Seymour Flops
Diamond Member
I appreciate your citing a study. Approaching studies with an attitude that combines willingness to learn with healthy skepticism is a key to intellectual growth. If that is the effort you are making, I commend you. Let's look at your study.
The study cites other studies, all of which are based on self-reports, i. e. polls, questionaires, etc. and, not experimental science. Any group that identifies itself as "different," or "other," is likely to perceive itself as bullied and persecuted. Do similar polls among conservative white males, and they will likely claim to be the most oppressed group in the United States today.
I don't doubt that "trans kids"** are bullied at some point in their lives. Who isn't? Kids and teens who are caught up in identity politics who will dwell on that bullying and thus self-traumatize in order to comfort themselves with the victim mentality as an excuse for lack of success or happiness in their lives.
Bullying is a very negative aspect of human interaction, in every culture, every location, from our remote past to the present. We should all thrive to reduce it, especially schools, if we expect them to teach young people to be positive and productive members of society. I disagree strongly with this from the study you cited:
The take-home message: Bullying and victimization is a serious problem for transgender students, and leads to serious mental health problems and poor academic performance. But there are clear steps schools can take to decrease the abuse of trans students. Creating a sense of belonging, educating staff and students and allowing youth to identify with their gender identity all helped to reduce the victimization of trans students.
A far better approach is to teach tolerance of everyone, empathy for people bullied, and the ethics of leaving all people alone to be themselves. Singling out a group by saying, "it's important not to bully trans folk" will only anger non trans people who have been bullied (which is all non-trans people), and make them feel marginalized. Guess who they are likely to take that out on?
I'm fine with boys and girls being allowed to dress as they see fit, rather than specifially "boy clothes," and "girl clothes." However, I am not fine with teachers and other adults who work with children being bullied if they decline to use incorrect pronouns when addressing students. Definitely not fine with girls being bullied if they don't want to share private female spaces with males. To me that is what that last sentence implies should happen.
*I put "trans kids" in quotes, because too many trans kids are actually being influenced by adults to identify as trans, as a response to emotional issues that don't seem to have anything to do with being trans. I know this for a fact, because I have seen it at the public school at which I work. I also know that "trans rights" is often about adults having the "right" to perform surgeries and chemical alteration of children which are permanent treatments for what often turns out to be a temporary phase in the child's life. I know this for a fact, because there has been public testimony from former "trans kids" who have experienced this.
