Boy wants to return to school as a girl

[ricoFlame]

Originally Posted by The_Dude

If my boy at that age wanted to go to school and be a girl...I'd slap the girl out of him until he wanted to be a boy again!!!

ha......yeah.....

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Frankster

Not really, although the two can be combined in one person.

Transgendered is a person of one sex who identifies - in every aspect of their lives - as the oposite sex. Sexual preference has no part of being transgendered.

Homosexuality is being physically attracted to members of the same sex.

I find this an extremely interesting comment. Can you really say it's about someone of one sex wanting to identify as the other sex? I mean generally the talk about this is around gender, not sex right? My understanding is that gender and biological sex are not considered the same thing in these sorts of debates. But if we disassociate gender and biological sexuality then we seem to end up with gender as a just some free-floating habits, torn out of their cultural background (which is essentially a match up between biological and cultural roles).

Strikes me as very odd.

[MelBridgeman]

I have seen a documentary on this...
about how parents and their child have accepted this..quite interesting

nature is all about diversity.

[Calgaryborn]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

No one is saying a boy wanting to be a girl is "good" or "should be praised". It just is. What's wrong with something letting some be as it is.

I agree its a parent's resposibility to direct the child as to what is positive and what is negative. But I don't see why this is negative.

If it were my child, I would explain to him some people are different that he is. Sure, we may think its weird, but not everyone is like we are. And one of the great things about our soceity is we let people be what they want to be.

I was just trying to paint a picture of what would happen if this occurred at the school my son goes to.

Tolerance and acceptance is two vastly different things. As adults we can debate the definition of those words and how we apply them to our lives and never come to a consensus. I just can't see how this child could come to school dressed as a girl without putting his classmates in the middle of that debate which wouldn't be healthy for any of them.

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

I was just trying to paint a picture of what would happen if this occurred at the school my son goes to.

Tolerance and acceptance is two vastly different things. As adults we can debate the definition of those words and how we apply them to our lives and never come to a consensus. I just can't see how this child could come to school dressed as a girl without putting his classmates in the middle of that debate which wouldn't be healthy for any of them.

I agree that tolerance and acceptance are different as well. When something is new and different, I believe we should be able to expect tolerance, but not acceptance. Acceptance will, hopefully, come with time.

The only reason the children would be put in the middle of the debate is because of the parents. Sure, the children might laugh or giggle initially, but that's because it will be something different or unexpected; they won't hate the kid, like some adults would in the same situation.

Children are the most tolerant and accepting people in society. They're not racist or sexist or prejudiced in any way. This is something they're taught at they grow up. If the parents don't make a big deal of it, the children won't either and there'll be no debate to be had. Unfortunately, the only reason there will be a debate is because some parent just won't be content just to let the kid be who he is.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

Children are the most tolerant and accepting people in society.

You must have gone to a different elementary school than I did. By the time I was 8 there were already fights for the most trivial of reasons.

Some children, I'm sorry to say, are amoral, cruel little monsters. If you think ALL the kids are going to be accepting of this "girl", I'd say the chances are about zero, regardless of what the parents say.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Ordinarily I'm on the "liberal" side of these debates--but in this case, and cases like it, I think caution is called for. I'm far from an expert, but my understanding is that medicine's current understanding of so-called "gender identity disorder" is imperfect at best. Does it exist? Absolutely--but as I see it there's still some dispute about what should be done about it. Just because someone feels that they're the wrong gender doesn't necessarily mean that the best option is drastic and irreversible surgery and hormone therapy that causes permanent effects. I'm not saying I know for a fact that it's the wrong thing to do--I don't. I've even met a transgendered person who was very happy about his decision to become a man.

Here's the question: given current gender reassignment techniques, can we be absolutely sure that the harm doesn't outweigh the benefit here? Especially in the case of a little kid, who may be confused. One possibility is that he feels attracted to boys, and misinterprets his homosexuality as his being the "wrong gender." The fact is, a seven-year old doesn't have a very sophisticated understanding of these things.

If he wants to do it as an adult, all the power to him. But I have a hard time understanding how informed consent for gender reassignment could be established in a little kid.

[Calgaryborn]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

I agree that tolerance and acceptance are different as well. When something is new and different, I believe we should be able to expect tolerance, but not acceptance. Acceptance will, hopefully, come with time.

The only reason the children would be put in the middle of the debate is because of the parents. Sure, the children might laugh or giggle initially, but that's because it will be something different or unexpected; they won't hate the kid, like some adults would in the same situation.

Children are the most tolerant and accepting people in society. They're not racist or sexist or prejudiced in any way. This is something they're taught at they grow up. If the parents don't make a big deal of it, the children won't either and there'll be no debate to be had. Unfortunately, the only reason there will be a debate is because some parent just won't be content just to let the kid be who he is.

I don't think children are as tolerant as you think. I also think they would do more than laugh and giggle. Children can be very cruel. I'm not suggesting that they would be violent but, they would have much to say. I would also think that because of this child being different he would be very lonely.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

I don't think children are as tolerant as you think. I also think they would do more than laugh and giggle. Children can be very cruel. I'm not suggesting that they would be violent but, they would have much to say. I would also think that because of this child being different he would be very lonely.

Personally I think about up until age 8 or 9, children are usually very tolerant. After that, all bets are off.

[Calgaryborn]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Personally I think about up until age 8 or 9, children are usually very tolerant. After that, all bets are off.

Last year my older son was 7 and in grade 2. He came home from school and told me he didn't like this other kid because he was black. He didn't pick that up from home and I doubt he got that from another kid at school. I believe he came up with that all on his own. In my experience as soon as your child starts to socialize with other kids their age they begin to place kids in groups. There are kids they like because of some common interest and kids they don't like. Kids that are different generally would fall into the don't like category. This is because children(and some adults) tend to look at others as one dimensional. They see the difference and can't look beyond it to find a commonality that might make that person a good friend. That's why we spend so much on clothes and fad toys: Our kids desire to be accepted and impress potential friends.

For the record I told my son that God chose his colour of skin and the other boys and he wasn't allowed to dislike him for how God made him. To that my son said "OK Dad" and the issue was over. I couldn't in good conscience tell him the same thing if a boy showed up at school dressed like a girl.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by The_Dude

If my boy at that age wanted to go to school and be a girl...I'd slap the girl out of him until he wanted to be a boy again!!!

Easily your best post ever!