(ETH) – The Scottish government has just issued new guidelines to primary schools allowing four and five-year-olds to change genders and decide, without parental consent, what name they want to be called according to a new report by CBN News.
The guidance tells teachers they are not to question children who say they want to transition to live as a boy or a girl. Instead, they should just ask for their new name and pronouns, the UK’s Daily Mail reports. Teachers are told they do not have to inform parents what their young children are saying about their gender.
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.” “It provides schools with practical suggestions. The guidance is not prescriptive and does not promote transitioning,” she said.
According to the Daily Mail, Primary and secondary schools have also been told to put books featuring transgender people on the curriculum, allow pupils to choose which changing room or toilets to use, and consider introducing a gender-neutral uniform. But the guidance was branded ‘shocking’ and led to concerns that children are being allowed to make life-changing decisions at too young an age.
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.
The new guidelines also state that people are not required, by Scottish law, to use toilets that match their birth gender according to Express News. The policy was defended by Shirley-Anne Somerville, the SNP’s education secretary. She said: “This guidance outlines how schools can support transgender young people while ensuring that the rights of all pupils are fully respected.
“It provides schools with practical suggestions. The guidance is not prescriptive and does not promote transitioning.” These new guidelines have also sparked backlash online and from some women’s groups. Marion Calder, director of For Women Scotland, argued the guidelines are “a failure in safeguarding and a removal of parental rights”. The campaigner added: “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.”
