Re: Educator addressing a "Transgendered" student

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Joe_5859 said:
I think everyone will agree that it is important to use proper pronouns. I think people disagree about what the proper pronoun is in these situations.
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That pronoun is ‘he’ in this situation.
 
Gonna take a bit of a different approach here- I’d have no problem calling a child by whatever legal name they use.

I personally have a problem using pronouns other than the ones appropriate for their biological reality vice internal perspective. Particularly for children given they don’t truly develop a sexual identity until post-pubescence from what I’ve read. I don’t agree with denying external reality to reinforce/participate in an internal delusion- however sincerely it is held.

However, if I’m being paid by someone else to do a job, they do have the right to establish the rules within the workplace. As well as making the judgment calls about things like this and what best supports the mission/task of the organization. They’re supposed to be running their business/organization and I’m supposed to be doing my part. If I’m not willing to do the job as tasked, I should probably resign.
 
As a teacher I’ve thought about the approach I would take in this situation.

I believe I’d just call them by the name they wanted. Not my job to counsel them.

That said, I do wonder to myself the wisdom of accepting a persons unrealistic and delusional self image.

I don’t see the difference between transgenderism and and anorexia to be honest.

Both are illnesses where the sufferer has an image of themselves that is not founded in reality.
 
I can’t help but feel like many of these people are being set up for disappointment. If I was counselling someone in this situation I would probably say something like “You aren’t wrong for feeling how you do but you need to realise that although treatment can make you look more masculine/feminine it cannot make you the same as someone born male or female”.

It’s important that people undergoing this realise the limits of the treatment. These people should be safe from abuse but they can’t expect the whole world to see them as their preferred gender and when it comes to dating most people will not be open to someone transgendered.

Sadly I don’t think that’s the message these vulnerable youngsters are getting.
 
ConfusedLucy said:
I can’t help but feel like many of these people are being set up for disappointment. If I was counselling someone in this situation I would probably say something like “You aren’t wrong for feeling how you do but you need to realise that although treatment can make you look more masculine/feminine it cannot make you the same as someone born male or female”.

It’s important that people undergoing this realise the limits of the treatment. These people should be safe from abuse but they can’t expect the whole world to see them as their preferred gender and when it comes to dating most people will not be open to someone transgendered.

Sadly I don’t think that’s the message these vulnerable youngsters are getting.
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Well that is why the suicide rate of post-operation trans gendered persons is very high.

They are promised this magic treatment that will make them ok with themselves. Then they probably gradually come to realise that they mutilated themselves for nothing.
 
There is too much insanity in society now to fight it in a matter like this. If a girl wants to pretend that she is a boy, fine. Call her he.
 
The only time I would refuse to go along with it in a school setting would be over toilets and changing rooms. Leave the rest to the counselling team.
 
ConfusedLucy said:
The only time I would refuse to go along with it in a school setting would be over toilets and changing rooms. Leave the rest to the counselling team.
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Why? Why is it so difficult to let a person use the bathroom they want to. Do people need to be examined at the restroom door?
 
Because women’s private spaces are no place for an adult penis. It’s not unreasonable for people to want certain areas to be women or men only.
 
I’m a teacher and I generally call students by whatever they wish to be called. The only exception is when a child asks to change their name, in which case, I ask the parents before I go along with it. I’m teaching elementary aged kids though. If I taught teens, I would probably just go with whatever the asks for. I currently have a student that insists that his name is Nathan, even though his name is Ricky. His parents have made it very clear that they want him called “Ricky” and “Nathan” is a name he just pulled out of nowhere. It isn’t his middle name or the name of a role model. He just would rather be “Nathan”. Every opportunity this kid gets to meet someone new, he tells them his name is Nathan. His classroom teacher has to warn subs in her sub plans.
 
Garyjohn2 said:
Sorry, I’m not an expert. Can’t you just address them by their name (which you have no control over)? Some people name their kids strange things. “Avery” can be a boys or girls name – and more and more names are being used as unisex. There’s no issue with calling a girl “George” if that’s what the name is. You could call her “Rover the Labrador” if that’s what you were instructed to do by her or her parents.

In using the he/she pronoun, you’ll have to get more creative. If you don’t want to caller her a “he” just use “they.” That’s what I would do anyways.
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I’d say stay within your school district’s guidelines. Stay out of trouble.

In Michigan, the situation seems to be more complicated. The child may not have “come out” to their parents, so the teacher has to use the name that the parents expect, not the name the child designates. this is one story I’ve heard, and I don’t know if it’s true.

Always follow the district rules. If you CAN’T do that, then confront your superiors, not the student. The student can’t or won’t change anything.

A relative of mine had such a situation come up, the there was a meeting with the school administrator, teachers, student and parent. The top-down agreement was full compliance. But, the teen didn’t make it even half-way through the school year, owing to peer pressure. They dropped out of school. This is a serious problem for the affected individual.

Decades ago, I had a job as hospital orderly. I was called to escort a patient to the psychiatric unit. While I was confined to the elevator, he kicked me in the abdomen (full shoe imprint on my white top) because he said he didn’t like how I was looking at him.

I try to avoid all eye contact with people in public, for any number of similar reasons – except for safety.
 
AdamPeter said:
…I do wonder to myself the wisdom of accepting a persons unrealistic and delusional self image.

I don’t see the difference between transgenderism and and anorexia to be honest.

Both are illnesses where the sufferer has an image of themselves that is not founded in reality.
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The person with a gender dysphoria or similar is not delusional about their physical self. They fully appreciate the physical realities. It is internally that they experience the sense of a sex that does not match that visible physical reality. The origins of that internal self-perception are not understood. It too may be an outcome of something that does have a reality - though at present we know not what.
 
I was just pondering this the other day. How teachers or anyone who hasn’t lost their marbles are to put up with this working in an age of left-wing totalitarianism which so lacks reason reason is just beyond me. I would probably have to quit and then go work for a school that wouldn’t uphold such nonsense or even consider a career change.
 
Rau said:
The person with a gender dysphoria or similar is not delusional about their physical self. They fully appreciate the physical realities. It is internally that they experience the sense of a sex that does not match that visible physical reality. The origins of that internal self-perception are not understood. It too may be an outcome of something that does have a reality - though at present we know not what.
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Are we doing the right thing by going along with it? Especially with those whose physical traits mean they will never, even after treatment, pass as men/women?
 
Follow school policy and if it proves too distressing, start looking for jobs at Christian schools. Otherwise, you’re opening yourself up to a potentially career ruining lawsuit. People are very litigious these days.
 
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