Children aged 8 to get lessons on how they can change gender
CHILDREN as young as eight are to be told at school they can ‘change their bodies’ in lesson plans introducing them to transgender and non-binary issues.
Primary school pupils will be told their gender is ‘what you decide’ – and that if they choose they can alter their bodies if unhappy or uncomfortable with the ones they were born in.
Teaching materials supported by Education Scotland, the Scottish Government and the NHS have been published and show lesson plans and books available to help form discussions on gender.
One slideshow for children in primaries five to seven ‘describes people who feel that the sex they were given at birth doesn’t match how they feel inside’.
It goes on to say that ‘sometimes a trans person will want to change their body’.
It also tells children as young as five that babies can be born male, female or ‘intersex’.
Campaigners and politicians have raised concerns over the guidance, describing it as ‘dangerous’ and claiming it could pile additional stress and worry on to youngsters.
A spokesman for the Christian Institute said: ‘This is very alarming news. Children need to be left to be children, to explore the wonder of their childhood safe from social experiments of an adult world that they are not equipped for.
‘It is cruel to confuse children about something as basic as whether they are a boy or a girl. There are already a growing number of cases of young people experiencing profound regret
‘Anti-scientific view of biology’
after being pushed into thinking they were “trapped in the wrong body”.’
He added: ‘Schools should be encouraging children to celebrate being children rather than force- feeding them this anti-scientific view of biology.’
The ‘available resource’ material is contained in online educational document Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood, a teaching resource to be used in schools and early learning settings.
It was launched by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with the support of other health boards, Education Scotland and the Scottish Government.
Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘I do not believe the majority of eight-year-olds understand the serious implications of changing their bodies, therefore I do not think it is appropriate to encourage them to consider it.’
Richard , leader of the Scottish Family Party, said: ‘To encourage children down the road of transgenderism, which often leads to sex change surgery, is nothing short of child abuse.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Teachers and schools are best placed to decide how they deliver relationship education in the most age-appropriate way – and that policy has not changed.’