Natick Public Schools may create health risks for students by not allowing parents to exempt their children from gender identity instruction—the foundation for possible gender confusion, mental health problems, and social and medical gender transitioning.
Gender identity instruction seeds confusion and distress Despite its false premise of positive outcomes for all students, Natick Public Schools gender-focused school culture—so-called “supportive K-12 environments”—can seed confusion and distress in any child.
Learning the idea that a baby can be born “wrong,” that a child could embody neither gender or both genders, or that a child’s “pronouns" don’t align with his/her biological sex, can cause emotional distress for a child, can cause gender confusion for a child, can cause anxiety around gender for a child, and can lead a child on a path to possible long-term medical treatments that can produce irreversible, negative health outcomes.
Moreover, the ethics policies published in the 2023-2024 Natick Public Schools Employee Handbook provide another reminder that teachers are not mental health or medical professionals:
Gender identity culture creates a school-to-clinic pipeline Schools spark confusing gender curiosity by introducing children to transgender-themed stories like Call Me Max and by promoting the idea of preferred pronouns through homemade classroom surveys and school culture. This curiosity can then lead to uncertainty, with children wondering “who am I?” and “how do I know?” Uncertainty around gender then becomes a source of great anxiety—already vulnerable children feeling an urgent need to “decide” and “declare” their gender within an environment of peer pressure.
Thus, schools have become an incubator for the social contagion around gender confusion—being “trans” is the solution and the new way to make sense of genuine distress, peer pressure, or underlying mental health issues (which we all have compassion for and want to solve).
Not surprisingly, a study of 254 parents of trans-identified adolescents and young adults (Littman, 2018) reveals the following profile:
80% girls
48% academically gifted
69% part of a friend group where at least one other friend declared trans identity around the same time
Roughly half were in friend groups where most of the friends declared trans identity around the same time
Among parents who knew, 60% said their child became more popular after declaring trans identity
Gender confused children often receive an avalanche of artificial positive reinforcement once they declare a new trans identity. This “love bombing” creates an enormous dopamine hit that’s addicting to children, especially for those not accustomed to high social value. Studies also show that children with autism are particularly vulnerable to gender confusion.
Gender identity is a healthcare issue that should involve parents
There are at least 15 gender-related lawsuits in the United States involving school districts/boards of education and parental rights, including Town of Ludlow/ Ludlow School Committee in Massachusetts, New Jersey Department of Education/ Cherry Hill School District, Kettle Morain School District in Wisconsin, and Escondido Union School District in California.
And an amicus brief by The Manhattan Institute submitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for the Ludlow, Massachusetts case points out that “social transition is not mere ‘teaching respect’ or ‘fostering an inclusive environment’ but constitutes a mental health intervention for children who would otherwise likely desist in their adopted gender identity before adulthood.”
Gender identity is inextricably connected to human psychology and therefore a mental health issue, which ostensibly falls within the ambit of parental authority. Gender identity is an issue which rightly belongs within the purview of parents. Not only is it associated with the fundamental right of parents to guide the care and upbringing of their children, but gender identity decisions are, at their core, healthcare decisions that need parental involvement.
Concerned parents are trying to protect all children, not erase gender confused children. As one Boston Globe reporter recently recognized, “the logic of affirmation seems to ensure only successful outcomes circumventing questions of risk and benefits entirely. If parents and providers find this untenable, they are rejecting an argument—not trans people.”
Help us put a stop to these harmful and unsafe school practices that take away your parental rights around instruction that can impact your child’s health and wellbeing. Advocate for healthy policy solutions like our student exemption proposal that allows you to opt your child out of gender identity curriculum and content in Natick Public Schools.
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