One in 10 pupils ‘want to change their gender’

... or already have, finds poll on woke education

ONE in ten schoolchildren want to change their gender – or have already done so – a damning report has found.

Teenagers are questioning their biological sex as they are exposed to ‘woke’ sex education material, it was revealed last night.

Almost a third are being taught that a ‘woman can have a penis’. While one in five had been told that ‘a man can get pregnant’, the report by thinktank Civitas found.

It raises questions about the influence of harmful and graphic sex education material being peddled to youngsters, and puts fresh pressure on the Department for Education to issue guidance for headteachers on transgender pupils before the summer term.

The findings sparked outrage from MPs and parents who said children were being used as a ‘psychological and social experiment’. Tory MP Miriam Cates, a former teacher and member of the Commons education committee, said: ‘What is happening in our schools under the guise of sex education is a population level psychological and social experiment on our children. This cannot go on.’

Fellow Tory Jonathan Gullis added: ‘This is extremely concerning, especially when there are still very harmful and woke materials in our schools that [are] pushing a certain agenda upon children and not allowing them to be children.’

The report polled 1,168 young people aged 16 to 18 in England. More than half (54 per cent) said they knew someone at their school who wants to change gender or had already.

One in ten (10 per cent) said they want to change their gender or had already done so.

The report also found that of the 1,097 parents of 12- to 16year-olds polled, almost eight in ten (77 per cent) want the legal right to see all sex and relationships education materials. It comes amid an urgent review ordered by Rishi Sunak into the ‘inappropriate’ and graphic material taught to youngsters in schools nationwide.

Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘This report reveals the extent to which Britain’s schools have become woke madrasas. It’s a national scandal that the Government needs to address.’

A DfE spokesman said: ‘The Education Secretary is working with the minister for women to support schools in relation to children who are questioning their gender.

‘ This guidance will clarify schools’ legal position and the importance of involving parents when making decisions relating to their child.’