Scottish Union for Education - Newsletter No22
Newsletter Themes: speaking up, challenging activist intolerance, and holding government and professional associations to account
This week Concerned Adults Talking Openly About Gender Identity Ideology, the group that last winter were forced to pay for private security to meet in Portobello, held a large event at the Scottish Parliament at the invitation of Jeremy Balfour MSP. Jeremy was the only MSP who attended the meeting, but the event marks a significant step forward for free speech on this issue. An excellent panel of speakers included parents and teenagers with terrible first-hand experience of gender activists (pupils and teachers) and their intolerance of anyone who questions their belief system. Shereen Benjamin, primary education expert from the University of Edinburgh, and retired educational psychologist Carolyn Brown provided important insights into the dangers and limitations of transgender ideology
This week Stuart Waiton writes about the importance of teenagers and adults speaking up, while a recent school-leaver has usefully written to us about her experience. Carolyn Brown asks why the Scottish government is continuing to create anger and confusion with its transgender advice, and we reprint a letter sent by SUE members to the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP). Next week we will report back on some brilliant campaigning activity by parents in Glasgow.
Young people speak up
Stuart Waiton, Chairperson of SUE
If you thought that all was lost in schools, last week we heard from children who are kicking back against the irrationality of transgender ideology. First came the viral audio of two girls who dared to question the ‘furries’ identity and who suggested to their teacher that they should be able to express their opinions about there being two genders (sexes). Then came the letter, written by two teenagers and published online by Transgender Trend, complaining about the lack of a student voice for those who want to discuss and question the new dogma that is undermining the opportunity for school children to have a ‘nuanced debate’ on this subject.
We have recently uploaded the video of the public event we held in Glasgow earlier this month. We’ve already found parents and teachers across the UK who are now writing for us, and we’re always looking for new contributors on these and other subjects. Our core message is that we desperately need to take the ideology out of education and to reinvigorate the idea of the innate value of education.
SUE has spent a lot of time over the past few months talking about the trans issue; however, it is important to recognise that this is simply one form that the new ideology is taking – there is a broader dogmatism that is having a degrading impact on the idea of discussion and debate, and indeed on the very meaning of education itself.
When SUE was set up, we raised a simple question to schools and the Scottish government. Whatever you think about the trans issue, do you accept that ideas such as children being ‘born in the wrong body’ and the existence of more than two sexes are controversial and go against the beliefs and opinions of many parents? The right answer to this is, yes. How on earth can schools adopt a totally one-sided perspective and to teach as fact the ideology of transgenderism to young children?
For older children, further questions must be added. Where is the space for discussion and debate in schools? Or are we to accept that there is no debate, and there are no alternative perspectives or questions that need to be answered about the exponential rise of children wanting to undergo transition to resemble the opposite sex or even identify as a different species! Where are the adults in all this – those people whom one would expect to listen to a range of opinions and assess the evidence related to these issues?
The bigotry in schools today
A school-leaver described her experience of an increasingly intolerant school environment
Today, with such an emphasis placed on the importance of labels and self-identification, students are just throwing around words such as misogynistic, bigot, transphobic, sexist, etc. without understanding what these words truly mean and when to appropriately use them. The frequent and consistent use of them can actually be very harmful and cause further division among pupils, because it’s essentially placing everyone into very specific groups when they are called such names. For example, if a student simply believes that only women have vaginas, and they are labelled as transphobic by a classmate, when they have done nothing to insinuate any hatred towards trans people, said student may begin to foster feelings of distaste towards trans people for being falsely called something, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The woke ideologies being spread among students, and their promotion in schools and throughout the media, have made it increasingly difficult for a school student to feel as though they have the right to their own beliefs and ideas about various issues. If they disagree with the dogma, then there is a fear of becoming ostracized, in the name of equality, through a movement that preaches acceptance of all members of our society and that should include differences in beliefs and political standpoints.
