{"id":159500,"date":"2023-06-09T15:35:17","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T19:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=159500"},"modified":"2023-06-13T09:38:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T13:38:24","slug":"sackville-parent-hits-the-capital-to-talk-importance-of-calling-kids-by-the-names-they-call-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/sackville-parent-hits-the-capital-to-talk-importance-of-calling-kids-by-the-names-they-call-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Sackville parent hits the capital to talk importance of calling kids by the names they call themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sackville parent Patricia Kelly Spurles is spending Friday on the front lawn of the New Brunswick legislature, waiting for her chance to meet and talk with Education Minister Bill Hogan about his recently announced changes to New Brunswick\u2019s Policy 713 - Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Kelly Spurles says she\u2019ll continue to show up while the legislature is in session, in hopes of being able to share her concerns about what Hogan\u2019s policy changes could mean from trans kids and their families.<\/p>\n

After releasing his changes in a news conference Thursday morning, Hogan immediately took criticism in the legislature, most notably from Liberal leader Susan Holt, Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, and eight members of his own party, who sat out of the legislature, citing concerns over the process of revising Policy 713.<\/p>\n

Hogan outlined three areas of change, with the most significant being in the requirements around addressing students. The original policy 713 required that school staff use a student\u2019s preferred first name and pronouns \u201cconsistently in ways that the student has requested.\u201d But Hogan\u2019s revision limits this requirement to only students 16 and over.<\/p>\n

Hogan told reporters that he felt the original policy was \u201cfundamentally wrong\u201d because it did not require parents to be notified of preferred name changes in kids under 16. Under the current policy, changes to how a child is addressed at school could be, \u201cin essence hidden from parents unless the child gives permission to share that with them. We believe that it\u2019s fundamentally wrong to not share this information with parents if we are using it on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current policy 713 does require parental consent for any official name changes on school records for kids 15 and under, but when it comes to how students are addressed by staff every day, it does not require a parental thumbs up.<\/p>\n

Hogan told reporters \u201cwe understand that the impact on a child\u2019s mental health is significant,\u201d but focused on the need to involve parents as \u201cpartners and stakeholders in education.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must respect parents and the role that they play in their child\u2019s life and education,\u201d said Hogan. \u201cParents are in the best position to support their child through the majority of life changes like a change in gender identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A

Education minister Bill Hogan in an online Q&A hosted by the department on Monday, January 16, 2023. Image: Screencap<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Hogan told reporters the policy would not require teachers to out children, but that if children 15 and under wanted their teachers to use their preferred names at school, they would need parental consent. Meanwhile the text of the policy distributed by the Department of Education<\/a> doesn\u2019t appear to prohibit teachers from using preferred pronouns, but rather removes a requirement for them to do so for kids under 16. According to the amended policy, which comes into effect on July 1, teachers will have to choose how they address kids under 16.<\/p>\n

That worries Patricia Kelly Spurles. \u201cI\u2019m concerned that without having the provincial policy\u2019s support, children\u2019s choice and right to use the name and pronouns that feel right to them, it will be left up to individual teachers\u2019 feelings of the day,\u201d she told CHMA.<\/p>\n

Kelly Spurles is parent to a 14-year-old trans kid who started using their chosen name and pronouns a few years ago, during the time that Policy 713 was brought in. Aside from the occasional reminder to her kids\u2019 school, she feels her child\u2019s choice has been respected.<\/p>\n

But the change to Police 713 will affect trans kids and families on a larger scale, she says, by sending a cultural signal. \u201cTrans children in school, but also trans people who aren\u2019t in school, won\u2019t feel that these that these choices are legitimate and supported by the government, by the educational system, and by the public,\u201d says Kelly Spurles.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the question of more specific, immediate harm. A slew of MLAs including Memramcook-Tantramar\u2019s Megan Mitton called out Hogan\u2019s policy changes on Thursday for the potential harm they might cause. \u201cThis new policy seems like it will put teachers in the challenging position where they will have to deadname and misgender students,\u201d said Mitton, referring to the use of a person\u2019s former, non-preferred name. \u201cThe harm this will cause is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Spurles says the research is there to show that how kids are addressed can impact risk of suicide and suicidal ideation. \u201cThe research shows that trans kids are more likely to consider suicide than non-trans kids. And having even one context in which they can use their chosen name and pronouns, decreases their risk of suicidal ideation by 29%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Spurles says the current Policy 713 helps guarantee that schools will be a place where that risk is reduced. \u201cThis is something that is easy to implement,\u201d she says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t require additional staff or additional funding. And I think it\u2019s an important way that we can support trans kids and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Spurles says she will keep coming back at the lawn of the legislature while it\u2019s in session until Minister Hogan is able to speak with her about Policy 713. When she gets to speak with him, Kelly Spurles says she will ask about his experience as a teacher, principal, and parent. \u201cAnd his experience as a community member, and as a young person,\u201d says Kelly Spurles. \u201cIf he remembers from his youth, people that didn\u2019t seem to fit in and were really unhappy and, you know, looking for a way out of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Brunswick doesn\u2019t need to go it alone,\u201d says Kelly Spurles. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to reverse a policy that has been successful for a couple of years. We don\u2019t need to adopt a way of dealing with trans kids that\u2019s different from what\u2019s happening in the rest of the civilized world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other changes to Policy 713<\/h2>\n

In addition to removing the requirement to address younger students by their declared names, Hogan\u2019s revised policy also adds a direct reference to resources for kids who aren\u2019t ready to disclose to their parents. \u201cIf it is not possible to obtain consent to talk to the parent, the student will be directed to the appropriate professional (i.e. school social worker, school psychologist) to work with them in the development of a plan to speak with their parents,\u201d reads the new policy, \u201cif and when they are ready to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another change to the policy removes a guarantee for kids to be able to participate in gendered sports teams according to their declared gender, which Hogan says is already covered by policies of the New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association.<\/p>\n

The third change adds a requirement for \u201cprivate universal changing areas\u201d in all schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sackville parent Patricia Kelly Spurles is spending Friday on the front lawn of the New Brunswick legislature, waiting for her chance to meet and talk with Education Minister Bill Hogan about his recently announced changes to New Brunswick\u2019s Policy 713 – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Kelly Spurles says she\u2019ll continue to show up while…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":159508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[221,225],"tags":[23012,7138,26942,26944],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159500"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160113,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159500\/revisions\/160113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159500"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=159500"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=159500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}