Boston Latin School apologizes for student-written descriptions of two neighborhoods

The relevant piece here was the presumed external genitalia of the youth, not the youth's current gender identity, which wasn't girl/woman.

Had I been talking about someone's experiences as a girl/woman, I'd have used those terms.

If you brushed up on comprehensive sex education, you would know this.

(And BTW, referring to AFAB folks when that is the umbrella grouping you are discussing is inclusive, not erasure. If we have a reason to talk about all AFAB folks regardless of gender, that's exactly the terminology to use to include everyone. If we're talking about something specific like menstruation, we would want to refer to all people with periods, which is not all AFAB people.)

You're making exactly the same point I am.

A sizeable number of families do not follow CSE standards. I do court assessments for plenty of normal school-age children from normal families who do not know the correct names of their genitals, nor of genitals they do not have. They've been told "not to talk about them." Kids are also told "don't touch anyone," then they see that peers are in fact touching either other frequently in play, to comfort one another, to assist one another, and they recognize that "don't touch anyone" isn't the community norm, but they haven't been taught that you seek consent before touching.

The kids who are taught CSE are reported for "age-inappropriate sexual knowledge," because teachers and even fucking medical providers don't know what's appropriate, and think it's inappropriate for kids to know the proper names of genitals. They think it's inappropriate to know terms for gender and sexual orientation (which CSE teaches in the lowest bracket, as do I and many families). I listed a whole bunch of things that schools should be teaching, and do in most civilized countries, that I've seen schools here in MA report as "age-inappropriate knowledge."

I know that none of that needs to be reported. That's the point. I am frequently contracted by DCF, CPCS, and private attorneys to assess families and expert witness for those things, because this state screens in most reports, and the people investigating them are not clinicians. The families get wrapped up in nonsense for months or years before it can be properly assessed by experts who say that of course it isn't neglect that a parent and child are discussing that a child is bi or trans and promoting the correct language for discussing these things, and of course it isn't neglect that a preschooler knows words for genitals. I think it's neglect (in a clinical sense, not something I would ever suggest reporting) when kids aren't given the language for discussing these things. I see a lot of queer tweens and teens who struggled for years because they had no idea there was a word for how they are and that it's normal.

Mandated reporting laws (which, BTW, have been shown to harm rather than help, and which many mainstream law schools and social work departments advocate for abolishing) do not require reporting of "signs" of abuse or neglect. They state that a mandated reporter can face punishment for knowing about the presence of abuse or neglect (defined as an action or inaction by a caregiver that did or could likely have resulted in serious lifelong harm) and failing to report.

Most of the mandated reporting trainings given to schools and programs though do not spell this out correctly, and do in fact promote "better safe than sorry" practices, which have been shown to cause harm. Schools and other organizations are focused on making sure they are not liable for a failure to report, rather than making sure they aren't harming children or families.

DCF's own guidance says it's best to let the family know you are making a report, but it also says "a reporter may not do their own investigation" before or rather than reporting. This of course refers to situations like when there are clear signs of serious sexual abuse or trafficking, that they don't want people muddying up their eventual investigation. But schools and others think it means you shouldn't first talk to the parents and be like, hey, your kid is talking about genitals/alcohol/whatever quite a bit. And reporters should very much be consulting with experts on child development as well as other topics involved. These ridiculous reports would not be constantly made if the person who found it "concerning" that kids are saying they're queer/trans would first send an e-mail to someone at The Borum or Youth Pride and ask for guidance, and get the response that it's common and normal for many kids to be aware of sexual orientation and gender identity at preschool age. Or, you know, if the schools and programs all had ample queer people on staff who would consistently be educating the program that they need to be inclusive and affirming of kids at all ages, and who would shut down the thinking that kids under 18 being queer is somehow sexualized behavior.

Reporters have massive immunity. Families can't usually get false reporting even looked into. I've been an expert witness for cases involving false reporting, which usually can't even get into court unless the Department and/or the reporter have also demonstrated other major missteps. In one, an in-home therapist was tasked with, among other things, taking a preschooler to their established classes at the YMCA, library, etc., usually without the parents. The therapist didn't like the family's religious beliefs and reported the family for "brainwashing the child, telling the child what to believe, not letting the child leave the house, not letting the child be around anyone but the parents, not letting the child have friends." Clearly we can see why this is knowingly making a false report, right, since the therapist can't possibly claim to believe that the child doesn't leave the house and go see peers? No, the outcome was that it was completely unfounded, but that the therapist must have observed something that led them to "feel that way."