Schoolboy, 12, becomes girl during the holidays

[Lazlow]

A SCHOOLBOY in the UK has returned from holidays as a schoolgirl.

The 12-year-old is preparing for surgery that could make him the world’s youngest sex-swap patient and arrived at school this week sporting pigtails and wearing a long dress.

His transformation sparked an emergency meeting at the school, with teachers gathering up students and ordering them to treat the boy as a girl.

Angry parents told The Sun their children were in tears and confused by news of the boy’s transformation, and said they should have been warned so they could discuss the issues with their children before school resumed.

The boy’s parents have changed his name by deed poll and are helping him prepare for hormone treatment.

They hoped his disguise would protect him from being bullied by his fellow students, but he was recognised immediately, according to reports.

He had been telling his friends “for years” that he yearned to be a girl, The Sun reported.

Teachers also helped to blow his cover, telling students at the assembly: "You may notice one pupil is not present in this assembly - that is because the pupil is now a girl."



Pretty irresponsible move by the teachers. But then again, if the parents wanted to ensure he/she wouldn't get identified they should have changed schools. (sorry, no pics)

[sausage]

Holy shit I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Love to have been a fly on the wall in the 'emergency meeting'.

I mean, you couldn't make this shit up could you? COULD YOU?


Belly-laughs aside, the parents should have warned the school prior to him changing to a her - simple as that. I mean, come on; blaming the school? They would have had kittens when Jimmy turned up in a frock on Monday...

Seriously though; if the same level of preparation and consideration was used in the decision to transform Jimmy into Jemima as it was used in reintegrating back into the same (!) school then maybe it shouldn't have been allowed to happen in the first place.

Jesus it would have been funny though.

[Xanafalgue]

teachers also helped to blow his cover, telling students at the assembly: "you may notice one pupil is not present in this assembly - that is because the pupil is now a girl."

ahahahahahahahahahaha

[Tonez]

I agree with the parents. They definitely should have been informed before hand so that they could explain to their children what the deal was and perhaps this young girl wouldn't have been hassled so much by kids and teased endlessly.

[Stevorooni]

That happened at my uni where a male student came back the next year as a woman. Nobody really cared though.

[Xanafalgue]

So when does Artemis get back?

[Tonez]

That happened at my uni where a male student came back the next year as a woman. Nobody really cared though.

Well you'd hope that Uni students would be a little bit more mature then school children.

[Stevorooni]

Well you'd hope that Uni students would be a little bit more mature then school children.

It wasn't a big deal. I only really found out because one of my friends saw her trying to get her student card updated to "Female" otherwise I probably would have thought she was just a very unattractive woman.

[HiredMan]

What's a schooboy? :p

[Lazlow]

About 8 hours!

[HiredMan]

Title changed. You nub Laz :p

[FX-GTZ]

What is wrong with kids these days.

[TAT]

I agree with the parents. They definitely should have been informed before hand so that they could explain to their children what the deal was and perhaps this young girl wouldn't have been hassled so much by kids and teased endlessly.
It's an absolutely terrible call by the parents of the boy simply for the abruptness of the change. I understand that they needed to act while he's still young (before his system grows via testosterone), but it's still a very bad move, imo.

[Lazlow]

I disagree. Do the parents of the entire student body get informed of every special needs student? Can't they respect an individual's privacy?

By changing his appearance and name they at least had a chance he would've assimilated comfortably as a new student. Regardless if they had prepared the kids or if he was eventually recognised, he'll still be singled out and ostracized.

The worst aspect of this story I feel is the fact teachers outed him in front of an entire assembly. Could've been handled more tactfully.

[sausage]

We're talking about a 12 year old boy who changed sex, not some dribbling retard who doesn't know what day it is.

And all the issues you mentioned (privacy, ostracism, assimilation) would have been more than addressed in the psychological counselling and post-op therapy. Or if it isn't it should be.

[TAT]

I disagree. Do the parents of the entire student body get informed of every special needs student? Can't they respect an individual's privacy?

