Gender

[hazydaisy]

Is it a good idea to tell 8 year olds that they can choose yheir gender?
Have teachers been trained to deal with this?
I doubt it
What problems will emerge on the future?

[kvalidir]

What if your progeny ends up being Transgender Tambo, would you be down with that or upset by it?

[SparklyKid]

I remember an Alf Garnett sketch on TV some years ago, he said " Same sex activity in men was illegal, then became legal, I am emigrating before it becomes compulsory"

[tamborine]

if anyone interefered with mine, LGBT or not they would be sexless if I caught them

[AuntLydia]

Tambo a) no one is going to interfere with your kids there are laws for that b) you are either looking for fight or just had a very bad night. Hope you feel better soon. Love Auntlydia.

[tamborine]

am no pushover AL and do have strong views on my rights - old school is me!

[kvalidir]

Yes alright fair enough Tambo etc but IF your child turned out to be Transgender would you be okay with that or would it be a problem for you, forget anyone 'interfering with you children' (yhat's not being dicussed anyway), just a straight up decision of their own?

[Jerome57]

No - it is not. It is OK to talk about it in an age appropriate way if and when the issue arises but to suggest that this is an ordinary thing is both statistically and socially wrong. Please don't make this a politically correct issue of everyone must have the opportunity to be everything. Even then it's not about choosing your gender - trans people don't choose to be trans - like left-handed people don't choose to be left-handed - they just are. That is the way they were made. I am a trans man who spent 57 years living as a confused and not quite knowing why woman. It always felt like a performance but I assumed life was like that for everyone as I only had my own experience to draw on. I am also a teacher of many years experience. I chose to be a teacher but I did have a predisposition towards doing so.

[tamborine]

when my proginy are sufficiently mature to explain their sexual choices I would accept & love them.

[naomi24]

Jerome, very well said. Admirable. A welcome breath of fresh air in a world suffocating in the mire of potty political correctness. My very best wishes to you.

[AuntLydia]

Naomi, my views are most certainly NOT based on Political Correctness. I am fortunate enough to have lived the majority of my life without knowledge of this particular noun. The OP has misled by stating children will be told they can choose . They will be told it would be possible and ok to choose, a subtle difference. They will be told that some children may feel different and its ok to feel different. They will most certainly NOT be told they have to choose, or its 'normal' to make a gender choice.

[tamborine]

sex for children should be taught under biology. If the teacher suspected a trans in the lesson they could offer a biological explanation, ie hormone imbalance etc?

[Mamyalynne]

V_E - my reference was to all aspects of childcare.

Be ready for questions (on any subject) and answer best you can, if you don't know, then along with the child do some finding out together.

[naomi24]

Rowanwitch //They will most certainly NOT be told they have to choose//

No one has suggested that.

[rowanwitch]

What!!!!!

[rowanwitch]

I think you are blaming me for something someone else has said

[hazydaisy]

Am concerned that teachers are being dumped on yet again to discuss matters with vulnerable youngsters without being adequately informed or trained
Something extra being shoehorned into an already creaking curriculum.
Surely this is the responsibility of parents?

[tonyav]

Surely this is the responsibility of parents?

Of coarse it is, Daisy.

[hazydaisy]

I was a complete tomboy as a child
Pink ugh!
Dresses n
Was a complete tomboy as a child
Pink? Ugh!
Dresses got in the way of clambering over bomb sites
Hated parties and preferred my own company and books
Loved sport although not much good at it
Did fall in love
Had two children whom I love very much
Gender?

[ABSpareEditor]

I have moved this thread into the category "Society & Culture".