we never know what our teens learn at school...

[Mia001]

i was when my niece told me they had a meeting in school with a transsexual explaining to them all the procedures he/she went through

those cases are very not common

so why giving all that stuff to our youth who is at this young age already mixed up without giving them something else to think about and worry IMO

[Natalka]

Whoa! is what I would say, and I'd be at that school in a flash!

If this were done with no heads-up to the parents or needing a consent form, that's crazy.

(---- no haters, please - )
yes, I know kids will see stuff about Chaz Bono on tv, etc., but there are ways to monitor what they are learning - and be able to explain it at home first, if parents find it necessary.

[KellyC]

It's a fact of life for some people. But I would be furious if my kid came home and told me that....a warning or a consent note would be nice.

[betholio]

How old is this teen? 13 or 17?

When I was in grade 11 our French teacher showed us some crazy French film that had all sorts of symbolism or something but the part that sticks out in my mind was the woman leading the naked man on a leash through a cemetary. Yowza! My Mom was surprised when she heard that but she wouldn't embarass me by complaining to the school.

The OP doesn't mention whether the parents of her niece were informed of the seminar ahead of time. Anyway, no matter how mixed up our teens might be none of them are going to meet a transexual and then think "ohmigawd, I'm an X trapped in a Y body!" if they weren't already thinking that.

[TheSaltyDog]

How old is this teen? 13 or 17?

When I was in grade 11 our French teacher showed us some crazy French film that had all sorts of symbolism or something but the part that sticks out in my mind was the woman leading the naked man on a leash through a cemetary. Yowza! My Mom was surprised when she heard that but she wouldn't embarass me by complaining to the school.

The OP doesn't mention whether the parents of her niece were informed of the seminar ahead of time. Anyway, no matter how mixed up our teens might be none of them are going to meet a transexual and then think "ohmigawd, I'm an X trapped in a Y body!" if they weren't already thinking that.

+1.

(emphasis mine)

[phartmacist1]

I agree we are taking away from kids enjoying kids life

[Chantel]

I have to say I respectfully disagree completely with people being shocked or offended by this. This isn't elementary school, these are teenagers. We are not stupid, we are not ignorant to the world around us, and we don't need to be sheltered. And our lives are certainly not going to be less enjoyable because somebody tells us there's transsexuals out there. In fact, your kids probably already knew about them, so having somebody talk to them about it isn't going to be any earth-shattering revelation.

Homosexuals, transsexuals, asexuals, two-spirited people etc. are all a fact of life. They are all people like you and I. We are taught about other cultures in school and that is perfectly acceptable, so why avoid people who are transsexual? They're all people, they're just a little different than us.

We do not deny the existence of other races or religions, and we talk openly about them in schools. We study in depth about the physical beatings and sometimes sexual exploitation of children in residential schools or internment camps. Two of the required reading books for highschool kids include child rape, one of a teenage girl by an older man and one of a young boy by older boys. REQUIRED reading. The latter of these books also features the C word. If you have a teen in highschool right now, they will be reading those books.

Yet somehow, people find it distasteful to introduce teenagers to what they are going to encounter in life whether they like it or not because it's 'strange'? They're not children, you're not ruining their childhood. They're not ignorant, they know a lot more than you think they do.

Would you be angry if your nearly-adult child came home and said "Mom, a BLACK person came and spoke in our school today!"? No, you wouldn't. You shouldn't need a warning when somebody is telling your child nothing but facts. They aren't being preached to, converted, nothing. They're just being told the plain facts. It's an operation, they're explaining how they were physically changed over from one gender to another, they're not asking your child to do it too. I highly doubt they showed any pictures of the genitals, so I don't know what the big deal is. Your kids will see pictures of people's private parts while studying the reproductive system anyway.

Exposing yourself to different people with different lifestyles than you is never a bad thing. Kids aren't going to decide they're transsexual just by hearing a transsexual discuss their experiences. Maybe, at the very least, there will be a few kids in the room who thought homosexuals or transsexuals or whatever were "gross" or "disgusting", but after listening to them speak, they realize that they're no different than anyone else. That stops hate. That stops hate crimes. There will be a lot less hate crimes in the generations to come because this generation accepts more than the ones before it.

Think about it this way, your grandchild, the one you'll love to pieces, might have their life spared in a school shooting that never happens because people didn't torment the shooter because he or she was different in some way. Hate and ignorance kill people. Being disgusted by this is promoting hate and ignorance, and you'll teach your child nothing but intolerance for people who aren't the same as them if you show them that you find this disgusting or inappropriate.

Sorry for the rant. As somebody who has a few transgender friends, it really bothers me when people are disgusted by them in this day and age.

[mdutka]

as far as my child being required to read books that contains rape, well thats why i am in favour of home schooling.

i dont think anyone here is disillusioned enough to think that your child will "decide they're transsexual just by hearing a transsexual discuss their experiences".

the point is, i dont send my kid to school to learn about other peoples sexual preferances and differances. i send him to learn about reading and writing etc. I will be the one to teach my child about sex andit is within my right to teach him our morals. i do not agree with the transsexual life style (and believe it or not i have ALOT of experience with transsexuals!). this is exactly the reason my sons will not stay in the school system past grade 6 if that. just because some people think its okay doesnt mean everyone else does.

