A small victory- sex ed in Scottish schools

[Hagiography]

Last year my DD came home from school having had her first sex ed lesson.

'Some girls don't get periods' she said, cheerfully. 'So I might not get them'.

In Scotland, we can access and read all the materials used for RSHP lessons. And we can feed back.

So, after giving my DD a small follow up lesson to explain that all girls get periods, unless something has gone wrong, I wrote an email to the body that writes the RSHP lessons.

This is more effective than going to the school, who are generally sensible and after all.were only giving the lesson as provided.

I included two references from the NHS that state clearly that girls who don't start menstruating by age 15 need to see a doctor to investigate.

I heard back that they were due to review I summer. This term I checked, and its been changed. The sentence about some girls not having periods has been removed.

This is one way we can counter the insidious creep of gender identity. Sentence by sentence, one email at a time.

I encourage all parents in Scotland to check the RSHP resource when they can. It's a big resource, and needs careful checking, and input from as many parents as possible.

Any incidences of genderwoo, consider how they can be questioned. Look for solid evidence to counter any problematic points, and raise the issue directly with the RSHP site/providers.

The people who write this content are responsive and can, and do listen.

rshp.scot

Good result - well done!

Yes, I was pleased. But also surprised at how easy it was. Once the issue had been clearly spelled out, it was fixed.

I think we need to start doing more pointing at the Emperor.

Sometimes these things seem so bloody obvious we think surely we don't have to spell them out. But it's worth trying.

Yes indeed, well done op. It's great that you can actually see the course material in Scotland.

Did the original erroneous text offer any explanation as to why some girls wouldn't get their period? We knowwhat they meant, of course, but I'm just wondering if they wrote that bald statement and left it at that.

It's an obvious thing to ponder when they write that sort of stuff. I'd always be wondering who won't have periods then? Is there any way of telling who will & who won't? And, as you say, it's especially concerning when there could be a serious underlying medical problem at the root of it.

I'm just writing to our school to query the "there are hundreds of genders" being presented to DS1 in PSHE as a fact, rather than as a "some people believe there are hundreds of genders". So I'm heartened to hear about your victory!

Good work.

Well done!

This.

Once you start to unpick 'well what exactly does this boil down to' it has to be admitted -

we say SOME girls won't - because the 'some' will actually be boys, who wish to maintain an illusion that they are girls.
it's more important to maintain the uninterrupted happiness of this fiction for boys over girls knowing about their bodies and the facts of life.
This means that these sex ed lessons - designed because of the huge issue of little girls terrified and distressed about periods because no one could talk about them - are now more about nice little fictions and boys' happiness (and for the progressive to virtue signal) than about actually addressing this need of ALL girls, because as OP says, any girl who does not have a period needs medical investigation, something is wrong.

And this would be teaching children that boys' feelings and wishes matter and girls' reality, bodies and lives should be subordinated. This cost to girls is worth it, it's binary, it's sex based.

And that would be called Male Supremacism.

As OP says, once you start talking about the Emperor it falls apart, unless you're talking to someone who will not engage their brain beyond shouting 'heretic!' and running away chanting Hail Stonewalls.

Well done to everyone who's challenging these pernicious attempts to sell lies to children about their bodies

Well done OP!

Please also remember the Scottish Government consultation on RHSE:

https://consult.gov.scot/learning-directorate/teaching-guidance-for-relationships-sexual-health/

^^ deadline 23rd November

No, it was just the bald statement that 'not all girls get periods'.

Thanks, I had somehow missed this.

Working group that advised consisted of representatives from the following organisations:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/lgbti-inclusive-education-working-group-report/pages/4/

COSLA
Education Scotland (ES)
Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
LGBT Youth Scotland
National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS)
respectme
School Leaders Scotland (SLS)
Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES)
Scottish Trans Alliance
Stonewall Scotland
Time for Inclusive Education (TIE)

(Not a single women's group represented, not even the pretendy ones funded by the Scottish government.)

LGBTYS are currently under police investigation.

STA, Stonewall and TIE are all heavily biased towards 'gender identity'.

LBGT Youth used to be called Stonewall Youth

OP, I can't believe this. But your post has made me cry.

One lone voice and look what you've done.

I'm a post-menopausal, ex-military Scot living in England and am amazed how your small victory affected me so much.

Thank you.

Women Won’t Wheesht!

Thanks, November.

It's the first time I've heard my bright, beloved daughter affected by the unscientific bullshit I've been trying to counter for the past few years.

When they come for the kids with their fucking faux naive chirpy bullshit it really strikes a chill into your heart.

I also considered that many girls may not talk to their parents like mine does, may just accept the statement on face value, may even miss a health issue because of it.

What then? Who'll take the blame? No fucker will.

These lying bastards are happy to chuck those girls under a bus to indulge their fantasies.

So - it's worth chiselling your rage and horror into the most polite and factual messages possible. And sending those to the decision makers.

Amen to that. Great work, OP!

A few months ago there was some gender rubbish being spouted by (not sure but I think) the TUC, if they still exist. Anyway, some large union umbrella organisation. Their info said half of all people will go through the menopause.

You could make comments 😁 so I asked if there was any way of telling which half I'd be in. No answer, of course.

unless you're talking to someone who will not engage their brain beyond shouting 'heretic!' and running away chanting Hail Stonewalls.

😂

Unfortunately, I think we've all met some of those.

Thank you OP, I have a 6 yo daughter at school in Scotland who will get sex ed in the future so this being challenged helps her (and me) x

Great, OfMark. I hope it does help!

But there is lots more out there, and as you can see from SaffronSpice's post above, plenty of people trying to influence this stuff all the time.

We have to keep vigilant and keep countering it, keep asking questions, keep bringing it up.

Brilliant - well done!

I tried to wade through the materials on the Scottish Government consultation on RHSE mentioned above. Much of it sounds soothingly holistic, well-intentioned and child focussed. It talks about safe spaces for children to ask questions, but I couldn’t find an explanation of what they were. And then I thought, where are they actually going to say that biological girls need separate sessions from biological boys? So that children can ask questions without embarrassment. They may well need joint sessions, but I believe sex-separated sessions are important.

A lot of it will be the usual pablum and waffle. I'll reread later and see if I can spot any egregious bits.

One that jumped out was the 'confidentiality' bit regarding sexualities/identities.

Anything that suggests adults should be keeping secrets about the children in their care from parents rings alarm bells, frankly, especially wrt sex.

You have to watch out for weaselly wording.

4.12. Through effective learning and teaching, children and young people develop their skills in using inclusive language when referring to or addressing individuals. This will allow them to discover and express their own identity and will support the potential to tackle gender stereotypes, ultimately improving gender equality in and outside the classroom. This will also help to set a positive ethos both in the classroom and wider school, reducing potential for racism, sexism and homophobia as well as other forms of discrimination.

How the heck does genderwoo and pronouns tackle gender stereotypes?