Catholic school supporting student's choice to become transgender

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

is it fair to force other people to play along?

Uhm, yeah.

And as to your other question…

You yourself said upthread that not everybody who transitions go the complete surgical route, and that’s correct.
However, take some kid, who feels insecure in their body, who feel insecure in general, maybe they’ve had some hard knocks from their peers, maybe they’ve had a romantic disappointment or two in the puppy-love department, they feel different, they feel a bit blue, and then somebody or something comes along and plants the suggestion “maybe you’re the wrong sex”. Then they dig into this a bit more and come across concepts like “denial” and a few stories about “courageous” kids who decided to transition (who wouldn’t want to see themselves as courageous) and stood up to the mean bullies, and how they lived happily ever after.
Don’t you think some kids might cling to this idea as a lifeline?
Keeping in mind that kids are easily led to things that can harm them like gangs and cults because they’re looking for something to soothe.

It’s amazing to me how we don’t let kids the age of the OP’s example drive the car or get married or run for office or even allow them to buy spray paint, but in this issue society selectively decides they know their own mind.

 

[smaw8]

" It would do more harm than good to say to a kid in this situation “you’re sinning.” "
Dlee, You’ve got to be kidding me!! Kids let their emotions control their decisions and hopefully their parent will monitor them with a wisdom of experience. I really am thankful to my parents for correcting me and showing or explaining to me what the consequences of my decisions would be, good and/or bad.

 

[QwertyGirl]

When I was in Catholic School, run by Sisters, one new girl was discovered to be living with her boyfriend. She would have been about 16. She was expelled after her mother refused to intervene and restore a proper Catholic home for her.

I wonder where she is now and how she is doing.

 

[Annie]

I wonder where she is now and how she is doing.

Probably not too well with a mother like that…

From time to time I hear about students being suspended from school (public schools cannot expel students) for comments they make on social media…

About students who had their college acceptances revoked after posting certain types of comments on social media…

About student groups being allowed to restrict membership to those who agree with them…

 

[QwertyGirl]

Seems too many are too comfortable with discarding children because they don’t conform. Very sad.

 

[Annie]

Not at all.

The school was not “discarding” the 16-year-old loving with her boyfriend; the school was saying that her life choices made her incompatible with the school’s mission.

In the same way, the NAACP might refuse membership to David Duke.

The same way Eich was forced out of his position in the company he founded because he donated to Prop 8 on the losing side–and there was no relation between that act and the company’s mission.

 

[QwertyGirl]

In the same way, the NAACP might refuse membership to David Duke

The NAACP isn’t in the business of claiming to be concerned with the souls of the people they represent, last time I checked.

The standard is higher for the Church and its schools. As it should be.

 

[Annie]

The school is also responsible for the souls of the other students, no?

 

[QwertyGirl]

No. Schools aren’t responsible for anyone’s soul. But a school that claims concern over the souls of others needs to be very careful about souls that are struggling. More careful than it is about those that aren’t struggling as much.

Another poster said this best. It boils down to fear. I don’t think God wants us to live lives of fear. It is counter productive to what the message of “trust in God” is all about. I didn’t raise my kid to be afraid of the hardships other people suffer in life. I raised my kid to be compassionate and loving, regardless of the hardships others are suffering.

There is some real hate in this thread. Hate that seems based in fear and ignorance. It saddens me to see it.

 

[Annie]

No. Schools aren’t responsible for anyone’s soul. But a school that claims concern over the souls of others needs to be very careful about souls that are struggling. More careful than it is about those that aren’t struggling as much.

The school expressed its concern when it asked the mother to rectify her daughter’s situation. The mother refused.

Clearly the girl is struggling, buy without cooperation from the mother, the school could do nothing. The parents are the primary educators of the child, and the Catholic school is to support the parents in raising the child Catholic, not in anything the parent chooses to allow.

It boils down to fear.

Fear of what? The state of one’s own child’s soul?

Parents who send their children to Catholic school do so for the Catholic support in raising the child Catholic. The school has no responsibility to help or even tacitly approve the parent’s raising a child as a non-Catholic, which is what the mother in question turned out to be doing.

