Category: Children

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Children Reviews

‘First Day’, the drama about a transgender 12yo, shouldn’t be on the BBC children’s channel. It’s harmful, shameless propaganda

I’m transgender myself but this film is misleadingly telling viewers as young as six that if they are unhappy with their sex then they can choose the other one, and then all will be fine. But they can’t and it won’t, of course.

The transition from primary school to secondary school can be an anxious time for all children, and it is surely a worthy topic for children’s television to cover.

But “First Day” – the latest offering from the children’s arm of the BBC – focusses on a transgender-identified child who transitions from male to female at the same time. The synopsis is simple: an unhappy feminine boy, mocked and bullied by others, overcomes enormous adversity to become the centre of attention, popular with peers and feted by teachers after they metamorphose from boy to girl.

Continue reading “‘First Day’, the drama about a transgender 12yo, shouldn’t be on the BBC children’s channel. It’s harmful, shameless propaganda”
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Children Reviews

Why is Netflix sexing up ‘Cuties’?

The public furore following the suspended sentence handed down to former MP Eric Joyce earlier this month highlighted once again the sexual exploitation of children and what we do with those who are convicted. But as Sarah Ditum pointed out this morning, Joyce is only one of 400 men arrested every month for viewing indecent images of children.

The problem is endemic. As a teacher and a parent, I believe the protection of children should be paramount. But we face an uphill battle in a culture that doesn’t just condone the sexualisation of children, it encourages it.

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Children Reviews

A mutilation of young lives: How the radical transgender bandwagon is wrecking girls’ bodies and destroying their mental health

A new book, Irreversible Damage, reveals how teenage girls are being duped into believing they want to be male, and are pushed into taking puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and undergoing double mastectomies.

Whether it is a statement or a question, the title of this book conveys the necessary urgency of this desperately sad story. Amid the trans debate, seemingly a battle between grown adults, vulnerable children are prey to a malevolent ideology that survivors call a cult.

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Children Free Speech Sex and Gender

Sexism is alive and well in the transgender debate

Parents! How do you support LGBT+ kids? As a parent, a teacher and as a trans person, I think the answer is simple: treat them just like any other child. They need space to explore what it means to be human, activities to learn about the world, and boundaries to keep them safe. When BBC Bitesize explored this question, they talked to drag artist Divina De Campo. Behind the flamboyant exterior – ‘camp as a row of tents,’ according to De Campo – there is a former teacher making some sensible points. ‘Everything is there forever,’ De Campo says of social media posts, ‘it doesn’t disappear because somebody’s screenshotted it.’ But unfortunately Bitesize wasn’t content with just offering plain, helpful advice.

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Children Deutsch Free Speech JK Rowling

Als Transfrau und Elternteil sage ich: Es ist Missbrauch, Kinder zum Geschlechtswechsel zu drängen

Die Bestseller-Autorin J. K. ist wegen ihrer Äußerungen über Transmenschen in die Kritik geraten. Hier erklärt die britische Transgender-Aktivistin Debbie Hayton, warum sie sich mit der “Harry Potter”-Autorin solidarisiert.

Nachdem Joanne K. Rowling im vergangenen Monat eine Flut von Beschimpfungen erhalten hatte, weil sie das Wort “Frau” zur Beschreibung ihres Geschlechts zurückforderte, hätte man J. K. Rowling vielleicht verzeihen können, wenn sie den Staffelstab der Kampagne an andere weitergereicht hätte. Die Transgender-Debatte, an der sie teilnahm, ist vielleicht der toxischste und spaltendste Streit, der in den sozialen Medien tobt.

Continue reading “Als Transfrau und Elternteil sage ich: Es ist Missbrauch, Kinder zum Geschlechtswechsel zu drängen”
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Children Free Speech JK Rowling русский

Роулинг права (Rowling is right)

Как трансженщина, родитель и учитель, я утверждаю, что Дж.К. Роулинг совершенно права: подталкивать детей к смене пола — это насилие над ними.

Автора бестселлеров заклеймили позором за предупреждение относительно того, что трансактивисты подталкивают детей, испытывающих психологические трудности, к приёму гормонов и хирургическим операциям. Однако она поступает храбро и верно, высказываясь на этот счёт. После обрушившегося на неё в прошлом месяце шквала оскорблений за то, что она просила вернуть слово «женщина» для описания своего пола, Дж.К. Роулинг, вероятно, была прощена за то, что передала правозащитную эстафету другим.

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Children Free Speech JK Rowling

As a trans woman, parent and teacher, I say JK Rowling is absolutely right; it’s child abuse to push kids towards changing sex

The best-selling author has been vilified for warning about how children struggling with their mental health are being shunted towards hormones and surgery by trans activists. But she is brave and right to speak out.

After last month receiving a barrage of abuse for reclaiming the word ‘woman’ to describe her sex, JK Rowling might have been forgiven for handing the campaigning baton onto others. The transgender debate that she entered is perhaps the most toxic and divisive dispute raging across social media.

Continue reading “As a trans woman, parent and teacher, I say JK Rowling is absolutely right; it’s child abuse to push kids towards changing sex”
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Children

A boy in a dress is just a boy in a dress

As a child of the 1970s, I can still recall the trauma of watching Elvis Costello jab his finger at me as he sang “Called careers information; have you got yourself an occupation?” My dreams of becoming an astronaut had already evaporated by then and I feared I needed to make a hasty decision before I was conscripted into Oliver’s Army — or worse.

A generation later, the stakes are far higher for our kids. Today the refrain might be Called social media; have you got yourself a gender identity?

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Children

Trans ideology is damaging children

We welcome the decision by the Scout Association to review its transgender policy (News, last week). Previous guidance, developed in partnership with the transgender lobbying group Mermaids, undermined safeguarding by promising “complete confidentiality”; promoted the idea that children as young as two can be identified as having a “true gender” that does not match their sex; and normalised the practice of teenage girls binding their breasts.

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Children Education

Supporting transgender students: what you need to know

How can you ensure young people can express their gender identity in school without experiencing discrimination or being made to feel uncomfortable? And how do these concerns intersect with legal and safeguarding requirements? Teacher Debbie Hayton explains all in this guide

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