Chile has opened a school especially for trans children to prevent bullying

A new school in Chile is halfway through its first year.

The school, especially for trans children, began teaching classes last spring. It was created in a bid to end the bullying suffered by many transgender children. Amaranta Gomez School in Santiago, Chile, is the first school of its kind in Latin America, and one of the few transgender schools in the world. Founded in 2017, the school officially opened its doors in April 2018. The school was named after Amaranta Gómez Regalado, a Mexican transgender politician and LGBT activist. The Amaranta was established because it was discovered that many transgender children skip or drop out of school early due to bullying. There are currently 28 students attending the school, learning a variety of subjects including math, history, English and science. Many of the students had previously experienced verbal and physical abuse at other schools. One student even admitted to contemplating suicide. According to AP News, when talking about the bullying she had experienced, 16-year-old student Angela said;

“I just wanted to die, I didn’t want to exist, because what they did to me made me feel awful.”

Angela is one of the many children, aged between six and 17, that the school hopes to protect against harassment. As parents, we always want to protect our children and ensure that they have everything they need, including education to give them the best start in life. This new school is a great way for children to get an education without the fear of intimidation or assault but is it the best we can do? Surely hiding the victims of bullying away only gives the bullies a free pass and does nothing to teach them the errors of their ways. For now, safe spaces like the Amaranta are a brilliant way to help children identifying as transgender, but I think more steps need to be taken to eradicate the bullying itself.