It is common among students to judge things they don’t even believe in themselves, to avoid being judged for disagreeing with someone on something, depending on what the more popular belief seems to be. A hypothetical example would be someone in the playground stating that there are two genders in front of a majority group of people who believe there are infinite genders. The friend of the person who states that there are two genders in private agrees with their friend; however, because most pupils in this group oppose that idea and think there are infinite genders, the friend agrees with the majority to remain socially accepted, thereby diverting the bullying away from themselves and towards the friend who spoke the truth. Said friend is then falsely labelled as a transphobe, bigot, etc. and the majority start to bully and judge them for simply stating a fact.
Most students are too afraid to be themselves or speak their minds, out of fear of being judged. Many are essentially denying themselves freedom of expression in their thoughts and beliefs in order to appease what woke activists are trying to replace common sense with. There is a prevailing belief that certain members of the LGBT+ community have a right over non-members not to be offended by others’ opinions and beliefs. This is starting to take a central standpoint over reality and truth. Students have been so pressured to accept this narrative that many accept it even though they don’t even believe it to be true or to be helpful to those who embody it, and simply only because the majority believe in it and they fear the consequences of thinking differently.
The culture created by this immense pressure on certain pupils is in fact toxic and should be brought to light, because I believe that it is warping young minds’ perception of what equality should be. True equality is the acceptance of all groups of people, no matter what they look like or believe. It doesn’t mean that we all must agree on the same things, but we can still accept others while simultaneously disagreeing.
However, this culture is doing the opposite of that and actually preventing many people from being themselves. It has become hostile, confrontational and, ironically, discriminatory – all in the name of equality.
It is perpetuating damaging ideas that people should be obsessed with how they choose to express themselves and should be taught how different they are from others and to care how they are perceived, to embody complete openness and fluidity and be accepting of all things, to the point where they are losing themselves in it. This has become more valued in schools than critical thinking skills, discernment, importance of community, and just basic education. So many kids and teenagers are losing their sense of self in an attempt to be socially accepted and fit in with these new norms of gender identification and the idea that it is a social construct.
A health warning for the Scottish government’s guidance
Carolyn Brown, retired depute principal educational psychologist
The publication of details of NHS England’s interim specialist service for children and young people with gender incongruence at the end of last week (8 June 2023) has already drawn comment from various organisations such as Stonewall and Mermaids. Both have expressed a number of concerns, including disappointment about unacceptably long waiting lists for care for gender-questioning children and teenagers and the lack of targets to reduce those waiting lists. LGBT Youth Scotland was dismissive previously of the interim report of the independent Cass Review, which examined NHS care for gender-questioning children. The group has also rejected any influence of NHS England policies north of the border. Responding to a Scottish government consultation last month about proposals to withdraw the controversial Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools guidance from Scottish schools, the group said: “NHS England has no role in the commissioning or delivery of services in Scotland. Neither the Cass Review nor NHS England has any significance to the provision of educational materials in Scottish schools.” LGBT Youth Scotland is an activist organisation that has referred itself to the police over historical allegations of links to child grooming and sexual exploitation, and arguably would be expected to respond in this way. But the time is approaching when the Scottish government, Scottish NHS trusts and councils, including education services, really will have to start paying more attention to reputable research reports as opposed to blindly doing what they are told by activist groups.
Following the demise of the Tavistock’s gender identity development service for children, the NHS England report aims to clarify how the issue of gender incongruence in children and young people will be addressed in future by NHS England. The document favours the term ‘gender incongruence’ over gender dysphoria, and of course the term ‘trans’, as it seeks to bring clarity to a highly confused context. The report defines gender incongruence as “a strong dislike on the child’s part of his or her sexual anatomy...” and goes on to describe that child as expressing a strong desire to be the opposite of his or her natal sex.
