A mass breach of safeguarding

A Policy Exchange report into gender in schools, in the Times today:

Schools are routinely allowing children to switch gender and not telling their parents in a “mass breach” of safeguarding, according to research published today.

The report condemns schools for uncritically accepting contested beliefs on gender identity and says the practice of affirming “gender distress” has become embedded.

Schools are neglecting safeguarding by adopting affirmative practices when confronted with children who are questioning or are confused by their gender identity, the Policy Exchange publication says.

It suggests that some schools risk breaching laws by failing to offer single-sex toilets or by allowing organisations involved in political campaigning to provide relationship and sex education lesson resources....

The report, Asleep at the Wheel, says that only 28 per cent of schools were “reliably informing” parents as soon as a child disclosed feelings of gender distress and that 33 per cent would not necessarily inform the designated safeguarding lead at school — instead some contacted the staff responsible for LGBT matters.

Forty per cent of schools operated policies of gender self-identification and 69 per cent of schools required other children to affirm the pupil’s new identity. Some schools were mistakenly using the Equality Act or data protection rules to justify not telling families.

Among the report’s recommendations are that made nine recommendations, including that parents should automatically be told when a child discloses feelings of gender distress at school, unless there is a compelling reason not to. It also says no school should facilitate a child’s social transition to the opposite gender unless backed by medical advice.

Lavatories and changing-room provision and choice of sport are all affected by school policies on sex and gender. The report says that at least 28 per cent of schools do not have single-sex toilets and 19 per cent lack single-sex changing rooms. About 60 per cent of schools allow children to take part in sports traditionally played by the opposite sex.

Pupils are forced to accept as reality classmates who decide to transition. Sixty-nine per cent of schools require other children to affirm a “gender-distressed” pupil’s new identity, and 13 per cent do not. The others did not provide enough detail.

It's a grim picture, and it's not helped by a lack of government direction. Too many schools are using outside pressure groups to come in and teach gender nonsense. Education Secretary Gillian Keenan has been urged to take a stand, but she doesn't seem to get it.

Rosie Duffield does, though:

It is universally accepted that safeguarding is fundamental to a responsible society. These principles are well-established, enshrined in law, and applicable to all organisations and functions relating to children. There is never a good reason why safeguarding should be compromised, especially within school, where children spend the majority of their time outside of the home environment.

Policy Exchange’s vital report today has demonstrated that there is a mass breaching of safeguarding principles when it comes to the issue of gender-distressed children and their peers.

The rising number of children reporting gender distress, and the treatment of those children within clinical settings, is rightly being given the attention it deserves. In an NHS-commissioned independent review, Dr Hilary Cass found the Tavistock clinic to be adopting an “unquestioning, affirmative approach” without exploring other factors causing these children’s distress.

Affirmation as a one-size-fits-all solution has been discredited.

Thankfully, the clinic is being shut down. However, Policy Exchange has revealed something even more concerning: the same approach is being facilitated in schools, which breaks every safeguarding rule in the book...

Schools have no authority to decide whether social transition is the right outcome for a gender-distressed child. Safeguarding principles are there to protect both children and staff: they protect teachers from being ill-equipped to deal with issues that require external specialisms, and ensure children receive appropriate service provision as soon as possible.

It is not only gender-distressed children who suffer as a result of these safeguarding blind spots but their peers, too. Adolescence is a vulnerable time for both sexes. Policy Exchange’s research reveals that at least 28 per cent of secondary schools are not maintaining single-sex toilets. Girls are being forced to give up their right to privacy, dignity and safety. A staggering 60 per cent of secondary schools are allowing children to compete in opposite sex sports — not only an issue of safety, but fairness too. Especially when female participation in sport drops off in adolescence.

Gender identity beliefs are contested and based on unscientific notions, yet this report shows they are being taught in RSHE (relationships, sex and health education) classes as though they are facts.

Times readers will be all too familiar with reports of this in schools across the country. Schools seem unaware of their obligations to be politically impartial, when 25 per cent are teaching that some people or children “may be born in the wrong body”. Encouraging children to believe that their transient ideas about themselves are more determinative of their identity than their chromosomal DNA is not just misleading, but dangerous too.

This vital report demonstrates there to be a fundamental incompatibility between affirmative practice and the safeguarding principles schools are required to uphold. It is time for the government to clamp down on the systemic failure of the school system to protect children from this reckless experiment.

Now if Starmer were to make Rosie Duffield his Shadow Education Secretary, that might go some way to restoring Labour's credibility. Not going to happen, though...

Comments

[TDK]

"Now if Starmer were to make Rosie Duffield his Shadow Education Secretary, that might go some way to restoring Labour's credibility. Not going to happen, though..."

It would be better too if Rishi replaced Keenan with Duffield although that is even less likely.

The real turning point will be when people see past the "Be Kind" mantra. It's a real straw man argument but incredibly effective at the moment. I see it again and again in TV interviews, and many of the people I meet deploy it to avoid argument.