Councils tell schools to give transgender pupils ‘extra PE breaks’ because of chest-binding practice
Guidelines have been issued from local authorities in Cornwall, Lancashire and Scotland as to how to properly accommodate transitioning pupils in school
COUNCILS have told schools that they may be breaking the law if they do not allow transgender pupils to take extra breaks during physical education lessons.
Guidelines issued to teachers by local authorities say that some youngsters who choose to bind their chests may suffer from “breathing difficulties and fainting” during sports sessions.
They have also warned schools that they could be breaking the law if they put their transgender pupils at risk or treat them less favourably.
Advice on how to accommodate transitioning children in schools has been given out by councils in Lancashire, Cornwall, Brighton & Hove, Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands.
The Equality Act 2010 provides legal protection against discrimination to transgender people as well as other minority groups.
Chest-binding is practiced by many adolescent transgender pupils who want to make their breasts less obvious.
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Cornwall Council says that this “can be hot, uncomfortable and restrictive – but very important to their psychological wellbeing.
“It might make certain PE lessons difficult for them and could lead to breathing difficulties, skeletal problems and fainting.”
Lancashire County Council advises that: “If you have young people who bind their chests, monitor them carefully during physical activities and in hot weather. It may be necessary to subtly offer more breaks.”
Local authorities are also advising schools to carry out risk assessments ahead of competitive sports because pupils transitioning from male to female may have a physical advantage if playing against other girls.
And youngsters who were born female but are now male could be physically weaker than those they are playing against which could be dangerous in contact sports such as rugby.
Several councils have also provided guidelines for school trips during which children may be sleeping in dormitories.
They said that sleeping arrangements “will need to be thought about” and that a transgender pupil may prefer to have a room of their own.
Lancashire County Council and Edinburgh Council have also encouraged schools to think about how they provide toilets and changing rooms.
They suggest that transgender young people should be allowed to use the toilet that aligns with their gender identity but that “some transgender young people may have concerns for their safety”.
University students have led calls for gender neutral, or ‘non-binary’, facilities to be installed in their own institutions and schools are now being asked to do the same.
However, some education experts have criticised councils for failing to keep the issue in proportion. Alan Smithers, professor of education at the University of Buckingham, said: “There are children who feel that they have a different gender from their biological make-up and clearly they need to be treated sensitively – staff need to treat each situation on its merits.”
He told the : “However, if you come up with a whole set of rules on toilets and so on, I think you are unnecessarily complicating the lives of schools – creating a bureaucracy that results in tick boxes which take up an inordinate amount of time and energy.”
Local authorities have produced the advice over the last few years after speaking to a number of youth charities with the Department for Education also issuing guidelines.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of school inspectors Ofsted, said earlier this year that he supported gender-neutral toilets in schools as long as they were “well-policed and well-supervised”.
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