Pupils, 5, told: Pick your gender...male, female or neither

CHILDREN as young as five are to be taught at school that they should choose their own gender.

From the earliest years of primary school, pupils will be asked to decide for themselves whether they are a boy, a girl – or neither.

Teaching materials created jointly by Education Scotland, the Scottish Government and the NHS advise that children aged between five and nine should be told: ‘Your gender is what you decide.’

The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) teaching guidelines say ‘children need to learn about gender’ in order to ‘learn about themselves’.

But campaigners and politicians warn that children would be ‘confused’ by such an ‘adult’ subject.

Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘It is deeply worrying that adults are foisting this anxiety on children – it is a darkly sinister intrusion into childhood and it’s cruel.

‘At this age, children believe in goblins and dragons and don’t understand adult issues yet. These discussions at such a young age will be very confusing.

‘Teachers in Scotland are already lagging behind in teaching children how to read, write and do maths so how can they be expected to become pseudo-psychiatrists?’

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘It’s right that we teach children about gender diversity and the meaning of these terms. However, many parents might feel this is too young for their children to learn about it.’

The guidelines are contained in online educational resource Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP), a teaching resource to be used in schools and early learning settings.

It was launched by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with other health boards, councils, Education Scotland and the Government.

The lesson plan teaches children that biological sex should not determine what someone can achieve, pointing out that both boys and girls can bake and play football.

However, the guidelines then discuss gender and what that can mean for different people.

They say: ‘To understand about gender equality and challenge gender stereotypes, children need to learn about what we mean by gender, that this is different from the sex we are assigned at birth. Gender is about how we see and present ourselves in the world.’

It explains that most people will know ‘the binary model of girl/ woman/female and boy/man/male, but others will be more interested in exploring who they are by how they do not fit into these gender norms’.

The plan then encourages teachers to tell children: ‘Your gender is what you decide. You might be a boy or a girl, or maybe you don’t like to decide that.

‘People might think they know your gender because of the clothes you wear, or how you behave, or the things you like to do. You are a unique person, you know who you are.’

But experts last night questioned if five-year-olds are ready to be taught such a confusing topic.

Dr Amanda Gummer, child psychologist and founder of Fundamentally Children, which helps children develop skills through play, said: ‘At ages five to eight, things are black and white: naughty and nice, right and wrong, and many won’t have the cognitive skills to understand this.

‘It’s very important, yes, but it runs the risk of causing confusion.

‘For most kids, this isn’t a concern at this age – playing with toys and who sits beside them at lunch is what they care about.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘It is for schools to decide how they deliver RSHP education.’

‘It is a darkly sinister intrusion into childhood’