A girl on Friday, a boy by Monday

[Shana A]

A girl on Friday, a boy by Monday

Features | Published in TES Magazine on 16 October, 2009 | By: Hannah Frankel

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6025192

The average primary may have as many as three transgendered pupils. Avoiding the issue is the worst response, but as Hannah Frankel reports, there is much that schools can do to offer support at a deeply traumatic time

Nickie* is a perfectly normal, happy 16-year-old girl. But it hasn't always been that way.

Born a boy, the bullying she endured at secondary school was sustained and horrendous. "She was assaulted, punched, kicked, spat at, pushed around and called names," says her mother Sharon. "When she wore a skirt, boys used to try and pull it up to expose her genitals. They'd shout, 'Show us your d---' or ask if she'd had it cut off yet."