Children as young as four and five are being encouraged to use pronouns such as “they” and “them” while figures show gender-neutral titles including “Mx” are being used instead of traditional Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms.
At least 86 teachers, teaching assistants and classroom aides across Scottish schools are now using “Mx” when addressing pupils.
The titles are being adopted by educators who identify as non-binary or neither male nor female, regardless of their sex.
The trend has sparked debate about introducing such concepts to young pupils, with some parents and campaign groups expressing serious concerns.
Children as young as four and five are being encouraged to use pronouns such as “they” and “them” while figures show gender-neutral titles including “Mx” are being used instead of traditional Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms (stock image)
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The figures reveal that 13 of these educators work in primary schools, while at least 73 are employed in secondary schools.
City of Edinburgh Council has emerged as having the highest concentration, with 44 staff members recorded as using gender-neutral titles.
The total number could be even higher, as some councils do not maintain records of staff members using gender-neutral titles.
These statistics include not only teachers but also teaching assistants and classroom aides who have opted to use the “Mx” designation.
Critics have raised strong objections to the practice.
Scottish Conservative spokeswoman for children and young people, Roz McCall told the Daily Mail: “These sort of fringe issues are a distraction from making sure our children are getting the best possible start in life and are not made to feel uncomfortable.”
Marion Calder of For Women Scotland expressed particular concern about the educational implications.
She said: “Teachers should not be bringing contested ideology which has no more basis than astrology into classrooms.”
She further questioned: “How are children to believe anything a teacher says if they lie about something so fundamental?”
The campaign group also raised concerns about potential disciplinary issues if children or parents challenge these practices.
One mother reported only discovering her child’s teacher was using “Mx” after signed achievement certificates were sent home.
When she raised concerns with the head teacher, she was dismissed.
“My initial response to the head asking why I had a problem with ‘Mx’ was because we are telling small children something that is false – you get to choose your gender – and we are forcing a very dangerous ideology onto very young children, with no discussion with parents,” she said.
The parent added that when she enquired about which pronouns the teacher wanted children to use, the head teacher responded: “I don’t know, I haven’t asked.”
“These are activist teachers and it should not be happening,” the parent added.
Parent Watch Scotland has warned that titles like “Mx” are causing confusion among primary school children.
It comes as Scotland recently halted the prescribing of puberty blockers following the landmark Cass review of England’s gender services, which found youngsters had been let down by insufficient medical research.
