Concerns over school’s handling of student’s gender issues

The mother of a teenager who identifies as a boy has expressed concern about how it was handled at school.

Clair (not her real name) told Neil Mitchell she had no idea her then 14-year-old daughter identified as male until she was contacted by the school.

“Obviously that came as a huge shock to me,” she explained.

“I was aware she’d been having some friendship issues and may have been seeing the counsellor about that, but apparently she’d been seeing the counsellor and counsellor’s intern for about three weeks without my knowledge.

“They had talked with her about it – I don’t know what they had told her – they provided her with information about gender clinics and trans websites.”

Clair says the school gave her “information” about transitioning.

“It was suggested we head down that road,” Clair said.

Clair said they went to a clinical psychologist, who diagnosed the 14-year-old with Asperger syndrome.

“Apparently Asperger’s children sometimes have gender confusion,” she explained.

The mother is concerned young teens are being given advice by people ill-equipped to handled such issues.

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