Truth belongs in the classroom - how 'social transition' harms everyone
- Administrator
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Schools have the potential to be highly influential as far as children and teenagers’ psychological development is concerned, because they are organisational systems to which teachers, support staff and a whole range of adults contribute. Any school functions as a culture in itself, influenced by those who participate in it and are a part of it. This is true of all organisations in our public sphere : the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. But what happens to those organisations when lies are promoted by leaders? What happens when those in positions of some influence are told by that leadership to deny reality? And what happens to children on the receiving end of reality denial and collusion aimed at maintaining the lie? Children’s cognitive development, understanding, general wellbeing and mental health are all more than likely to suffer. Those delivering the lie will suffer psychologically too.
Surely then such a state of affairs should be avoided? Yet, one year on from the Cass Report and the Scottish Government’s acceptance of it, nothing has changed. This article will focus on our schools, but we suggest that our conclusions are relevant for all our public services.
ScotPAG’s view is that our Scottish Government has ignored the Cass Review’s recommendations by ignoring the importance of schools and Dr Cass’s comments about schools. Cass states that given the current societal context in which children and teenagers are growing up, care must be exercised due to influential factors already impacting on children and teenagers´ mental health.
‘7.22 Internationally, there have been increasing concerns about the mental health of Generation Z. The reasons for this are highly speculative, although there is ongoing debate about the contribution of excessive smartphone use and social media as discussed above.’
‘8.59 The data on young people’s mental health, social media use and increased risks associated with online harm give an appreciation and understanding that going through the teenage years is increasingly difficult, with stressors that previous generations did not face. This can be a time when mental distress can present through physical manifestations such as eating disorders or body dysmorphic disorders. It is likely that for some young people this presents as gender related distress.’
10.43 As with all health care provision, when working with children and young people safeguarding must be a consideration. There are complex ways in which safeguarding issues may be present. Clinicians working with children and young people experiencing gender dysphoria have highlighted that safeguarding issues can be overshadowed or confused when there is focus on gender or in situations where there are high levels of gender-related distress.
The Cass Review’s chapter on social transition states the following:
'12.6 Although the focus of the Review is on support from point of entry to the NHS, no individual journey begins at the front door of the NHS, rather in the child’s home, family and school environment. The importance of what happens in school cannot be under-estimated; this applies to all aspects of children’s health and wellbeing. Schools have been grappling with how they should respond when a pupil says that they want to socially transition in the school setting. For this reason, it is important that school guidance is able to utilise some of the principles and evidence from the Review.’
Schools have been getting this wrong. What is euphemistically called ‘social transition’ is perhaps better referred to as a ‘collusive enactment of a lie’, which, within schools, involves adults and children being captured by unfounded beliefs that anyone can change their sex. These beliefs pollute institutions, and their effects carry grave moral risks for the healthy psychological development of all children and young people involved in the lie. Furthermore, when the deceit of ‘social transition’ is actively promoted through prescribed teaching materials, it risks creating a setting in which social contagion among children’s peer groups becomes rife, but is not recognised as such. Individuals, whether children or staff, fall equally under the spell of social influence, enabled by pressures to conform to whatever policies are being promoted by school leadership, who in turn fall prey to the policy-making of susceptible Councils. In this way the institutional promotion of ‘gender identity’ is aided not only by school staff, but also by those adults who witness it, but remain silent. This whole phenomenon has been reflected in the explosion of referrals to the Tavistock clinic and in Scotland to the Sandyford Clinic. (see press article)
It is the combination of the child’s limited maturity of cognitive perception and understanding, together with a context of adult collusion in the lie, that encourages children to naively believe they can change sex. Any child or teenager is suggestible and open to influence regarding what adults may tell them, particularly adults in positions of authority such as teachers. Additionally, it is worth noting that, given the current zeitgeist of significant misogyny and increased violence towards women, the possibility of changing sex can be particularly appealing to teenage girls, especially autistic teenagers.
The Cass research team at the University of York reviewed papers on the impact of social transition on children and teenagers as part of the systematic review of evidence. The studies were low quality and the evidence for positive mental health outcomes for social transition showed there was very little evidence of any positive benefit. One particularly worrying long-term harm is described in the following excerpt,
’12.24 One study looking at transgender adults found that lifetime suicide attempts and suicidal ideation in the ‘past year’ was higher among those who had socially transitioned as adolescents compared to those who had socially transitioned in adulthood.’
The Cass research team findings showed that the evidence for the benefit of social transition, was as shaky as the evidence of benefit for puberty blockers. As Transgender Trend has commented,
‘One is a medical experiment, the other a social experiment. A controlled clinical trial for puberty blockers may or may not be given ethical approval. However, school is not the place to enrol children into a social trial on the benefits/risks of social transition.’
Clearly there are major ethical considerations here. Where social transition is being allowed by school staff, other children in the school are being forced to participate in a lie. This may well be without the consent of parents and will certainly be without the children’s full cognitive and emotional understanding. This is likely to increase children’s confusion and anxiety levels. Children and teenagers do not have the cognitive capacity to have complete comprehension of what is involved in the social transitioning of a peer. And of course, the child or teenager who is undergoing social transitioning does not have full cognitive or emotional capacity either. None of this is right and none of this is ethical.
The junk science of gender ideology is embedded in the majority of schools in Scotland because the Scottish Government says it should be. (See guidance for Scottish schools) This prevalence of an influential ideology in schools which tells children that they can change sex if they don’t like themselves as they are is, by definition, harmful to children and teenagers. It is particularly harmful to those pupils who are vulnerable and those who have additional support needs. All responsible adults and professionals need to call this out for the abusive scandal that it is.
References
https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/
https://forwomen.scot/28/05/2024/whats-happening-in-your-childs-school/
https://www.transgendertrend.com/cass-review-final-report-our-statement/
Written by Carolyn Brown and June Campbell
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