{"id":11838,"date":"2018-11-20T12:53:29","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=11838"},"modified":"2018-11-20T12:53:29","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:53:29","slug":"are-teens-being-deceived-into-transgenderism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/11\/are-teens-being-deceived-into-transgenderism.html","title":{"rendered":"Are teens being deceived into transgenderism?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

At the National Review yesterday, \u201cAutistic Children Pushed to Become Transgender?<\/a>\u201d which itself links to a report in the Daily Mail<\/em>, \u201cSchool has SEVENTEEN children changing gender as teacher says vulnerable pupils are being \u2018tricked\u2019 into believing they are the wrong sex<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s the Daily Mail<\/em>.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t have any reason to believe that they are misreporting the facts when they say this:<\/p>\n

An astonishing 17 pupils at a single British school are in the process of changing gender, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.<\/p>\n

Most of the youngsters undergoing the transformation are autistic, according to a teacher there, who said vulnerable children with mental health problems were being \u2018tricked\u2019 into believing they are the wrong sex.<\/p>\n

The whistleblower says few of the transgender children are suffering from gender dysphoria \u2013 the medical term for someone who feels they were born in the wrong body \u2013 but are just easily influenced, latching on to the mistaken belief they are the wrong sex as a way of coping with the problems caused by autism.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that a third of youngsters referred to the NHS\u2019s only gender identity clinic for children showed \u2018moderate to severe autistic traits\u2019.<\/p>\n

It means that 150 autistic teenagers were given puberty blocker drugs which stop the body maturing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article further reports that these students are able to claim transgenderness without their parents\u2019 knowledge and that \u201ctransgender children at the school are idolised by other pupils.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teacher further reports that<\/p>\n

They wear identical clothing and hairstyles and often adopt the names of transgender YouTube stars. She has also witnessed first-hand how older pupils have persuaded younger ones with autism that they, too, were born the wrong sex \u2013 a process she has likens to \u2018grooming\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018They are just young people with mental health problems who have found an identity and want to be part of a group of like-minded people,\u2019 she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The entire article is disturbing, reporting that teens are latching onto transgenderism as a \u201ccure\u201d for mental health issues and adults and professionals are affirming them in their self-diagnosis rather than treating their underlying problems.\u00a0 To what extent it\u2019s because the prevailing orthodoxy prohibits questioning a\u00a0child\u2019s self-identification, and to what extent it\u2019s because administering puberty-blockers and ultimately moving on to cross-sex hormones and surgical procedures appears to be a more concrete, \u201cscientific\u201d solution instead of helping teens with autism or other mental health or neurological differences overcome their difficulties, I can\u2019t say.<\/p>\n

In the same way, the prevailing wisdom is that transgender folk are at risk of suicide due to their suffering of discrimination by society, as well as their unhappiness with their bodies, either before surgery, or if they deem the surgery to be unsatisfactory ( (hence, the rush to \u201ctreat\u201d young people as soon as possible, so that would-be women can avoid the masculine appearance that comes with male puberty).\u00a0 But (and, as usual, I apologize for the lack of a link) I have read on multiple occasions that, especially with respect to teens, the claim to be transgender appears to come about in reaction to anxiety over the changes of the teen years; ascribing a generalized sense of discomfort to \u201cbeing in the wrong body\u201d is an answer that brings about affirmation as a heroic fighter for rights (an especially powerful affirmation, even if it\u2019s mostly a self-affirmation, in a time when \u201cfighter for rights\u201d is a more powerful accolade than \u201chelper of the poor or disabled,\u201d for instance), as opposed to the alternative of just being a \u201cweirdo.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also concerning that this is occurring at a time when teens are particularly influenced by social media and their online worlds, and the way that they relate to each other and to the outside world has so radically changed.\u00a0 As observed by Jean Twenge in her book iGen<\/em><\/a>, teens are far less likely to get together after school to socialize, less likely to have afterschool jobs, or get their drivers\u2019 licenses, and far more likely to report anxiety or depression, than prior generations.\u00a0 Teens\u2019 exposure to porn appears to both result in less sex and, at the same time, warped expectations by teen and young adult boys about what sex should be like (and, sadly, an acceptance by teen and young adult women of unpleasant sexual experiences because they think they\u2019re \u201csupposed to\u201d do it).\u00a0 \u00a0Teens seem in general less comfortable with their bodies \u2014 reports are that, in general, teen boys and girls are more modest, say, in changing rooms.\u00a0 It would almost seem more odd for these increasing incidents of transgender declaration to be unconnected to these social changes, than to have some relationship to them.<\/p>\n

How far does this go?\u00a0 Where does this end?\u00a0 A new generation of students is being taught that one\u2019s relative sense masculinity and femininity defines one\u2019s sex\/gender, and it\u2019s understandable that students who don\u2019t feel \u201ctypically masculine\u201d or \u201ctypically feminine\u201d would be led to believe that, according to the definitions they\u2019ve been given, their \u201cgender\u201d (and their sex) is not, after all, male or female, rather than understanding that (with due acknowledgement for intersex folk) one\u2019s chromosomes determine one\u2019s sex, and it\u2019s immaterial whether you\u2019re flat-chested or busty, or whether you like or are indifferent to makeup.\u00a0 And this is not just some trivial thing, but a new world that our children are being thrust into without any idea where it leads \u2014 except that it seems to be part and parcel of broader social trends in which young adults struggle to form the sorts of romantic relationships that older generations take for granted, as highlighted in an article in The Atlantic<\/a> which I have every intention of commenting about in a late blog post.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:PFLAG_of_the_Lower_Shenandoah_07_-_DC_Capital_Pride_-_2014-06-07.jpg; Tim Evanson [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the National Review yesterday, \u201cAutistic Children Pushed to Become Transgender?\u201d which itself links to a report in the Daily Mail, \u201cSchool has SEVENTEEN children changing gender as teacher says vulnerable pupils are being \u2018tricked\u2019 into believing they are the wrong sex.\u201d Yes, it\u2019s the Daily Mail.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t have any reason to believe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[621],"class_list":["post-11838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-transgenderism"],"yoast_head":"\nAre teens being deceived into transgenderism?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At the National Review yesterday, "Autistic Children Pushed to Become Transgender?" which itself links to a report in the Daily Mail, "School has\" 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