Should a 6 year old be taught that it’s normal to be trans, in a PSHE lesson?

[cloverdance]

Hi everyone,

I’d appreciate views and any knowledge on this. My husband came downstairs this morning really perturbed and upset that our 6 year old daughter had said that she’d been taught a book in PSHE- something about ‘My Brother’s Now My Sister’ and told him that a TA leading the lesson had said that it is normal to be trans. She told him she now wants to be a boy.
I don’t actually think she is gender confused at all, more that this suggestion has been made and the idea has been put into her head.
I’ve done a bit of research and there is a 2024 government doc that suggests that this level of detail should be saved for secondary school. I’m not sure if this is still the case.
DH is adamant he wants to go down to school and challenge the teaching of this. The school are a Rainbow Flag school and are very much inclusive. To be clear, we like this about the school and we are not homophobic- happy for children to be taught that love looks different for different families etc. However, we are both not happy that this level of detail has been used, including the word ‘trans’ at age 6 and in year 1 and that transitioning is a normal thing to do.

DH is a secondary school teacher so has to be careful in airing this view. My view is that biological men shouldn’t be in female only spaces.

Does anyone have any advice what we should/can say to school. We don’t want her being taught this at such a young age.

There seem to be quite a few parents in the past week or so posting that their children are just discovering that they are "trans" or that someone has told them they are. This is curious.

Has there suddenly been a big push to convince young children towards the end of the school year, and parents are reading up on info published by Transgender Trend or Sex Matters?

Have more parents suddenly become aware of the FWR forum?

Is the Guidance really raising awareness and starting to cause parents to think about where they and their children fit into all this?

Has there been a campaign to raise awareness of the new PSHE guidance which will be statutory from September 2026?

Are parents suddenly aware of the draft Bill on conversion practices?

Has the thread about SEEN in publishing crossed over into AIBU and Chat, do now parents are more aware of what their children might be reading?

If so, I am astonished, but very pleased that information about the dangers of teaching children that they can change sex and the world around them to suit themselves, is finally making headway!

Well done to those parents who are seeking information to protect their children.

So it seems they used several books:

Introducing Teddy
When Ellen Became a Brother
Who Are You
When Sarah became a Sister
And one more she couldn’t remember. It was reception, year 1 and year 2 all together.

Buying that one right now @Thatcannotberight thank you.

This is a useful review of the type of literature dross that trans invested adults have been pushing at schools, libraries and young children:

https://www.transgendertrend.com/trans-picture-books-little-children/

Seriously? It is beyond belief that small children are being indoctrinated with these falsehoods. How did that booklist get in under the governors' radar?

By all means tell them there are some folk who would prefer to be the opposite sex and that we should be respectful of their wishes to dress/act/whatever as they choose and treat them kindly - but only tell them if they ask. Don't ram this stuff down their throats when they are so small.

This. I consider it to be a form of state sponsored child abusé and would have been fuming if my kids had been manipulated in this way

Ohh looks like it’s out of print @Thatcannotberight £54 on Amazon 😩 maybe there’s a gap in the market for a new series of children’s books…

Is it ‘When Aiden became a brother’ not Ellen? If so look on YouTube as there are at least 2 people doing a reading of it. There maybe others being read on YouTube too.

Absolutely not!

My DD is starting to develop and she’s not very happy about it. She said she wishes she could be a boy. I would be so cross if she were told actually you can be! I’m usually not one to worry about what they are taught in school but I would be unhappy about this.

Wow. I would say the good thing about you being a governor is that that should take what you say seriously.

Also PSHE for year 2 isn’t the same curriculum for R…why were they all in together. It does sound like someone with an agenda

Out of print? Hmm, Rachel had a lot of grief from the TRAs in rhe publishing world. I borrowed a copy from online Cornwall library . Maybe worth trying your online resources or second hand online bookshops.

Eek! I see what you mean about prices and availability, even second hand. That's a bit suspect.

This is child abuse.

I am a live and let live person in terms of how adults lead their lives but this is ideological indoctrination of the worst sort.

@cloverdance the book comes from a small independent publisher and looks to be available from them ( unless Im being thick)
https://mybodyisme.com/

@Justme56 that is the one. I just showed her the pic of the front cover. I’ve just listened to it and honestly, I’m shocked. The assertion is that you can literally change from girl to boy. Then the entire de-sexing of the new baby…

Not quite. It won't be a parent suing the school. It will be a criminal offence.

It is very young. I'm surprised they didn't inform parents of it beforehand or ask for consent off parents

I think they didn't see it as problematic as they're that indoctrinated, or they didn't think the parents would find out. Perhaps they were working from the 'it's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission' school of thought?

I'd go ballistic. You can't unhinged the trans bell at such an impressionable age. They'll have left some parents with an almighty mess to clear up. Parents whose children might be vulnerable to this may already have enough to deal with. The children whose parents are vulnerable to this? I hate to think.

Do you know what other parents of children in her class thought?

The school has done something egregiously wrong.

They know it is wrong, so are hoping it will fly below the radar. As soon as schools do this with young, impressionable children, it is in my opinion, child abuse.

So it was not even incidental.
The fact there is a whole list like that means the school has decided to specifically indoctrinate very young children with trans beliefs.

It could not be worse. What else are they doing at this school? What sort of warped minds are running the school that getting small children to know about Transgenderism means so much to them? They must also realise that many (?or do you live in Brighton or Wales) parents would not agree so basically they have stamped all over them.

I bet they don’t even read as many books for English.

As an aside, by the way, because she was cancelled for no reason and it is so very unfair, Rachel Rooney has also written some first-rate poetry books for children (age 8 +?)

As a society we should teach our children to live and let live, and that minorities should be protected from discrimination and hate. Hand in hand with that is the understanding that delicate and nuanced conversations around gender, sexuality and identity should be had in an age appropriate and considered manner. It sounds like the teacher has gone a bit off track with best intentions, it isn’t age or setting appropriate and actually goes far too in depth. Parents should have oversight for what their kids are being taught in relation to pshe.

I just had a look.
Ugh! The fake, saccharin voice of the first reader! How sweet, how kind, how righteous, how loving of children.

Then to follow, the sheer stupidity of the book is hard to believe.

Using it to trans children aside, this is a book about how to help children become incapable of reasonable thought.