Transgender Preschool Children
Around the age of about two years old, children begin to become aware of their physical gender differences. When children are around four years old, they discover their gender identity. Am I a boy or a girl? Most children’s gender identity aligns with the gender they are assigned at birth due to their biological genitalia, but not in every case. Some children know from a very young age that their biological sex does not match with how they feel. As young, transgender reality star and activist Jazz Jennings has said since she was two years old, “...I have a girl brain and a boy body…”. The amount of children that identify themselves as transgender is increasing.
In the article, Gender Development in Transgender Preschool Children, research was conducted to discover if preschool aged transgender children differ in basic gender development tasks compared to their gender typical peers. The study only looked at preschool-aged socially transitioned transgender children and looked at their gendered preferences, behaviors, and beliefs compared to gender-typical children of the same age (Fast & Olson, 2017, p. 621). Social transitioning includes everything except medical and hormonal intervention. The child begins to go by a gender appropriate name, attire, and pronouns.
By ten months of age children discover their genitals, and by the age of two they understand the difference between genitals. Around three years old a child develops a sense of self and begins to identify themselves by gender. They also begin to prefer same gender people. Between the crucial preschool ages of four to six years, children develop gender stability and constancy (Wong, 2015, pp.1-1). The conducted study had socially transitioned transgender children and gender-typical children complete various basic gender development tasks including gender constancy understanding, gender preferences, gendered behavior (the outfit that the child wore to the appointment), explicit gender identity, perceived similarity to boys and girls, and gender stereotyping (Fast & Olson, 2017, p. 623).
Two control groups were used in the study; gender-typical children who were the same age and gender identity as the socially transitioned transgender children and siblings of transgender children. The sibling group is to show if a response from a transgender child differs from the gender-typical children and the sibling that a personal experience from being transgender is the reason for the difference. If both the response of the transgender child and their sibling differ from the gender-typical children one could conclude that it is the family’s knowledge of gender diversity that is a critical role rather than a transgender experience (Fast & Olson, 2017, p. 623).
The results for gender constancy revealed that there was no difference between the three groups in their tendency to say their expressed gender. However, there was a major difference in scores when asked about their gender as a baby. 21% of transgender children said their expressed gender whereas 96% and 97% of the controlled group said their expressed gender. When asked about their gender as adults, all three groups were similar in high percentages of their expressed gender. When it came to gender preferences such as toys, peers, and clothing there again was no difference between the three groups. Each group preferred same-gender toys, clothing, and peers. Gender stereotypes included being shown activities that are either preferred by girls or boys with a few gender neutral activities. The results showed again that the three groups did not differ on endorsing flexibility of gender stereotypes. They scored high on agreement that girls and boys should do the gender appropriate activity. Between the transgender children, siblings of transgender children, and gender-typical children, there was no difference in their responses with their expressed gender identity, current gender identity, and future gender identity. In addition, there was also no difference between the three groups on how similar the children felt to children of the same gender. They all felt similar to their own gender rather than the opposite gender. Lastly, in regards to the outfit worn to the appointment during the study, on average, children wore clothing that is stereotypically associated with their gender. To no surprise to myself, all aspects of this study had shown no significant difference except the discussion of gender as a baby from now to the future. (Fast & Olson, 2017, pp. 624-634).
Transgender children have the same basic gender development as gender-typical children which is critical knowledge to understand in the field of school counseling. With the transgender population on an increase and more prevalent in schools, I believe that understanding how young transgender children develop with their gender is important especially when implementing interventions and possible systemic change in a school. For example, staff should be educated on making sure to use the correct name and pronouns for a trans individual and having continuing educational learning on LGBTQ. All staff should also be knowledgeable with Title IX which includes sex discrimination. The more educated school counselors are, the better service they will be able to provide. School counselors should always use best practices when working with diverse individuals. As with any client, school counselors should also follow the American School Counselors Association of ethical codes and standards.
By Stephanie Agin
