‘Insanity,’ ‘dangerous’: New puberty guidebook for ages 9-13 promotes gender fluidity

The American Academy of Pediatrics published a new puberty guide last month that explicitly normalizes transgender notions – including that “girls” can have erections.

“You-ology: A Puberty…

The American Academy of Pediatrics published a new puberty guide last month that explicitly normalizes transgender notions – including that “girls” can have erections.

“You-ology: A Puberty Guide for Every Body” is intended for 9-13 year olds. The book has drawn criticisms from many pro-family groups who describe the guide with words such as “insanity” and “indoctrination.”

Included in the book are imaginary conversations between prepubescent characters at a sleepover, with the following lines:

I finish putting on my pajamas and then take a deep breath. “My body will never grow breasts on its own because I’m trans,” I say, looking at Nancy until she meets my eyes. “But it’s something that I have options for and that I talk with my doctor about.”

The book also includes breakdowns of “cis”, “trans” and other gender ideology buzzwords. It emphasizes that even though people may be biologically born one way, the determining factor of their real gender is whatever they feel. 

In a radio interview with NPR, Kathryn Lowe, a doctor who contributed to the guide, said, “With traditional puberty education, whether it’s in schools or in books, we talk about how girls get their periods and boys get erections.

“But some girls – for example, transgender girls – might not get their periods. They need to understand about erections and those changes in their bodies. So we wanted to fill this void in puberty education so that kids, regardless of their gender, can see themselves in a book and learn about their bodies.”

President of the American Principles Project, Terry Schilling, called out taxpayer-funded NPR for promoting the book and criticized the AAP for pushing radical gender ideologies. 

“Only a few years ago, you would have been laughed out of the room for saying that men can have babies,” Schilling said to the Daily Wire. “Now, our national media are enthusiastically promoting doctors teaching this to children.”

According to NPR, the book has been “well received” by early readers, such as “Stella, a sixth-grader from Chicago, who identifies as nonbinary and uses them/them pronouns.” Stella’s mother works for the AAP.

The AAP hopes to get the guide in every school in America, though the contributing doctors lamented to NPR that the material is now prohibited by law to be taught in schools in certain states, such as Florida

Schilling welcomes such laws, and his organization’s recent survey suggests most parents agree.

“Parents largely reject this warped ideology, and at the very least, books like this – as well as teachers who would use them – should be nowhere near our schools,” he argued. 

Nicole Neily, president and founder of Parents Defending Education, also opposes the guide.

“The authors’ stated goal is to ‘normalize’ these conversations, which is a problem in and of itself,” she told the Daily Wire. “Many Americans do not believe that these concepts are ‘normal,’ and they do not want such ideas planted in their children’s heads.”

Schilling went even further: “This is insanity. Indoctrinating kids into believing that biology has no bearing on whether they are a boy or a girl is not just wrong, it’s dangerous. 

“These falsehoods will have lasting negative impacts on our children, potentially leading them to make decisions that they will regret for the rest of their lives.”