Young people need us to see them as they are, and adults are off the mark, a study say

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03:43 - Source: CNN Lawmaker slams bill that would ban schools from 'encouraging' talk about sexuality CNN — There is more we can do to make our kids feel seen, accepted and secure – and it starts with adding more terms for gender identity and sexual orientation to the official forms we give them, according to a new study.
Many of the identities the students in the study use are often absent from forms and surveys given to them, which is especially concerning given the high rates of depression and bias-based bullying many students, particularly those who identified as pansexual, nonbinary or transmasculine.
“When these words are on forms and surveys, young people are able to see that adults in systems like schools and healthcare settings see the importance of including them instead of perpetuating erasure that doesn’t allow for nuanced recommendations or policies,” said study author Nic Rider, assistant professor and coordinator of the Transgender Health Services program at the University of Minnesota Medical School Institute for Sexual and Gender Health.
“These results are a call to adults to educate themselves on the terms and language youth use to describe their identities,” said lead study author Amy Gower, research associate of general pediatrics and adolescent health in the department of pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School.