Supporting Transgender Children in School

This week’s article summary is Supporting Transgender and Gender-Expansive Children in School.

Over the past five years or so, societal awareness of the transgender population has risen dramatically. Not surprisingly more and more transgender people are now visible, proudly sharing their true selves with others.

As a proponent of inclusion, individuality, and the importance of all being able to be true to who we are, I’ve been in a learning  mode about transgender issues and topics. (My knowledge base was close to zero five years ago.)

The article below is a quick primer about the parameters and dimensions of transgender topics, including in schools.

Some of you have read Raising My Rainbow, Some Assembly Required, and/or articles on how schools are implementing transgender polices. To me, it all comes down to respecting the individual and how he/she wants to be acknowledged in their home, in their classroom, in their school, at work, in public, and in the world.

While we currently do not have an openly transgender child at Trinity, the article below shares statistics that we—like almost all schools—have children who may be hiding from us but not themselves their true feelings. From an empathy perspective, I feel so sorry for those who must hide their true selves out of fear of societal backlash and prejudice.

I know Trinity is the type of institution that will be open, embracing, and supportive of transgender children, colleagues, and parents. However, for them to feel and be safe, cisgender people will need to be their allies and advocates.

Joe

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In the past decade, as transgender people have received greater visibility and acceptance, educators have begun to examine their school with an eye toward a new understanding that gendered environments may be harmful to children, particularly those who are transgender or gender expansive. Educators are asking themselves how they can create an environment where all students, including transgender and gender-expansive children, feel they belong.  

If the topic of transgender people is new to you, you probably have lots of questions: Are sex and gender the same thing? How are they related to sexuality? How many people are transgender?

It may help to begin with the understanding that sex, gender, and sexuality are three different concepts. Sex refers to a complex combination of physiological characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy. Sex is often thought of as a binary: male or female. However, approximately 2% of people are intersex, meaning that their physical bodies do not conform to standard definitions of male and female.

In contrast to sex, gender is one’s internal sense of identity. It is generally assumed that male and female babies will develop gender identities as boys and girls, respectively. People whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth are known as cisgender, while people whose gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth are known as transgender. In the United States, .5% of adults (1.4 million) identify as transgender. 

The term gender expansive is increasingly being used for people who challenge cultural expectations regarding gender roles, identities, expressions or norms. Gender-expansive individuals may further describe themselves as non-binary, gender fluid, or genderqueer. This ever-changing language mirrors our growing understanding that gender can be experienced in many ways and does not always conform to the restrictive binary categories of masculine and feminine.  

Remember that the term transgender is an adjective, not a verb or noun. Just as a person might be described as tall or smart, a person could be described as transgender. And, just like cisgender people, transgender people can have any sexual orientation: straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, and so on. 

New terms and concepts can be confusing, and many people fret about how they can know someone’s gender. If you need to address or speak about a person whose gender you’re unsure of, it’s often easy enough to use their name instead of pronouns. If you say the wrong thing, remember that we all make mistakes — that’s how we learn. What’s important is our willingness to apologize for our mistakes and do our best to use the desired terms in the future. Most important, cisgender people need to be open to learning from gender-expansive and transgender

While there is no conclusive data for children under the age of 13, 0.7% of teenagers ages 13-17 identify as transgender. All schools are almost certain to have at least one transgender child. The idea that children can be transgender often surprises cisgender adults who wonder how children can know their gender. However, developmental psychologists agree that children’s core gender identity develops by the age of three and continues to develop through young adulthood.

Some transgender children enter school as their affirmed gender identity, while others may undergo a social transition while enrolled. Social transition is reversible and can include a change in hairstyle and clothing or the use of a new name and pronouns. Health professionals recommend social transition as a way to affirm children’s gender and reduce their distress or dysphoria. On the other hand, failure to recognize transgender people’s identity exacerbates gender dysphoria and can lead to feelings of inadequacy, humiliation, self-hatred, depression, and even self-harm.  

Sadly, many transgender and gender-expansive children do not feel included in their classroom community, and tragically, many of these children experience harassment or worse. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that “54 percent of those who were out or perceived as transgender in K-12 were verbally harassed, nearly one-quarter (24%) were physically attacked, and 13% were sexually assaulted in K-12 because of being transgender”. These kinds of negative experiences put transgender students at risk for social exclusion, emotional distress, and disrupted learning.

The good news is that teachers can make changes in their classrooms that significantly impact children’s sense of belonging.  

Across the 20 elementary schools, the teachers interviewed created gender-inclusive classroom cultures by changing their language, specifically by replacing “boys and girls” with non-gendered terms such as “friends,” “scholars,” or “children.” Similarly, many teachers sought non-gendered ways to organize and manage the classroom.

In addition to changing their language, teachers also used literature to introduce and discuss gender. Teachers varied in their approach, but their efforts fell into two broad categories. Sometimes, teachers took a facilitative approach, deliberately making age-appropriate books available without planning specific activities aimed at learning about gender. This way, conversations about gender were initiated by children and facilitated by the teacher. When opportunities arose, facilitative teachers asked questions aimed at growing children’s critical-thinking skills, such as, “If it’s OK for girls to wear pants, is it OK for boys to wear skirts?”

Schools should be inclusive spaces where all students feel they belong, including transgender and gender-expansive children. Too frequently, schools promote gendered practices that cause distress for children, often unintentionally. While habits can be challenging to change, there is both a legal and educational imperative to make school programs and practices gender inclusive. Proactive districts and supportive leaders provide learning opportunities to facilitate change. Through the actions of affirming educators, schools can be supportive spaces for all children, of all genders.