Stop calling pupils girls – ‘it reminds them of their gender’

GIRLS’ schools should not refer to pupils as “girls or ladies” because it means they are “constantly reminded of their gender”, the Government’s former mental health tsar has said.

Natasha Devon told head teachers of the country’s leading girls’ schools that they should be using gender-neutral language when they address students – adding that the same applies for boys.

Speaking at the Girls’ School Association’s annual conference in Manchester, she said that she would “never walk into a room in an all-girls’ school and say girls or ladies” because it was “patronising”.

She said: “I don’t think it is useful to be constantly reminded of your gender and all the stereotypes that go with it.”

Ms Devon said that rather than addressing children as “boys” or “girls”, teachers should use gender-neutral terms such as “pupils”, “students” or “people”.

“I think actually in some ways boys are more constrained by the expectation of their gender,” she said.

“And while that is being challenged and changed I don’t think it’s helpful to keep saying ‘girls, girls, girls, boys, boys, boys’, because there is so much implication that potentially goes with that.”

Ms Devon said that using the term “girls” can evoke a sense that they have to do everything perfectly, which can “create a lot of anxiety”.

Meanwhile, the term “boys” carries connotations of “being macho, not talking about your feelings, being told to man up”.

She told head teachers: “If your narrative is saying girls don’t get angry or boys don’t cry, or girls aren’t allowed to do this or boys aren’t allowed to do this, then that is potentially going to have an impact on your well-being.

“So I hope that in taking away the negative stereotypes associated with gender we can ultimately improve their mental health.”

She said another reason not to use gendered terms was because there may be transgender people in the room.