Parents of transgender teens in private school.

[Anonymous]

For those parents who have a transgender high school student at Maret or GDS, would you mind sharing your experience? Does your child feel accepted and respected by students and staff? Please only respond if this question pertains to you. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

How do you know the responses are for real?

[Anonymous]

I think you would do better to call the schools and ask if you can speak to parents about their experiences directly or if you could network your way to one of the parents. There are just not that many transgender students at these schools and I'm not sure that those parents would feel comfortable discussing something that is so identifiable to them on this forum. Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

For Maret - after my campus tour this past fall, I got an email from the school that had a link to a page where you could reach out to some current Maret parents. Obviously there's no guarantee that those parents have a transgender student, but you could at least ask for some information. I don't want to post the link here for the trolls, but it was sent via an email with the subject "Maret School - Thank you for Visiting Us!" and I hope you can use that to get the contacts you're looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you would do better to call the schools and ask if you can speak to parents about their experiences directly or if you could network your way to one of the parents. There are just not that many transgender students at these schools and I'm not sure that those parents would feel comfortable discussing something that is so identifiable to them on this forum. Just my two cents.

I agree with this. Trans students are very much at risk for harm, bullying, and all kinds of things, and the possibility of being identified like this would not be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you would do better to call the schools and ask if you can speak to parents about their experiences directly or if you could network your way to one of the parents. There are just not that many transgender students at these schools and I'm not sure that those parents would feel comfortable discussing something that is so identifiable to them on this forum. Just my two cents.

This. Ask if the school would pass your contact info on to one or two parents of transgender students. The school will understand that this is a very specific, personal, and sensitive concern and will likely do the best they can to help you find answers for your questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you would do better to call the schools and ask if you can speak to parents about their experiences directly or if you could network your way to one of the parents. There are just not that many transgender students at these schools and I'm not sure that those parents would feel comfortable discussing something that is so identifiable to them on this forum. Just my two cents.

This. Ask if the school would pass your contact info on to one or two parents of transgender students. The school will understand that this is a very specific, personal, and sensitive concern and will likely do the best they can to help you find answers for your questions.

The above is correct based on personal experience at a different school. When you call be very clear as to whether you are asking about a trans boy or a trans girl. Their experiences can be very different on the same school. Also, if your child is “non-binary” do not say they are “trans.” Very different and different parents the school may put you in touch with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you would do better to call the schools and ask if you can speak to parents about their experiences directly or if you could network your way to one of the parents. There are just not that many transgender students at these schools and I'm not sure that those parents would feel comfortable discussing something that is so identifiable to them on this forum. Just my two cents.

This. Ask if the school would pass your contact info on to one or two parents of transgender students. The school will understand that this is a very specific, personal, and sensitive concern and will likely do the best they can to help you find answers for your questions.

The above is correct based on personal experience at a different school. When you call be very clear as to whether you are asking about a trans boy or a trans girl. Their experiences can be very different on the same school. Also, if your child is “non-binary” do not say they are “trans.” Very different and different parents the school may put you in touch with.

Can you give examples of how the experiences might be different for a trans boy vs a trans girl?

[Anonymous]

1. Acceptance by peers.
2. Sports teams
3. Bathrooms /overnight field trips.
———-

[Anonymous]

4. Reaction of faculty/parents

[Anonymous]

5. Also depends on the age of the student
6. How long the student was in the school (if at all) pre-transition.
7. How the child presents (a trans boy wearing pants and a shirt won’t usually seem to be as substantial of a change as a trans girl wearing a dress and makeup.

All these things impact the reactions of others in a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you would do better to call the schools and ask if you can speak to parents about their experiences directly or if you could network your way to one of the parents. There are just not that many transgender students at these schools and I'm not sure that those parents would feel comfortable discussing something that is so identifiable to them on this forum. Just my two cents.

This. Ask if the school would pass your contact info on to one or two parents of transgender students. The school will understand that this is a very specific, personal, and sensitive concern and will likely do the best they can to help you find answers for your questions.

The above is correct based on personal experience at a different school. When you call be very clear as to whether you are asking about a trans boy or a trans girl. Their experiences can be very different on the same school. Also, if your child is “non-binary” do not say they are “trans.” Very different and different parents the school may put you in touch with.

Does transgender mean a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth? Last I checked, doctors weren’t assigning non-binary on birth certificates. Are you next going to say that only trans kids who’ve fully transitioned are worth the conversation with the school? Or are you admitting that the plethora of tween/teen girls that now identify as they/them at local progressive schools is a fad or social contagion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those parents who have a transgender high school student at Maret or GDS, would you mind sharing your experience? Does your child feel accepted and respected by students and staff? Please only respond if this question pertains to you. Thank you.

This is supposed to be an anonymous forum. Why are you asking people to out themselves? Transgenderism is so incredibly rare.

[Anonymous]

OP-I know that Burke has been a very positive and accepting place for transgender students.

[Anonymous]

I have a gay cis gender son at gds. I can't speak directly about the trans experience, but based on what we see of support for LGBTQ generally, I am certain the school goes out of its way to accommodate. That doesn't mean, of course, that all peers are 100% accepting.