Children as young as 14 are told transitioning gender would stop pupils from getting bullied

Outraged parents have claimed that using teaching materials in sex education classes for children as young as 14 tells students that the gender change would stop them from being bullied.

Content produced by education consultancy Chameleon PDE says puberty may be optional and there are seven genders, a report claimed.

Included in the material is a gender diversity presentation that tells the story of Tom, who had transitioned from being known as Tina May, who said they were no longer bullied at school after the gender change.

In the story, Tom says he was upset after being put in the same tutorial group as a “mean boy,” but that “once I transitioned the school, the bullying stopped.”

Tom said there were “whispers and stares” at first, but his transition eventually became “old news.”

Parents and campaigners have criticized the learning tools, saying it effectively tells vulnerable teens that their gender transition is a ‘silver bullet’ to stop bullies, the Telegraph reports.

James Esses, the co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, a group of clinicians concerned about health care for trans children, told the paper that implying you feel different from classmates or being bullied “can be resolved by coming out as trans is reckless’.

He said children should instead be taught about self-acceptance rather than “fundamentally changing” who they are.

Mr Esses said society should stop teaching children that transition is a silver bullet for all the issues they face.

One parent, who allegedly claimed this material was taught at the child’s school, said children were taught, “I won’t be bullied anymore if I become trans.”

They said schools were not dealing with bullying policies and instead taught children to follow a surgical or medical path.

Tanya Carter of the Safe Schools Alliance told the paper that the suggestion that switching is a response to bullying is “deeply irresponsible” and that they were “shocked” to find schools using the materials.

In Chameleon’s presentation, Tom refrains from using puberty blockers after consultation with the GP – but the slide does state that it is an ‘option’.

The consultancy says on their website that their clients are a variety of schools and councils, including Hull City Council and Borough Council.

The ‘gender diversity’ presentation, which comes with a number of other resources, is included in a subscription that costs £360 for the first year and £180 for subsequent years.

Parents and campaigners have criticized the educational tools, saying it effectively tells vulnerable teens that changing their gender is a ‘silver bullet’ to stop bullies (file photo)

Angela Milliken-Tull, co-founder of Chameleon PDE, told the Telegraph: ‘We follow current Department for Education (DfE) guidelines for legal relationships, health and sex education when writing material.

“We allow schools to edit our materials and we are constantly updating lesson packs as things change.

“We don’t get a subsidy from the government. We have an extensive library covering the much wider PSHE curriculum, enabling young people to critically examine a range of current issues.

“We made a conscious decision to design a library of optional resources that would allow schools to tailor their PSHE to the needs of their students. Within the library of more than 200 lesson packs, only two focus on gender diversity, the cited lesson pack and a similar lesson pack for post-16 students. Schools would only use these lessons if they felt it was appropriate for their students’ needs.

‘We understand that this is a rapidly changing landscape and our 25 years of experience in this field have taught us that nothing stays still for long in this area. We will update our materials accordingly in line with RSHE government review [relationships, sex and health education]. We have no affiliation with any of the groups mentioned.’

A spokesman for the Ministry of Education said: ‘As part of the current revision of the Relationships, Sex and Health curriculum, we will be looking at introducing age ratings and ensuring that teaching materials are of high quality and meet guidelines to educate children. keep safe.

“It is clear to us that schools need to ensure that all content they use is factual and age-appropriate, and they need to communicate with parents who are aware of what their children are being taught.

“The Education Secretary is working closely with the Minister for Women and Equal Opportunities to publish guidelines for schools for the summer term on how to respond to children who question their gender identity.”