The report lays out, among other recommendations, the parameters regarding assessment of the problem, the need for multiagency pathways in terms of a referrals process, the criteria for referrals, the need for audit and evaluation, and an outline for a service model. The report recognises that comorbidities and other conditions, such as autism, may well be major contributing factors to the expression of gender incongruence by the child or young person, and that psychosocial, family and school factors are more than likely to play a significant role in the child or young person expressing discomfort with his or her body. The report acknowledges that for the vast majority of teenagers experiencing gender dysphoria or gender incongruence, once they have progressed through puberty, their feelings of gender incongruence subside. And as far as issues such as social transition and subsequent affirmation are concerned, the role of the schools is key. Similarly to the interim report of the Cass Review, the NHS England report stresses that,
“Social transition is not a neutral act – and that information is needed about long-term outcomes... Given its profound impact”.
Which brings us to the Scottish context, where questions remain unanswered:
What currently is the role of the Sandyford clinic?
How are our young people being assessed for gender incongruence?
What preventive and supportive approaches are being taken by our schools?
Do school staff have a good understanding of the harm that can be caused by social transitioning and affirmation in the school context?
Why are councils and schools continuing to use the Scottish government guidance Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools when it has been repeatedly shown by parents and some professionals to promote a harmful ideology?
Meanwhile, the deeply flawed Scottish government’s schools’ guidance continues to be implemented by most schools across Scotland despite the fact that it has no legislative standing. In the event of legal action being taken by a parent or a young person because of proven harm, it may well be the case that the school would be most likely to be identified as the culpable party.
The guidance encourages education staff to affirm pupils who state that they are ‘trans’ and suggests that staff should support pupils’ social transition to the opposite of their natal sex. The guidance encourages various practices which are causing parental concern across Scotland. Parents are reporting that their children are coming home from school confused about gender and distressed about what they are meant to think and say. The guidance makes light of children and teenagers potentially changing their name and identity; given that child and teenage development is all about developing a ‘sense of self’, such insouciance beggars belief. Children and teenagers are highly suggestible, and they are easily influenced to follow the latest trends.
The idea of ‘trans’ is actively being promoted by some individuals in most schools in Scotland. The influences of online platforms, peer-to-peer contagion, and schools aiding and abetting pupils to adopt a ‘trans’ persona certainly have the potential to create the perfect ‘trans’ storm. Increasing numbers of parents are having to contend with the challenge of their child stating that they want to change their sex, including the desire to take hormones and have surgery. Children and young people cannot possibly conceive what this would really mean for their futures and the irreversible harms that will follow. Shame on the Scottish government for witlessly and recklessly unleashing this on Scottish families. And shame on all those who have failed to question and take note of the findings of the Cass Review, the NICE guidance on the poor outcomes of puberty blockers, and systemic reviews conducted by experts in Sweden, Finland and Norway which make clear the harms of treating young people who say they are ‘trans’ with puberty blockers and hormones.
The schools have a huge potential to influence suggestible children and young people for good and for ill. Increasing numbers of parents are forming the opinion that it’s for ill – witness, for example, the recent promotion of Pride events by Glasgow’s Education Services throughout the month of June. Remember also that there is not even any agreement about what the term ‘trans’ actually means. It seems to be a catch-all term that covers anything from a feeling of being asexual, to cross-dressing, to engaging in a fetish. It is small wonder that in Scotland kids are confused, parents are angry, and schools are in a muddle.
Our letter to the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists
We are writing to you with significant concerns regarding the wellbeing of Scotland’s children, especially those who have been caught up in the current gender trend. As educational psychologists, we understand your role to be embedded in expertise and knowledge of robust research regarding children and young people’s psychological development. You are also among the first professionals that distressed young people may encounter. As such, we feel that you hold a particular responsibility for the wellbeing of these young people, and we would like to clarify ASPEP’s stance on a number of issues:
What is the Association’s stance on the huge increase in pupils identifying as ‘trans’?
Given that many of the young people identifying as ‘trans’ have comorbidities (including anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia), do you feel that the government’s current ‘affirmative approach’ to gender is appropriate – given that the cause of their distress may be unrelated to gender (especially bearing in mind the harms associated with such an approach)?
