MarieDelta
May 13, 2010, 3:58 PM
This from Japan:
The government has advised schools across Japan to thoroughly discuss the education of students with gender identity disorder (GID), and to give the feelings of such children the utmost consideration.
Students with GID -- who feel uncomfortable with their biological gender and identify strongly with the opposite sex -- often experience stress over everyday school life, such as putting on their uniform or using the toilets and change rooms, and this sometimes leads the children to stop coming to school.
"Even if a child speaks openly with a homeroom teacher or special needs teacher, there are many cases where the school as a whole has failed to respond," says Mikiya Nakatsuka, chairman of the Japanese Society of Gender Identity Disorder and a professor of reproductive medicine at Okayama University. "With the government's call for cooperation, including school principals, I really hope that more children can find help."
This year, Saitama Prefecture approved gender reassignment in its public elementary schools, as did Kagoshima Prefecture in its public junior high schools. The advisory from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, however, was the first time the central government has taken a position on the issue.
The advisory, dated April 23 and sent to all private and public schools through prefectural boards of education, calls on schools to "Discuss the situation based on actual conditions ascertained through cooperation among the student's homeroom teacher, school management, the school counselor and special needs teacher, as well as taking into account the opinion of the student's guardian." It also calls for cooperation with local medical institutions.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100513p2a00m0na010000c.html
Wow, just wow
The government has advised schools across Japan to thoroughly discuss the education of students with gender identity disorder (GID), and to give the feelings of such children the utmost consideration.
Students with GID -- who feel uncomfortable with their biological gender and identify strongly with the opposite sex -- often experience stress over everyday school life, such as putting on their uniform or using the toilets and change rooms, and this sometimes leads the children to stop coming to school.
"Even if a child speaks openly with a homeroom teacher or special needs teacher, there are many cases where the school as a whole has failed to respond," says Mikiya Nakatsuka, chairman of the Japanese Society of Gender Identity Disorder and a professor of reproductive medicine at Okayama University. "With the government's call for cooperation, including school principals, I really hope that more children can find help."
This year, Saitama Prefecture approved gender reassignment in its public elementary schools, as did Kagoshima Prefecture in its public junior high schools. The advisory from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, however, was the first time the central government has taken a position on the issue.
The advisory, dated April 23 and sent to all private and public schools through prefectural boards of education, calls on schools to "Discuss the situation based on actual conditions ascertained through cooperation among the student's homeroom teacher, school management, the school counselor and special needs teacher, as well as taking into account the opinion of the student's guardian." It also calls for cooperation with local medical institutions.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100513p2a00m0na010000c.html
Wow, just wow