Gender identity

parents vs. schools?

In Indiana, Virginia, Montana, and a number of other states, legislators are introducing bills that would limit the ability of teachers and school officials to discuss issues of gender identity with students and/or require the school to notify parents if a student seeks to change his or her gender identity.

It’s a significant issue at a time when the number of children and youth experiencing gender dysphoria is exploding, and the phenomenon is especially prevalent among girls. The UK’s Guardian reported this past November:

According to a study commissioned by NHS England, 10 years ago there were just under 250 referrals, most of them boys, to the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in London.

Last year, there were more than 5,000, which was twice the number in the previous year. And the largest group, about two-thirds, now consisted of “birth-registered females first presenting in adolescence with gender-related distress.”

But why the call for legislation addressing how this issue is handled in schools? Because many fear school officials are counseling and advising students with gender dysphoria to hide that information from their parents on the basis that the parents might not be supportive. In some cases, teachers and counselors are giving students referrals to transgender medical specialists.

The New York Times addressed the issue in a well-balanced article this past week in which it interviewed a number of students, parents, and school officials regarding the issue. The newspaper reported on families like the Bradshaws, whose teenaged daughter had “socially transitioned” to male at school, but no one at her public school had informed the parents. “There was never any word from anyone to let us know that on paper, and in the classroom, our daughter was our son,” the mother told the Times.

This trend of keeping this significant change in a student’s identity from his or her parents appears to be widespread. According to the Times:

“[D]ozens of parents whose children have socially transitioned at school told The Times they felt villainized by educators who seemed to think that they — not the parents — knew what was best for their children. They insisted that educators should not intervene without notifying parents unless there is evidence of physical abuse at home.”

Expect to see this battle coming to a statehouse or courthouse near you.

---

In other news:

• Is California’s effort to improve children’s mental health services provided through its Medicaid program working?

• Michigan is confronting how to properly care for medically fragile children.

• Another placement in Texas closes down after runaways from the facility were sexually abused.

• In Montana, an effort to increase Medicaid reimbursement for children’s mental health services.

• Keep up with progress in the Texas child welfare class action case here.

• A report on fragmented mental health care for children in Massachusetts.

• Lots of child welfare reform legislation being proposed in Montana.

Hope y’all have a great week!