Yes, Catholic parents fear for their children’s souls. Many Catholic children today question their parents’ view that sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful because they do not hear this from the pulpit. How much more so if the Catholic school turns a blind eye to student cohabitation?

I didn’t raise my kid to be afraid of the hardships other people suffer in life.

Do parents raise their children to avoid the actions which lead to hardship?

There is some real hate in this thread. Hate that seems based in fear and ignorance. It saddens me to see it.

I do not know what you are seeing as hate; all I see is disagreement with the transgender party line. These are issues that deserve a fuller debate, as opposed to the force which is being used.

Allowing people to do whatever they want is not love and compassion.

 

[annad347]

You’re right, it would be better to hide from the darkness, never face it, shun it, put it in a closet, pretend it doesnt exist because our light is to weak to live in the the darkness shouting Jesus loves you.

It amazes me how some Christians are so quick to forget Jesus wants us to love Him and each other as we would love ourselves and yet never forget to point out what is wrong and sinful about someone.

Ever thought this might be God’s way of show His love for one of His children and the school is trying to do that as well by not throwing this child away because he or she isnt how we think they should be?

The school is doing exactly why they should be doing as Christian’s, the only other thing they should be doing is allow the children to talk about their feeling. Weather in private or as a class with a priest. School psychologist & or teacher something that would help with other children with their feeling, understanding and any confusion they might have… its it’s obvious some parents might need something like that as well.

 

[Ammi]

“Trust in God” does not mean, I need to change my gender.

This psychology of forcing everyone to role play a serious mental disorder is unhealthy.

I do believe in doing as much as possible to welcome and keep a child in the school. But feeding a disorder is not doing anyone a service.

 

[QwertyGirl]

I do not know what you are seeing as hate; all I see is disagreement with the transgender party line. These are issues that deserve a fuller debate, as opposed to the force which is being used.

I am sorry. I probably wasn’t clear in my post. I was relating back to the original post, about the transgender student.

The only connectivity to the issue of the child expelled due to her living arrangement is that I find we too easily discard children who most need to not be discarded.

 

[QwertyGirl]

“Trust in God” does not mean, I need to change my gender.

Of course it doesn’t. I never said it did.

“Trust in God” means trust that you don’t need to be afraid of people and the hardships they suffer. You don’t need to treat them out of fear. You are supposed to trust that God will take care of you, just as he is taking care of them.

When a group of people is less than loving to someone because they feel they are sinning, what they are really saying is they don’t trust God. They are fearful where they don’t need to be.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

This psychology of forcing everyone to role play a serious mental disorder is unhealthy.

This is what makes me uneasy.

There’s so little we know about this, a severe uptick in cases and nobody knows why no way to know how the other kids may be affected, and no way to know what will happen with the original patient.

And there’s a real danger to free thought and open conversation when everybody is forced to play along.

And no, the only other option is not cruelty and bullying of a sick kid.

One of the schools where I subbed had a case like this. The parents let the girl cut her hair and change her name to a gender neutral variant. She used the bathroom in the nurse’s office and the parents asked that no pronouns be used at all.

Which seemed to be a fair enough compromise when dealing with a psychiatric issue that little is understood about.

 

[Ammi]

Several people have expressed the concern that this approach is out of a fear of a lawsuit. That’s a very possible scenerio.

 

[QwertyGirl]

Yes, it quite possinly is. But the reactionary posts in this thread aren’t posted by people who are afraid of a lawsuit.

 

[EndTimes]

I’m checking on transferring my children to another Catholic school and will be informing the Archdiocese of this situation. I don’t know what else to do really.

That other school - labelling itself “Catholic” is operating in disobedience to Catholic Teachings…

In this day and age - it’s v.Important to never lose one’s faith in God // Jesus

_

 

[Ammi]

And the posts might not be fear based, but ligitimate concern that the school should not be an appropriate environment to indulge a disorder through role playing.

This child needs real psychological treatment and therapy. But other children in the school are not necessarily developed enough to understand the method of severe therapeutic role playing. Nor should they be expected to be active participants in the therapy.

 

[tafan2]

A pronoun is not a name. A noyn is not a name. Calling a girl, a boy is not calling them by their preferred name.