School secretly allowed girl to attend ‘radicalising’ sessions that convinced her that she was a boy

A school in Woking, Surrey, UK has been accused of secretly allowing a 13-year-old girl to attend ‘radicalising’ mentoring sessions that convinced her that she was transgender. Her parents, Ashleigh and Ged Barnett allege that until the one-to-one sessions began last September, their daughter appeared comfortable in her body and showed little interest in transgender issues.

But they say she had changed completely by November, sporting a short haircut and talking about feeling that she was really a boy.

They were confused by the transformation until they met her headteacher to discuss another matter and learned that their daughter had been having weekly sessions with the head of the school’s LGBT group.

‘Our daughter was egged on to feel that she’s a boy in a girl’s body,’ Mrs Barnett 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 couple said they were furious when they found school staff had let the teenager attend the sessions ‘behind our backs’. 

Mrs Barnett said: ‘The school didn’t think it was fit to tell us. We are her parents, but responsibility to care for our child has been taken away. The attitude is that it’s the child’s choice and it’s got nothing to do with us.

‘Children at 13 or 14, especially girls, are sometimes not happy in their own bodies – that’s what puberty does to you. They are very vulnerable. It only takes one person with an agenda to plant a little seed that they are “in the wrong body”.’

The couple have submitted a series of complaints, including that the school ‘failed to tell us our daughter had identified as transgender’ and ‘failed to prevent radicalisation’. 

Their daughter is now seeing a psychologist, who said it was ‘appalling’ that schools had ‘unqualified people mentoring young students’.

Keep up to date!

Optional email code

Sign up to our newsletter today!

Send me email updates