Parents say school brainwashed their 13-year-old daughter into thinking 'she’s a boy in a girl’s body'
The parents of a teenage girl have accused her school of secretly allowing her to attend "radicalizing" mentoring sessions and convinced her she had gender dysphoria and was transgender.
Ashleigh and Ged Barnett told the Daily Mail that, until last year, their 13-year-old daughter had been comfortable in her body, sported long hair, wore dresses, and loved doing make-up, but that it all changed in a matter of months.
By November, they said she had been "brainwashed" and had cut her hair short and was talking about how she felt like a boy, a change that was the result of one-on-one sessions with the head of the LGBTQ group at her Hoe Valley School in Woking, Surrey.
While they were initially confused by the drastic change, Ashleigh and Ged said they understood the reason for the transformation after a meeting with her headteacher Jane Davies, and where they learned about these sessions.
"Our daughter was egged on to feel that she’s a boy in a girl’s body," Ashleigh said. "The teaching assistant also pointed her in the direction of a YouTube website of a trans activist, which featured a video where they showed off their mastectomy scars and told how well the operation had gone."
The parents accused the school of "going behind our backs" and that their attitude was "that it’s the child’s choice and it’s got nothing to do" with them.
"It’s no coincidence that she showed no signs of gender dysphoria immediately prior to the 'mentoring,' but presented with classic signs afterward," Ged said.
"Children at 13 or 14, especially girls, are sometimes not happy in their own bodies – that’s what puberty does to you," Ashleigh argued. "They are very vulnerable. It only takes one person with an agenda to plant a little seed that they are 'in the wrong body.'"
She said that the teaching assistant, who she claimed had no formel counseling qualifications except for training from local charity Eikon that provides "LGBT+ awareness sessions" for schools. encouraged their daughter to change in a boy's cubicle. She added that staff at the school began calling her by a male name as well.
The parents have submitted a series of complaints, including that the school "failed to tell us our daughter had identified as transgender" and "failed to prevent radicalization."
In response, Davies said the school "strongly disputes these allegations." She said she believed the teen should be left to use the changing facilities she preferred as "she is old enough to make her own decisions." and that "it is not our place to alert you to how she feels."