Under guidance introduced in Scotland, Children as young as four in primary schools will not have the power to determine their gender at school without the consent of their parents because children who are only four or five have the ability to “recognise and development of gender identity can occur at a young age”, reports dailymail.
Now any pupil as young as four who are in kindergarten can decide if they want to switch gender and it must be supported and listened to in school following the Scottish Government’s advice.
The new guidelines also give explicit instructions to teachers not to question a child who says they want to transition to be known as a boy or a girl and must ask for their new name and pronouns. However, it is questionable if children as young as four or five have the faculty to understand what are pronouns.
The Scottish government has also given guidelines to Primary and secondary schools to put books featuring transgender people on the curriculum and allow pupils to choose which changing room or toilets they prefer to use and is also considering introducing a gender-neutral uniform.
However, not everyone is happy with this new decision that allows children as young as four to determine their gender and has branded these new guidelines introduced by the Scottish government as “shocking”.
The advice says, “Some young people are exploring their gender identity in primary school settings. Primary schools need to be able to meet the needs of these young people to ensure they have a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment in which to learn,”.
A section on, “changing name and recorded sex’ says children simply need to tell others informally that they want to use a different name, and that they don’t need to record this formally on their official school record. Advice to school staff on what to do if a child wants to discuss their gender includes asking ‘what name and pronoun you should use to address them,”.
According to Marion Calder, director of the For Women Scotland campaign group who said, ‘To be transgender you have to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. What are they thinking? Parents will be very concerned to be reading this document.’
But Scottish education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said, “This guidance outlines how schools can support transgender young people while ensuring that the rights of all pupils are fully respected and the new guidelines provide schools with practical suggestions. The guidance is not prescriptive and does not promote transitioning,”.
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