Gabriella Fiorino
Science Correspondent
Teenage girls are infamous for changing their minds as often as they change their clothes, hairstyles, and funky colored eye shadows. However, when a teen changes her mind on multiple occasions about being transgendered, it may be time for mental health experts to step in. One such student is accusing her Valley Street South High School in Long Island, New York of being bigoted for not supporting her through her multiple gender changes.
According to a previous article by Liberty Nation, transgenderism, also called gender dysphoria, is a condition in which individuals feel as though they were born as the wrong sex. Teens are increasingly identifying as transgender. By the time these teens reach adulthood, only 6 to 24% of boys and 12 to 27% of girls still believe they were born the wrong sex. Although many liberals call for the encouragement of those wanting to come out as transgender, the condition is a serious medical issue which requires mental evaluation. Unfortunately, Valley Street South High School neglected to give their student such assessments.Teens are increasingly identifying as transgender. By the time these teens reach adulthood, only 6 to 24% of boys and 12 to 27% of girls still believe they were born the wrong sex.
A female teen out of Valley Street South High School requested to be recognized as a male last year, according to the New York Post. The school was “accepting” of the student’s decision and referred to the student in classes by a new male name.
The job of our education system is to teach our youth and prepare them for future life situations. Blindly accepting the gender change decisions made by high school sophomores with raging hormonal fluctuations displays the mishandling of our youth’s schooling and well-being by our education system.
The following year, a younger relative of the student enrolled in Valley Street South High School, which prompted the teen to request that the school once again refer to her as a female to avoid the rest of her family learning about her male identification. The only family aware of the teen’s gender change was her parents. In response to the student’s request to again switch gender identification, the school’s guidance counselor allegedly handed the student an agreement to sign. The contract stated that the student could change her gender identity back to female on the condition of promising not to change genders again while at school. The student signed the document, but stated:
They should have just supported me in my decision either way. A student should feel safe to figure their identity out no matter how many times they change who they are.
Students should feel safe to figure out their identities? The counselor at Valley Street South High School never threatened the teen. In reality, the school should have provided the teen with careful mental evaluation, not a contract ignoring the student’s possible mental condition. Whether the student is confused or truly transgender, our school system must take these cases more seriously by performing mental evaluations before referring to students as a different gender in the classroom.
Although transgendered individuals only comprise .06% of the U.S. population, that is 1.4 million people, as noted by Liberty Nation’s Leesa Donner. They are not a community to ignore, and Americans must take the condition seriously. Thirty percent of transgender youth have attempted suicide, and forty-two percent have reported a history of self-harm, such as cutting, according to a recent study by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The statistics uncovered by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital were found to be especially prevalent in females transitioning to males, such as the teen out of Valley Street South High School.
The Long Island teen will, hopefully, eventually receive a mental evaluation to ensure her safety, given that she is at an increased risk of suicide and self-harm. The teen now goes by her original name and is identifying as a lesbian female, planning to stay female for the conceivable future. The teen now states:
I just came to the realization that gender is not a big deal either way. People can think of me however they want. It’s not important.
