Guidebook urges teachers that they should not call pupils 'boys and girls' at school
A GUIDEBOOK urging teachers and primary school children to stop referring to students as “girls” or “boys” in case any of them is transgender was branded “nonsense” today.
The book for school staff, students and parents called Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity?, which is due to be distributed throughout the country to children as young as seven, recommends not using language which suggests there are only two genders.
It says: “Using such language as “boys and girls” or “ladies and gents” is not only exclusionary to trans-identified and gender variant young people but subtly reinforces that gender is a significant difference about behaviour patterns.”
It also features the story of Kit a 12-year-old “transitioning” from female to male and using prescribed drugs in an attempt to stop puberty.
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Publishers Jessica Kingsley described the book as “the first book to explain medical transitioning for children aged seven and above”.
It features terms such as “panromantic”, “genderqueer” and says people who identify with the gender they were born with are “cisgender”.
It is distributed by Government-funded organisation Educate And Celebrate, which travels to schools teaching about “gender diversity”.
The vast majority of children are comfortable with being boys or girls
The group received £200,000 of public funding from former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan.
The book’s author, CJ Atkinson, is a poet, academic and is described as a “trans advocate”.
Daily Express columnist and former Conservative Home Office minister Ann Widdecombe criticised the book, describing it as “nonsense”.
She said: “You can’t expect children to say that’s not a boy when it obviously is.
“At the age of seven, you know if someone is a boy of if they are a girl. It’s normal. It’s like they’re trying to do away with one of the basic pieces of childhood understanding.
“All I can say is that it’s so dotty you’d think it was made up but for the fact that it’s paid for by the taxpayer.”
Education expert Professor Alan Smithers of the University of Buckingham also criticised the book, saying: “This is theory gone mad.
“The vast majority of children are comfortable with being boys or girls and these are the traditional and well-understood terms for how they see themselves.
“There are some who are not, and they should be respected and helped to find their identities. But that is no reason for overturning something that has worked since the beginning of time.”
Jill Seymour, the Ukip MEP for the West Midlands said: “This is political correctness gone mad. We should let our children be children. The Government and schools should not be wasting taxpayers’ money on this.”
The news comes shortly after Britain got its first ever transgender headteacher.
Claire Birkenshaw of Ashwell Academy, Hull, returned to the classroom this week, having previously been known as Michael.
