A Pennsylvania elementary school has angered parents by giving them one-day's notice of planned counseling sessions with 100 third-grade students to explain that one of their male classmates would soon begin wearing girls' clothing and taking a female name and to ask that they accept him as a girl and not make unkind remarks.

The exercise in "social transition" was initiated by the boy's parents who approached the administration at Chatham Park Elementary School in Haverford Township asking that the school help in having their child's female identity find acceptance among his peers. After consulting experts on transgender children, the Haverford School District sent letters to parents advising them the school guidance counselor would meet with their children, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.

While some parents contacted the principal asking that their children be excused, others took their anger out online.

"Why is the school introducing this subject to 8- and 9-year-olds?" wrote an angry parent who started a discussion on the Haverford Township's blog site. "Why were we not notified sooner. We received the letter today, the discussion at school is tomorrow."

» related link RELATED TOPICS: Weird | ALL TOPICS

del.icio.us

pg13allan commented, on May 12, 2008 at 3:47 p.m.:

unless this kid is a hermaphrodite i really don't see how you can justify an elementary school student thinking he's a she... now if the child grows up and thinks that way when he/she's in there 20's fine that there choice. but until then its just a waste of money and a waste of time.

Youfamissim commented, on May 12, 2008 at 3:47 p.m.:

If they want speacial (yes speacial) treatment for a child with severe personality disorders - mental illness - let them pay for it on their dime. Everyday a new distraction from learning. This one is a pip.

Scareypete commented, on May 12, 2008 at 3:48 p.m.:

You have to wonder how much the school district Spent of Tax dollars to bring in a team of Counsellors to mass process 100 students in 1 day...

usually it takes 1 hour group sessions with at least a 30 minute Q&A to handle a group of 10 people... or 15 minutes per patient to handle them individually when you are counselling en masse like this.

so 150 hours or 400 hours of billable medical service depending on the approach, not to mention reasearch time the providers spend beofr ehand rehearsing for potential questions is another 2-3 hours per provider hired.

Even at $80 an hour which is cheaper than most shrinks or lawyers charge... and trust me the school probably had to pay a lawyer first to discuss the legality of this action... we are looking at a 1 day expense between $1,200 on the cheap side to $32,000 on the high end. Not to mention the complete waste of class time that the tax payers intend to be funding...