almost certainly trying to do their best. The ethics and the law are extremely muddied around this issue. There is no right and wrong.

Whats also interesting is the demographics involved. Schools receive guidence on what students to look out fir with regards to things like arranged marriages , fgm, breast ironing, online grooming . Yet somehow removing sexual function, disrupting mental and physical development, damaging breasts with binders akd discussing sexualities with teachers in lgbt groups is waved on through. Why? Whats the difference 🤔

16 year olds are allowed medical autonomy. You do not own your children.

I think we should blame the school and social workers. 'They were doing what they thought was right' isn't a defence, who were they to decide they knew better than the parents? When the parents were following recommended best practice? I'll give them some leeway for having been brainwashed trained by the usual suspects but seriously, who do they think they are to try to usurp parental responsibility?

Look I am going ro step away from this now. But schools and social workers are absolutely key in safeguarding, in those cases they absolutely do know better than the parents. Unless anyone on this thread knows the family concerned, we don't know if there were legitimate reasons for these professionals not to share information with the parents or not. I'm not calling it either way.

While most GPs wouldn't dream of prescribing cross sex hormones to a child, unfortunately some are true believers in gender ideology.

I remember Adrian Harrop, for example, tweeting about how he had initiated testosterone treatment for a young woman. Not a child, but still a treatment with unknown long term complications, but likely including sterility. Started by a doctor without specialist qualifications in either psychiatry or endocrinology.

The child in question was vulnerable due to her autism. Had she others working with her in school due to this? How could a team of professionals make a call on a child without parents being consulted & why did they do it?

https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1671726201323307008?cxt=HHwWgIC2-e6HlbMuAAAA

I think removing music, sunsets and all that is beautiful whilst in prison, from those who induced illness in children, that their victims can never experience - based on fabrications, should help rehabilitation.

If you are too stupid or inept to do your job properly then you need to find alternative employment, safeguarding is part of DBS employment.

Venal grade political power, and gains in personal status.

It was medically prescribed. It is not the job of teachers or social workers to make medical decisions. A 16 year old with medics is where the decisions lie. And beyond that the NHS, NICE and parliament

Please help me to understand how concealing that an under 16 is taking powerful medication off label without their parents knowledge is safeguarding that child? Cos I'm not seeing it.

And the GMC