Given that vulnerable youngsters (those who have experienced trauma, are neurodivergent, etc.) are potentially prone to being influenced by trans activism, what safeguarding guidelines do you have in place to protect them from undergoing irreversible biological changes?
Given that adoption of the trans lifestyle and ideology can compound mental health problems, how are you working to ensure that children are psychologically well enough to have the capacity to understand and evaluate any information they are presented with?
Given that many of the children who are drawn to the ‘trans’ label can be same-sex attracted, and may be subject to anxieties about their sexuality, how do you aim to protect these children from undergoing what amounts to ‘conversion therapy’ (where they are encouraged by activists not to be themselves but instead to ‘change their sex’)?
Should we be concerned about ideological ‘grooming’ by trans activist teachers and visiting ‘educators’ in the classroom?
How do you assess the appropriate nature of materials in the classroom?
Given the Scottish government’s guidance Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools is deeply flawed, contains inaccuracies, and misrepresents ‘evidence’, what are your thoughts on this document (especially in light of the points raised above)?
News Round-up
A selection of the main stories with relevance to Scottish education in the press in recent weeks.
https://archive.is/UuwNi Louisa Calrence-Smith, Mother’s legal battle over sex education lessons that taught ‘heteronormativity’ was a bad thing. Judge rules that school does not need to release lesson plan as charity’s commercial interests outweigh public interest. 13/06/23
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/stop-telling-kids-young-six-30207080 Ben Borland, ‘Stop telling kids as young as six they’ve been born in wrong body’ call from parents and experts. 12/06/23
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/transgenderism-in-northern-ireland-campaigner-warns-against-indoctrination-of-children-after-report-criticises-schools-for-defending-pupils-right-to-hold-different-views-4184239 Adam Kula, Transgenderism in Northern Ireland: Campaigner warns against ‘indoctrination’ of children after report criticises schools for defending pupils’ right to hold different views. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has voiced concern that schools are too comfortable with letting pupils hold “diverging opinions” about transgenderism. 14/06/23
https://www.city-journal.org/article/anatomy-of-a-scientific-scandal Colin Wright, Anatomy of a Scientific Scandal. Under pressure, a journal once notable for its courage retracts a major paper on the social roots of gender-related distress – all over a minor, inconsistently applied technicality. 12/06/23
https://www.theepochtimes.com/childrens-doctor-claims-scotlands-offer-of-puberty-blockers-to-children-a-medical-scandal_5335645.html Patricia Devlin, Children’s Doctor Claims Scotland’s Offer of Puberty Blockers to Children a ‘Medical Scandal’. 15/06/23
https://www.gbnews.com/news/sussex-news-rye-college-student-questioned-classmate-identifying-cat Georgina Cutler, Student who questioned classmate ‘identifying as a cat’ called ‘despicable’ by teacher. 19/06/23
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/22733965/schools-banned-letting-pupils-change-gender-parents-rishi-sunak/ Harry Cole, RISHI’S SCHOOL RULES Schools to be banned from letting pupils change gender if their parents oppose it in new guidance from Rishi Sunak. 19/06/23
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/23605865.calls-made-glasgow-teachers-complete-lgbt-training-course/ Drew Sandelands, Calls made for Glasgow teachers to complete LGBT+ training course. 22/06/23
https://www.newsweek.com/new-ally-has-joined-revolt-against-wokeness-minorities-opinion-1807894 Brendan O’Neill, A New Ally Has Joined the Revolt Against Wokeness: Minorities. 21/06/23
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/its-becoming-ever-clearer-that-climate-change-is-a-class-issue/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CampaignMonitor_Editorial&utm_campaign=BOCH%20%2020230624%20%20House%20Ads%20%20AC+CID_9ac2a0185c52f2377bdc754934b43004 Julie Burchill, It’s becoming ever clearer that climate change is a class issue. 21/06/23
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