A Church of England school reportedly allowed a four-year-old boy to join as a girl while hiding his biological sex from other students.
According to a report from The Telegraph, a Church of England primary school in the south of England allowed the boy to join the school as a girl three years ago when he was just four years old.
A parent of a girl at the school told the broadsheet that her daughter had become “distraught” after she found out earlier this month that her friend was actually a boy. The parent said that the supposedly transgender child had begun “flashing their willy” at girls in the school and is said to have disclosed his “deep secret” that he was a boy while in the girls’ toilet of the school.
Following this revelation, the parent said that her daughter became despondent, refusing to talk and suffering from stress-based insomnia, over being “lied” to and that she had been “holding hands with a boy”.
“The fact that a boy was being enrolled as a girl aged four, that alone for me is a massive red flag. Because I don’t see how a child of that age can make that decision…to actually go through a social transition,” the mother said.
“I just want my daughter to be a child. The school’s actions have robbed her of this and that can never be given back.”
The mother said that after finding out that the allegedly transgender child was a boy, she and other members of her family raised concerns with the school, however, they claimed that the leadership of the school were “stonewalling” them and has subsequently removed their daughter from the school.
While the government introduced draft guidance for schools on transgenderism in December, introducing safeguards such as requiring that schools inform parents if they intend on recognising a student as transgender, others have argued that the guidance does not go far enough and that stricter laws must be introduced.
Conservative MP Miriam Cates said: “This is exactly what happens when you don’t treat a child as their biological sex in all circumstances and it shows why treating a child as the opposite sex is a safety risk.
“Although the guidance is headed in the right direction, because it isn’t statutory and it does include exceptions, it doesn’t necessarily stop another case like this happening.”
The government’s Women and Equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, said that she was “very concerned” about the report, saying: “Government guidance is clear that social transitioning is not a neutral act and is certainly unsuitable for primary school-aged children. I will be making sure that the school is aware of government policy and the law when it comes to gender-questioning children.”
A spokesman for the school said that they were aware of the concerns raised by parents and that they are in “open dialogue” with all parents involved.
“The safety and wellbeing of all of our pupils is our utmost priority and we take any reports of bullying and safeguarding concerns extremely seriously. All are dealt with in line with statutory and local guidance, and our policies and procedures,” the spokesman said.
“We are unable to comment on individual pupils. We are proud we are an inclusive school and welcome all children to join our school family.”