By changing his appearance and name they at least had a chance he would've assimilated comfortably as a new student. Regardless if they had prepared the kids or if he was eventually recognised, he'll still be singled out and ostracized.

The worst aspect of this story I feel is the fact teachers outed him in front of an entire assembly. Could've been handled more tactfully.
The parents should have either moved schools or been more open about it for longer before the decision.

The school is left to deal with a situation where one of their students has changed sex. That's pretty ****ing massive, and if they hadn't had an assembly to explain what had happened, what then? The students would surely have noticed what was going on. Do you think it's fairer for them to have no explanation?

I stand by what I said originally: this was terribly handled by the parents of the boy in question, and moving schools would have avoided all this drama

[Lazlow]

Changing schools is not a foolproof solution though. It still comes down to the fact a transgender child will be enrolled in a school with other children, and if discovered, the very same situation could occur. It would only lessen the chance of being discovered, and there's every likelihood the child has an attachment to the school

As far as I can tell the school was well aware of the child's transformation, due to having his name changed and the way they "outed" him at an assembly. So the issue here is whether the school should have divulged the private information of another student to the parents of the student body to appease their concerns of something "different" or "confronting" upsetting their children, or whether the parents and child themselves should give up their right to privacy for the sake of everyone.

Its almost like saying parents should be warned if their child will be sharing a school with muslims, blacks, asians, gays, jews, pregnant girls, mentally impaired, etc.

[sausage]

Laz do you have a link so I can see what you're seeing? The school being aware wasn't explicitly mentioned in the OP and I'm sensing more info here.

My opinion that the parents are at fault still stands but if the school knew before the emergency meeting then blame might have to be shared somewhat.

[Lazlow]

Its not explicitly stated one way or the other, so I'm only assuming based on the logistics of one child on the books going from a guy's name to a girl's name.

EDIT:

This article is almost identical (http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_431551.html) but the tone of it implies the teachers had prior knowledge. Again, never explicitly stated.

EDIT2:
It's The Sun, but this seems to pretty much confirm the school had prior knowledge (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2643393/Boy-12-turns-into-girl.html)

Angry parents told yesterday how their kids were left tearful and confused after school staff announced the boy pupil was now a girl.

They said the head teacher should have informed them in advance of the "sex change" so they could prepare their sons and daughters and inform them about gender issues.

They added that the school's failure to do so had left the boy to suffer cruel taunts and bullying.

[sausage]

Hmmm, this:

"Teachers exacerbated the problem by holding an emergency assembly and informing the students to treat the former boy as a girl."

...is poor journalism in the first place. There is no place for editorial comment in a hard news story.


And this:

"They (the parents) apparently thought that his disguise of clothing and long hair would stop him from being bullied but he was immediately recognised.


...actually suggests the school might not have known... to me anyway.

I'll reserve judgement on the school until more details emerge.



edit: ninja'd by Laz's second link.


Read it and this:

"His family, who live on a council estate, have received threats and are under police protection."


... is just bloody disgraceful.


But yeah, it's still pretty unclear to me; I mean, it might just have been angry parents lashing out letting off steam and alleging all sorts of things.

[Lazlow]

The second line you quoted I think is more to do with the child preparing for hormone therapy. His body will change so the the disguise might have prevented a "dude with tits" getting bullied.

[sausage]

Yeah but the thing I was intimating was the parents "intended outcome" of being anonymous that may have been mirrored in their dialogue with the school, i.e. anonymous, secretive etc.

[Blue]

What is wrong with kids these days.Which 'kids' are you talking about?

The kid who has, since birth, been confused about his or her sexuality and very identity, and who at such a young age is about to enter an even more difficult and confronting period of her life?

Or the kids who are confused about the situation, because they have inadequate sexual education to be able to understand fully the implications of and reasoning behind such a change?

Or the kids who, due to being raised by ignorant or bigoted parents, will consider this young girl to be worthy of ridicule, and who will make her life that much more difficult? Who will look at her and ask what's wrong with her.

Yeah. What is wrong with kids these days?

[REQUIEM]

Its a sad state of affairs all round.