Because of ethical considerations, there are no clinical trials comparing the effects of hormone therapy to conversion therapy on trans youths. But a set of recent studies tease out cause and effect.
My parents briefly discussed sending me to a military-style boarding school because I was not the greatest kid at the time. This one wasn’t the “kidnap you and force other kids to watch you pee,” kind of place but it did bill itself as structured and instilling discipline.
Naturally, they googled and researched it and places like it. My mom found stories about the stress that such places out on students and research concluding that kids often end up with more behavioral problems rather than less. After that, they never brought it up again.
This kind of research probably isn’t going to change minds in an argument, but there are parents of transgender kids who are exploring treatment options. They very well might be convinced by research when it comes down to sending their own kid to conversion therapy.
We can certainly hope that parents unaware do do the research rather than falling for the sales pitch, for sure. I’m glad you dodged that bullet thanks to your parents’ actual attempt at researching it.
My parents briefly discussed sending me to a military-style boarding school because I was not the greatest kid at the time. This one wasn’t the “kidnap you and force other kids to watch you pee,” kind of place but it did bill itself as structured and instilling discipline.
Naturally, they googled and researched it and places like it. My mom found stories about the stress that such places out on students and research concluding that kids often end up with more behavioral problems rather than less. After that, they never brought it up again.
This kind of research probably isn’t going to change minds in an argument, but there are parents of transgender kids who are exploring treatment options. They very well might be convinced by research when it comes down to sending their own kid to conversion therapy.
We can certainly hope that parents unaware do do the research rather than falling for the sales pitch, for sure. I’m glad you dodged that bullet thanks to your parents’ actual attempt at researching it.