Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It sounds like you are agreeing with me that the school did NOT teach that "if you feel uncomfortable in your body, it means you are transgender." I'm saying we simply don't know. It's not hard for me to believe that someone somewhere taught that. It's also not hard for me to believe that a child took away that as the message, even though it isn't what was intended by the teacher, and that the parent took their chi…
If I assume the best, and the author's account really did happen that way, then the school (and the parent) have done a poor job of sex ed. > I didn't pay much attention to sex ed until it actually became relevant to me It was several weeks after the daughter's first period. Probably pretty relevant. And the signs of puberty start showing up before then. But note that this wasn't a sex ed class, it was "a module on ‘…
It certainly would be relevant, were they actively discussing puberty at the time.
> Even P.E./gym should have covered something on how exercise and phyiscal fitness can affect how comfortable you feel in in your body.
I doubt that. PE in most public elementary schools are focused on helping kids develop physical skills. They might learn the rules of a sport or the steps to a dance, but there isn't much else academic going on beyond "exercise is part of being healthy".
> For the author's theory to be true means at least 6 other parents also did not talk to their children about sex ed -- and that's assuming every single one of those children concluded they were trans, which seems far outside the odds.
This honestly doesn't seem that unlikely to me. The author stressed how they chose to send their child to this school specifically because of how progressive they are. If the schools progressiveness is that exceptional, it wouldn't be a surprise if other parents did the same. Already, we could expect open trans identity to be higher there because of their exceptional promotion of acceptance. And depending on how the lesson in question actually went, it isn't far fetched that other kids may have come away with the same message.
I don't think we should be so quick to dismiss anecdotes like this just because extremist might paint it as a ridiculous plot by schools to turn kids trans or whatever. Trans identity - and especially medical treatment - among children is a complex, delicate subject that our society doesn't have a lot of experience with yet. Scenarios like this, even if it's made up, can teach us a lot.
To surmise what we've learned so far: Parents should teach their kids about puberty and sexual identities long before puberty starts. While teaching, parents should make sure their kids learn how to distinguish between transgenderism and puberty. I never would have considered those lessons before this discussion.