Accompaniment of transsexuality at school: A qualitative study with the families

Abstract

The school must be a safe space that guarantees the inclusion of sexual diversity. Teachers, as well as other possible educational sources, play a key role in this issue. The present study aims to explore the role of the school and other educational agents in the well-being of trans children and adolescents. To this end, 22 life stories written by mothers and fathers of girls and boys who had undergone social transition have been collected and a qualitative analysis has been carried out using MAXQDA software as a tool. For this purpose, three key periods have been considered in the stories: before, during and after having made the transition. Among other aspects, the stories include and value the support that is given to the children by the school, highlighting the role that the families attribute to the teachers as guarantors of their children's wellbeing at school and as facilitators of the transition. The lack of knowledge of child and adolescent transsexuality and the lack of teacher training in this regard, emerge as the main difficulties that these families encounter in the school environment. The role of the peer group and other non-formal contexts such as extracurricular activities are also highlighted as spaces of safety, support and acceptance being cases of rejection and bullying, an exception. The stories show that when the social transition takes place at an earlier age, the rejection and distress at school is lower.