Natasha Devon, the former ‘mental health tsar’, has told the Girls’ Schools Association that they should not refer to pupils as ‘girls’ or ‘ladies’ because they were constantly reminded of their gender and ‘all the stereotypes that go with it’.
Of course Ms Devon offered no evidence that calling a girl a girl (and, indeed, calling a boy a boy) can cause mental ill-health. Nor has she any evidence that not calling them what they are can help their mental health, because no experiments have ever been done in this area.
We can be thankful that Ms Devon is no longer ‘mental health tsar’. But this leaves the question of why the Girls’ Schools Association would still want to listen to her.
Presumably to hear they must change their name too.
