Having a Transgender Student

What to know!

When you have a transgender student there are a few thing to keep in mind. When you have a transgender student you should remember: The Science Behind Being Transgender, Gender vs Sex, Gender vs Sexuality, and What Not to Say or Ask.

Main thing to keep in mind!

Keep Everything Professional! Even if you don't agree with or believe in people being transgender stay professional.

What to Know

There are a few things I would like to focus on this post. First thing is first you are an adult and this is your job so you have to be professional! No matter what you have to keep personal opinion to yourself. As a teacher it is your job to teach that student even if you don't agree with them being transgender. Everyone has the right to believe in what they believe in. This is advice for everyone, even if you believe that what they believe in is wrong we can't forced our opinions on other people. Remember you don't like people throwing their views in your face don't do the same the them or other people. Be the bigger person. Going back to the teachers remember that even if being transgender goes against your beliefs that student most likely will be in your class for only a year and as a teacher you will have so many students throughout the years that they might not make a big impact of you. You will make an impact on the student so make sure a good one. You don't want to be the teacher that a student hates. It will ruin your reputation and even if you are a good teacher all everyone will remember is how you treated that student. I will mention a few things on The Science Behind Being Transgender, Gender vs Sex, and What Not to Say or Ask, but they are articles by themselves and I suggest you check them out and read them.

Being transgender is an actual medical condition and while it has to do with the brain it doesn't mean that someone who is transgender is crazy. When someone is transgender they will be diagnosed with gender dysphoria and while their chromosomes may be xx for female or xy for male their brains developed the opposite to their chromosomes. That is why sex and gender are two different things. When people talk or ask about sex they are talking about your sex given at birth and your chromosomes. While gender refers to what is between your shoulders. Something to live by is that we need to remember that gender is a complect thing that we have our own opinions about just be polite. If you have a student that was born male, but identify as female and likes guys they are STRAIGHT not gay. Gender and sexuality are two different things. You can have a student that is transgender and gay at the same time. When someone is transgender their brain is just like the gender they identify so just like cis people can be gay a trans people can be gay. You may think this is an obvious thing, but some people think that if someone is trans they can't be gay or lesbian.

When you have a transgender student how should you treat them? Just like you would treat any other student. Having a transgender shouldn't be any different then having a regular student. As long as you used their prefered pronouns and name. Something you can do to help out your student is if you district has a transgender policy find it and print it out for them or tell them about it. I had to go on a long search to find my school's policy. You might also want to keep an on you trans student just in case. Keep in mind that people that are apart of the lgbtq comunitiy are at a higher risk of suicide. According to Human Rights Campaign more than half of transgender male teens who participated in the survey reported attempting suicide in their lifetime, while 29.9 percent of transgender female teens said they attempted suicide. Among non-binary youth, 41.8 percent of respondents stated that they had attempted suicide at some point in their lives(.https://www.hrc.org/blog/new-study-reveals-shocking-rates-of-attempted-suicide-among-trans-adolescen) So just like you would do with any other student at risk just make that they are safe and live in safe environment. Besides having a safe environment at home a safe environment at school is just as important. There are dangers of being transgender from being bullied to being beat up. While bathrooms and locker rooms come into play you shouldn't forcefully segregate a student unless they want to. If they are to afraid to use the restroom make sure they have a safe place to go. Trans people not using the bathroom can cause medical problems like bladder infections. Another things is that trans female and trans males who tuck and bind can be in dangerous situation if something goes it wrong and can’t fix it. Tucking is when someone takes the male genitalia and tuck it between their legs and use either take either a gaff or tape to keep in place. Binding is when some binds their breast to make it appear flat.

This is just some stuff to keep in mind if you have a trans student. One last thing don't bring up genitalia that is so unprofessional and inappropriate. As long as you use the correct name and pronouns everything should be fine. If you do make a mistake with pronouns or name don't make a huge deal about and bring more attention to it. At most if you make a mistake take the student aside and apologize, but that is it. You don't need to make a big deal about them being transgender. Just try and keep what you have read here in mind. If this has helped you out don't forget to comment and like down below. If there is something you want to read or see just comment down below. Check out my youtube channel for videos on related topics. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCglNBDPMfX63cWoENuxIHSw