Transgender Affirmation in Schools: Putting Children's Health and Well-Being At-Risk
Schools are encouraging kids to question their gender, without telling their parents.
Teachers can have a profound influence on how children think. By encouraging gender confusion, the schools can set the stage for permanent harm with medical gender transition.
Every family deserves the right to know what is happening with their children's gender identities. Yet, all too often, this information is being hidden from parents by school administrators and teachers.
Below is an overview presentation followed by additional facts and resources for your consideration.
NOTE: The prevalence of these issues in schools is one reason some parents are now considering home schooling, hybrid schooling, and school co-ops.
Topics to Consider
Gender Transition Does Not Reduce Risk of Suicide
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Parents are being deceived with the idea that gender transition will reduce the risk of their child committing suicide.
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However, gender transition does not reduce the likelihood of suicide.
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The Cass Review, a comprehensive and independent review commissioned by the National Health Service in England, found that:
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“the evidence found did not support [the] conclusion” that “hormone treatment reduces the elevated risk of death by suicide in this population”
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The most thorough long-term follow-up of sex-reassigned people is a 30-year study from Sweden. This study found that:
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Transgender people have a tendency towards lifelong mental health problems.
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10-15 years after surgical reassignment, the suicide rate of those who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery rose to 20 times that of comparable peers.
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For more information about transgenderism, mental health, and long-term outcomes see the following references:
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The Cass Review: Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People commissioned by the National Health Service in England
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Sex Reassignment Doesn't Work. Here is the Evidence. by The Heritage Foundation
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I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle. testimony by Jamie Reed (who is married to a transman and worked at a gender clinic)
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4 out of 5 Kids Grow Out of Gender Confusion
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According to Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala (chief psychiatrist of one of Finland's two government-approved pediatric centers), 4 out of 5 children will grow out of their gender confusion. "In adolescence, the construction of identity is just underway and the final outcome of the development is not known, not even for the young person himself."
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According to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, “'Gender-affirming care' in minors is medically and ethically contraindicated because of a lack of informed consent. There are inherently unknown and unknowable long-term risks, and the consequences of removing normal, healthy organs are irreversible."
Schools Are Encouraging Gender Confusion
Some of the ways in which schools are encouraging kids to question their gender and hide it from their parents include the following.
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Many teachers routinely ask kids what pronouns they want to use, even for children as young as elementary school.
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Schools have developed gender support plans for students without parental notification.
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Teachers will use different names and pronouns for kids without telling parents. This includes changing the student's name and gender in the electronic classroom records with notes to indicate when parents do not know about the child's gender identity.
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Over 4,600 schools in 30 states have "rainbow libraries" of books that encourage gender confusion from Kindergarten through 12th grade.
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Teachers are being trained to believe that gender is just a social construct (i.e. a concept that exists not in objective reality, but as a result of human interaction).
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Students are being trained to "ungender" language by avoiding the use of words such as Mom, Dad, brother, sister, etc.
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School boards are being trained that "Parental rights end when you decide to send your kids to public school."
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Some schools have received grants to build "gender closets," where students can change their gender identity at school.
Transgenderism: Biological Reality vs. Social Contagion?
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Gender dysphoria was very rare until recently.
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In recent years, there has been a "sudden, severe spike in transgender identification among adolescent girls."
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Historically, gender dysphoria affected mostly middle aged men. Now adolescent girls make up the majority of those seeking gender transition.
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"There has been a roughly twenty-fold rise in the number of people seeking transition, with teenagers hugely over-represented."
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There are higher rates of autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, OCD, learning disorders, and schizophrenia in people who identify as transgender.
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Detransitioners such as Chloe Cole blame social media as one of the main triggers for having mistakenly concluded she was born with the wrong gender.
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In almost 2/3 of cases, internet and social media usage increased prior to adolescents and young adults coming out as trans.
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For more information about transgenderism as a social contagion, see the following references:
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The Torment and Tragedy of Teenage Girls, dialogue between Heather Heying (evolutionary biologist) and Abigail Shrier
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Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, book by Abigail Shrier
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Trans, book by Helen Joyce
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The Abolition of Sex, book by Kara Dansky
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Health Risks of Gender Transition
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Using children's preferred names or pronouns is "not a neutral act" and could be as severe an act as altering their bodies, because it solidifies in their psyches that there is something wrong with their body.
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Gender transitioning healthcare is being used to permanently mutilate children's bodies across the country, including removing healthy breasts and sexual organs.
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Studies have shown that gender transitioning healthcare (including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery) increases the risks of:
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heart and cardiovascular problems,
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significantly increased weight and blood pressure,
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reduced bone density and osteoporosis
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venous thromboembolism, fractures, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and hormone-dependent cancers
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Medical gender transition procedures are "generally irreversible and have a high probability of causing sterilization."
Gender Affirmation Infringes on Girls' Rights
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In many states, trans students are being allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match their biological gender.
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Girls rights to privacy and security are being infringed on by allowing males to use girl bathrooms and locker rooms.
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Girls are being put at a disadvantage as biologically-male transgender people are being allowed to compete in girls sports.
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In general, males are physiologically stronger and more powerful than females, regardless of the use of transgender healthcare procedures.
Gender Affirmation Harms Gays and Lesbians
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As described in a previous section, 4 out of 5 children grow out of their gender confusion.
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Without gender transition, most of the boys who identified as transgender grow up to be homosexual and 88% of them desist from identifying as transgender.
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92% of girls who de-transition from being transgender are lesbian or bi-sexual.
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This puts gays and lesbians at a higher risk of suffering from long-term health problems as a result of medical gender transition medications and surgeries.
Steps for Parents to Take
Here are a few ways that parents can be proactive in standing up for children's health and well-being.
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Learn more about what makes children likely to identify as transgender and the appropriate mental health care they should receive in advance of any potential social or medical gender transition. The following video is very helpful for this.
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Talk to your kids to make sure they are aware of potential transgender issues and will feel safe talking to you when any issues arise.
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Determine whether your child's teacher and school administrator are likely to support your rights to be informed about what is happening with your child's gender identity.
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If you determine that your child's school is likely to hide information from you, consider pulling your kids out of public school and placing them in a private school or home school.
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If you want to help change the situation, here are some options:
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Share this information with others. You can download printable flyers here.
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Contact your city and state public education departments to express your concerns.
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Speak at school board meetings.
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Download Prager U's Parent Action Guide for more ideas.
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Contact Freedom Families United to report infringements of parent or student rights.
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