These children already have significant mental health problems.
This claim is frequently made and is likely true but it doesn't really create a precise picture. Yes, they have mental health issues. They tend to have depression and high anxiety (as a starting point). Is this what you are referring to when you mention these mental health problems or something more nefarious?
Many have suicidal ideation just due to the mental health issues they are experiencing that have nothing to with the parents.
No. It has to do with what their brain tells them is true vs. what their parents are telling them is true. When those two don't match up, it causes a great, great deal of constirnation.
THat's where the suicidal ideation comes from.
And that is why there are helpful and benefical methods to helping these kids and there are UNHELPFUL methods as well.
We all know some parents can be abusive and cause other issues. But just because a parent believes the child isn't trans doesn't make them abusive.
To be clear, I 100% agree with you. In fact, in my class RIGHT now, I have a female who says "she identifies as male". We have another one of those in our mainstream student body as well. But there is a CHASM of difference.
The mainstream student CLEARLY identifies as male because she makes every effort possible to conceal every shred of femininity in her while also desperately trying to project masculinity.
However the girl in MY class? She still wears dresses; does her hair up. She will wear feminine make up. There are exclusively outward physical signs that she female and (more importantly) there are ZERO indicators outside that she wants to be male. Now I know this girls history.
It truly is the kind of tragedy that would make your heart break (the worst kind of abuse that lasted for 7 years.....shes 13). I would fully expect her to question it. And knowing her parents, I know that they are not 100% on things (not NEARLY the worst I've seen though). It's taking them a long time to get the SIGNIFICANT mental health supports the child needs because they are (you guessed it!) poor.
It is 100% in how you message and how you interact with your children and constantly telling them the opposite of what their brain is ALWAYS telling them, WILL cause them significant anxiety.
I totally get it. I'd even be inclined to say that only a TINY portion of those kids who identify as another gender, actually hold onto that through aging. According to my friend who worked at the gender dysmorphia clinic hear in town, he said about 90% of kids revert back to their own birth gender with appropriate therapeutic support.
If you are TRULY concerned about this, I would posit that the BEST way to fight against this is actually to INSIST on single payer mental health support. Because strong mental health supports will help us "save" the kids who are just in a state of confusion.
I'd wager (though I would LOOOOOOOOVE to see data about this) that most of the current "rush" of transgender concerns skewed to the "lower classes".
