Reply to Girl's School and Gender Pronouns

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think that parents who ignore their child’s requests to acknowledge them as they/them, etc are making a mistake and creating a hurtful situation for their child and eroding family closeness. I do see your point on how people can change post attendance at a single gender school and I think if individual teachers and adults choose to use language other than “girls” when addressing their class or at assembly that is their choice and nothing is wrong with that, obviously.However, I don’t think staff should be instructed to NOT refer to students at a girls school as “girls” when addressing a group as policy in general. I believe that was the original issue and although I feel bad for that very small minority of families who would prefer their child wasn’t trans, and I most definitely feel for that child and hope they can get the support they need to deal with having parents like that, I still think that there is nothing wrong with assuming that students at a single gender school will not be offended by being called that gender as a group by teachers and staff. If I go to a religious school whose mission is religious education and they speak to students as if they all believe in god, if I as a student have decided I’m an atheist I don’t then expect the staff to stop addressing the school as a whole as if all believe in god, since that is the mission of that independent school s as of a main point of how the group identifies. Obviously not the exact thing but my point is an independent school can not be all things to all people, all the time, particularly religious or single gender schools who strive to serve a particular portion of society within their mission statement.
Would a girls school admit a person born as male who goes by she/her? I don’t think so, and they shouldn’t imo. 
I know a number of families who have trans children and none would opt to keep/or send them in/to a girls school. They all go to coeducational liberal independent schools. There are many out there now. [/quote]

Adolescents are incredibly sensitive as it is, and when you add a gender crisis to the mix, they become even moreso. The lesson schools are trying to teach these students is not to presume someone's gender identity based on their appearance. It's about civility, courtesy, and fairness. I guess some people have lines they won't cross when it comes to that; however, as a 30+-year education, I make it a strict practice to refer to students and, more broadly, people using their designated pronouns and not to make any assumptions about them  if they haven't told me.[/quote]

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