Parents: 4th-Grade Girl To Become Boy

The1calledTKE · #1 03-05-2005, 08:39 AM

METHUEN, Mass. -- A fourth-grader who was attending a Massachusetts elementary school as a girl before February vacation has returned to school as a boy.

The parents of the 9-year-old child said the youngster was born with the body of a girl, but the brain of a boy.

They have asked that he be referred to and treated as a boy by teachers and other students, and school officials are accommodating the request. The parents have even changed the child's name.

The child's mother told The Eagle-Tribune that the family made the decision after consulting with medical professionals. She said the child is still biologically a girl.

The mother has requested that the family not be identified to protect the child.

School Superintendent C. Phillip Littlefield said there is nothing harmful about the child being in the school.

http://www.wsbtv.com/family/4254137/detail.html

Does she go to the boys bathroom and locker room too? That might cause problems both ways. If they call her a boy's name but make her go in with the girls, that would freak girls out. If they let her go in with the boys well that could cause even more problems.

lauralaylin · #2 03-05-2005, 12:01 PM

Since he returned as a boy, I would think he'd go in the boys' bathroom. I don't see how it would work any other way. And I'm guessing that since he's in 4th grade, there probably aren't locker rooms. I've never heard of locker rooms before junior high, but maybe things are different in other parts of the country.

IowaStatePhiPsi · #3 03-05-2005, 12:29 PM

He has some very accepting parents.

Most of the transgendered & transexual individuals I have met or known have had bad experiences with parents.

RUgreek · #4 03-05-2005, 12:58 PM

body of a girl, brain of a boy? what crack is this?

IowaStatePhiPsi · #5 03-05-2005, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RUgreek
body of a girl, brain of a boy?

Gender Identity & Sex

That should be elementary enough, I hope.

PM_Mama00 · #6 03-05-2005, 03:26 PM

I think like a man. Some say I have the brain of a man. That doesn't mean I'm gona rock out with cock out or hang out with my wang out.

RACooper · #7 03-05-2005, 06:29 PM

The child probibly uses the handicap bathroom - as least that is the way it is handled around here...

Taualumna · #8 03-05-2005, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RACooper
The child probibly uses the handicap bathroom - as least that is the way it is handled around here...

Yeah, but some places don't have separate handicapped bathrooms. Instead, there are disabled stalls in the boys' rooms and girls' rooms

Lady Pi Phi · #9 03-05-2005, 10:32 PM

This child is going to have problems throughout his life. Like it or not, not everyone will be accepting of him. He's just going to have to learn to adjust.

33girl · #10 03-05-2005, 11:01 PM

Do they mean the child has male chromosomes instead of female? That "boy's brain" stuff doesn't make sense.

pinkyphimu · #11 03-06-2005, 01:53 AM

i don't get it either. the article says that the child is biologically a girl. i am not saying that there are not people who will feel more comfortable being the opposite sex, but honestly, i don't think a nine year old can make that decision. when my brother was that age, he decided that he didn't like his name and wanted to be called "billy" instead. he would only answer to "billy." we indulged him for a while and he out grew it.

oh, and they didn't publish the family name to protect the privacy...but the other kids in his class probably noticed that the child who left on feb 18th wasn't the same who returned on feb 28th! i wonder what kind of counciling has been made available to the other children.

the funny thing about this is that i live near this town...and have never heard a word about this. hmmm.

SOPi_Jawbreaker · #12 03-06-2005, 03:37 PM

For some of these kids, it's not a phase. They truly feel like they were born the wrong gender. And it may seem like a funny, non-serious thing, until you think about how much your gender is a part of your identity and how much of an impact it would have on your life and your feeling of self-identity to feel like you were born the wrong gender. There was an Oprah episode a couple months ago about transgender children. They were saying that the majority of these children commit suicide. One father on the show had been against indulging his 5 year old son, but after hearing a couple talk about their child's suicide attempts, the father of the 5 year old said that he'd rather allow his child to live as a girl than to lose his child to suicide one day.

RUgreek · #13 03-06-2005, 06:33 PM

Not to pull race into this, but with the exception of michael jackson, nobody seem to go around changing the color of their skin when they have identity issues. I'm not about to pass judgment on anyone because of their choice of lifestyle, but doesn't a 4th grader sound just a bit much?

Maybe we just have waaay too much time on our hands and find new ways to mess with our bodies. Children should not be pursuing a sex change operation or any of this crap. When you're an adult and you have these urges. go for it.

RACooper · #14 03-06-2005, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RUgreek
Not to pull race into this, but with the exception of michael jackson, nobody seem to go around changing the color of their skin when they have identity issues. I'm not about to pass judgment on anyone because of their choice of lifestyle, but doesn't a 4th grader sound just a bit much?

Maybe we just have waaay too much time on our hands and find new ways to mess with our bodies. Children should not be pursuing a sex change operation or any of this crap. When you're an adult and you have these urges. go for it.

Actaully there was a couple of cases here in Toronto that made the news during the 90s... admittedly they weren't kids but teens and young adults. The issue with them is they felt they weren't "black enough" and were investigating ways to darken there skin - it did grab some paper because of the fact that 2 of the teens where adopted and raised in "white" households.

However I haven't heard of anything like this in a while - other than the standard chemical alteration of the skin that some do - to either lighten or darken...

qteasied · #15 03-08-2005, 11:53 PM

Some transgendered people came into my class to speak, and they said that they've always felt uncomfortable, and wanted to change. It was just something that they've always felt. They wanted to be the opposite gender. Have you heard of the memoir "Dress Codes," by Leslie Howey? It's about a daughter coming to terms with her father's sex operation.

I'm glad that this is being corrected now to prevent an adulthood of shame and guilt.

I just hope that child grows up to accept himself for who he really is.