For reference I'm talking about this.
I want to keep this short. I don't affiliate with any particular party, though I do generally find myself against most Conservative party policies. As such, I find this particular topic slightly refreshing, while also annoying.
Annoying because the Notwithstanding Clause was invoked yet again and because I don't believe it is actually needed here.
Refreshing because, on some level at least, I find myself in agreement. In fact, my primary issues of the aforementioned clause being abused again is really just that anyone felt this law was needed.
To me, the response here is a knee-jerk reaction. It feels like rights are being stripped away and that a vulnerable portion of society is being targeted. On this matter however, I don't feel that is accurate. And maybe I'm wrong about that. Here is my thinking anyway.
The only reason I can think of to allow a child to change their own personal pronouns/gender preference at school is because their parents don't agree and/or won't assist or perhaps because they simply do not want their parents to know. And this is where it feels like a violation of rights.
While I certainly don't think it makes a ton of sense for a parent or guardian to ignore their child's wishes on this topic, allowing the child to take this matter into their own hands would not resolve the root issue; issues at home. Allowing the child to go behind the parents back or supersede them on this is likely to just make matters worse.
Frankly, I'm unsure why gender and pronouns would even be something a school would require a formal process for in the first place. I doubt that the teachers are able to enforce how the students address each other and I would wager that whether or not the teacher is supportive would be more circumstantial as well. IE - Regardless of what they register as, the teacher is likely to either respect the students wishes or not based solely on their own moral compass.
It is a cop out, but the parents and guardians are responsible for the child. This at least makes record keeping a little cleaner. If the child has the same name but a different gender on their school transcripts because the parent and child disagree, that could create additional conflicts in the future.
I think schools should recommend things like counseling if a child disagrees with their parents. Or if the rift between them has become abusive, involve law enforcement perhaps.
And I could be swayed, but at present, I don't believe there is any issue with leaving this control in the hands of the child's guardian.
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