[Insane]

Would you be angry if your nearly-adult child came home and said "Mom, a BLACK person came and spoke in our school today!"? No, you wouldn't. You shouldn't need a warning when somebody is telling your child nothing but facts. They aren't being preached to, converted, nothing. They're just being told the plain facts. It's an operation, they're explaining how they were physically changed over from one gender to another, they're not asking your child to do it too. I highly doubt they showed any pictures of the genitals, so I don't know what the big deal is. Your kids will see pictures of people's private parts while studying the reproductive system anyway.

I'm not speaking to the message here...based on the title I'm under the impression that parents were not made aware...

As a parent I would be absolutely positively angry if my children's school discussed this without informing me first. You can be sure I would get the School Board involved too. It's not a warning, but a discussion with parents first. These are MY children, not the teacher's or the school's children-mine. It's not about the message but the fact that my child's school is discussing this with my child without my knowledge. How can I follow up with my child, how can I field their questions if I don't know what is being discussed? I would feel totally blindsided if my teenager came to me with questions that arose from a class discussion on a topic I had no idea they were learning. I know what my children are learning in their core subjects through homework, assignments and updates from teachers. It should be no different for sex education. I sign a permission slip for my children to participate in sex education. I get a detailed outline of what is going to be discussed. I would expect the same for any sexual health topic.

[Chantel]

As a person who has had a similar speaker in a class of mine, I can tell you that it had nothing to do with sex, sex ed, or anything else. While I do agree that a note should have been made about it (if just to say, so and so is coming to speak) when apparently it wasn't in this case, it doesn't need to have a big deal made out of it, like "There will be a transsexual in the school on X day! They'll be talking about stuff, so if you don't want your kid to hear it, this is a warning!".

Any time a person like that comes to speak to a school, the message isn't "Look, I got my junk changed", it's more along the lines of "I am who I am". Sure they discuss how and why the person decided to change themselves physically, but again, it doesn't revolve around sex. A sex change is no more sexual than using your genitals to use the bathroom. It isn't about sexual health, it's a discussion moreso about identity, they have to touch on why and how the person transitioned from one gender to another, but that is really not what these things are about.

While I find it nice that everyone here is very concerned about what their children see and hear, I think people are ignoring the fact that transsexuals, homosexuality, teen parents, stds and other things people like to shelter their children from are not just on the outside, they will encounter it firsthand or secondhand too. It could be them, or it could be their best friend, who knows.

Teens already know about these things far before anyone would ever decide to give them a guest speaker on it. I knew three girls who had had abortions before 10th grade ever started, 2 who were parents, one who was raped, one who was molested as a child, a handful with STDs and a bucketful who have had pregnancy scares, and I don't even live in a ghetto area.

Your kids know all this stuff already if they're in highschool, trust me. They don't need the school to tell them, so if you'd like to get to them first you'll probably have to start around third grade, because kids learn earlier and earlier now. If the school is telling them something and it's NOT in a formal sex ed class with a consent form or formal notice, I don't think you have to worry about it being related to sex at all, because it isn't, it's more of a discussion on the person and something like how they dealt with bullying in their life rather than their genitals or former genitals.

I just think it's silly for people to get this worked up over it when the focus isn't on anything sexual, it's just like the people who freak out at public breastfeeders. Just because breasts and nether-bits can be sexual doesn't mean they are in every situation.

Again, your kids probably already know all of this already, so it's not like they should be coming home all wide-eyed and full of questions.

(Sorry for the walls of text! And I don't mean to offend anybody with my points of view. I just want to let people know that their kids probably won't be all that shocked to hear these things because they've seen it all before.)

[nadiabreckon]

I think the point of this topic is because the parents were not informed before. This isn't a typical class discussion about how to put on a condom, knowing when puberty hits, etc...this is something totally different and some questions that arise from it should be asked to a person close to you, ie: your parents. IMHO

Some people live in different circumstances (parents don't approve, religion...) and would most likely feel offended if this were to happen at their child's school. It's not like an openly gay person came into the class and started talking about his/her life, it's somebody who decided to go through procedures that not everybody needs/wants to go through on their own.

Would you like it if somebody who's been through plastic surgery come to your child's classroom and talk about how many surgeries he/she has gone through and how much more popular they've become, maybe this could be the way they teach kids about how not to be bullied!? Sorry, this is just my opinion...

[TheOriginalTruffles]

I don't have teens yet (although my 9 yo DD thinks she is one) but I have to agree with the younger posters. This isn't about sex-ed. This is learning about a segment of Canadian society that has recently gained legal protection. It is about offering hope to troubled youth, instead of suicide or escape into drugs/promiscuity. It is teaching tolerance and compassion, instead of bigotry and bullying.

Knowledge is a good thing. Misinformation is a bad thing.

[betholio]

I guess we need the OP writer back in here to clarify. She doesn't say the parents weren't informed. She says something all the lines of "already mixed up without giving them something else to think about..." which is what I was speaking to.


I probably would want my boys to participate in a seminar like above. We live in a small town and they don't get a lot of exposure to different walks of people. I don't think either of them actually "have" transexualism BUT I most certainly would not want them to be jackwagons to any transexuals they may come across. I'd rather they learn about it in a safe, controlled setting. I don't really know much about transexualism, much like I don't know a lot about the Equator or cumulus clouds. Hence, I send my kids to school to learn about these things.