Dr. Nikki's Weekly Wrap-up
Reassuring news for parents of kids with gender distress, a new bill in Congress may change education for doctors & more!
TGIF, welcome to Dr. Nikki’s Weekly Wrap-Up, where I highlight stories related to parenting and protecting childhood.
This week, I cover how DEI policies in medical schools inspired a new bill in Congress and how DEI policies changed the Seattle public school curriculum. There is also new data about gender distress and more.
15-year study shows most kids outgrow gender distress
A study recently published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior is encouraging for parents of children with gender distress.
The authors used data from the Tracking Adolescent’s Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS and TRAILS-CC), which contains self-reported attitudes about gender identity in the general population and patients in a gender clinic in Amsterdam and Toronto. They tracked 2772 adolescents from age 11 until they turned 26.
When asked about being content with their gender, 78% of participants denied ever having gender non-contentedness. 19% of the sample were not content with their gender as young adolescents but outgrew it by adulthood. Only 2% of the sample were not content with their gender as a young child and grew increasingly discontent as they aged.
Unsurprisingly, they found females were more likely than males to express gender non-contentedness, but interestingly, the female patients at a gender clinic were more likely to report gender non-contentedness than females in the general population.
Gender non-contentedness decreased with age in this sample, which is consistent with similar smaller studies.
This should be reassuring to parents.
A bill to ban DEI in the nation’s medical schools
On March 19th, US Representatives Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC) and Brad Wenstrup, DPM (OH) introduced the Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act to the public in a press conference.
The bill aims to amend the 1965 Higher Education Act to ban discriminatory mandates at medical schools and accrediting institutions.
I attended a March 22nd webinar held by Do No Harm. The event was moderated by Ian Kingsbury, Ph.D., and showcased Dr. Murphy and Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, who helped draft the bill.
Both physicians acknowledged that “racism and… health disparities exist” but expressed concerns about the harms of DEI policies on medical education. Their position offers that removing federal funding from medical schools that promote DEI principles will prevent division and damage to the quality of our nation’s future physicians and physician-scientists.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals and pregnancy
Like many of you, I began to worry about the chemicals my children were exposed to before I was pregnant.
We are constantly learning about new studies, and old links are revised with updated research, so keeping track of changes is challenging.
Additionally, environmental research finds associations between chemicals or events and health outcomes, but it is often challenging to link them directly as a cause of the health events.
The Collaborative for Health and Environment is an organization that studies and reports on health links to the environment.
They will host a webinar on May 7th featuring the authors of a new study, the Illinois Kids Development Study (I-KIDS).
It is one of the first studies examining EDCs and hormone levels during pregnancy.
They studied the chemicals DEHP and Bisphenol A (BPA), which have been linked to endocrine disruption, and the chemicals used to replace them, DiNCH and bisphenol S (BPS).
Register for this free event here.
Seattle public schools gut gifted program due to racial inequity
The Highly Capable Cohort is the Seattle public school system’s enrichment program for students who score in the top 2% on standardized tests.
A 2018 survey of the cohort found that it was mostly made up of white students. Multiracial students and Asian students accounted for 13% and 11.8%, respectively. Only 3.7% of the student group was Hispanic, and just 1.6% were Black American, leading district officials to decide in 2020 to phase out the program because they claimed it was not diverse or equitable for students with lower test scores.
In the last two years, Black American student participation in the Highly Capable Cohort increased to 3.4%. Still, yesterday, the New York Post reported yesterday that the school district is shutting down the enrichment program to begin a new education model.
This model, the Highly Capable Neighborhood School, will keep students of all levels of achievement in the same classrooms. The district will require Seattle public school teachers to provide individualized learning programs for each of their 20-30 students in a city with a budget deficit of over $100 million.
Parents voiced their concerns about the new model to the school board, but the district is moving ahead with their plans.
Seattle is one of many school districts in the nation modifying its curriculum to meet the unrealistic expectations set by DE&I policies. Districts in Virginia, Rhode Island, New York, and California have made national headlines for eliminating honors classes in the name of racial equity in the past few years.
The good news is that many parents and parent groups have increased engagement with local school boards and school leadership since 2020.
If you subscribe to Restore Childhood, chances are, you are aware that our nation’s public schools have a failing report card. You are likely already an advocate for your children and the children in your community. You may be one of the parents recently elected to your district school board inspired by similar changes.
But, there are still parents who aren’t aware. So, please share this post with others to increase awareness of harmful curriculum changes like this one.
Enjoy your weekend with those you love.
Be educated. Be empowered. Be healthy.
Once Upon a Time ... might follow tomorrow (the literal and perhaps figurative eclipse of the sun)
The psyops of evil germs stays in place. Captured media stays in place. POTUS selection stays in place. Corrupt courts stay in place. Legislatures compromised by private funds and revolving doors with industry stay in place. Technocracy subsuming technology stays in place. Geoengineering and directed energy weapons stay in place. United Nations Agenda 2030 for "sustainable development" stays in place. The quicksand of faux resistance allowing few salient victories stays in place. The undermining of our food supply stays in place. Widespread hunger lurks on our horizon.
Chaos from all angles heralds the New World Order. Poetslife addresses the legions of able-bodied men illegally crossing our borders and attributes all bad things to Islamic terrorists, but ignores covert actions by intelligence agencies and the illicit influx of Chinese and other nationals. However, the scenario of Poetslife's alarmist post could happen one way or another. He cites the valor of women warriors fighting for their lives in contrast with the duplicity of people locked in fear over a perceived threat from their wards. Metaphorically, I don't have an axe, but want at least a cleaver in my kitchen.
War on the frontier:
https://poetslife.substack.com/p/the-french-and-indian-war-1754-1763
A bill, HR66435/S 3428, is on the table to decapitate a sacred cow--the mother of a stellium of lapdog cutouts including the WHO. [from Dr. Rima Laibow, psychiatrist widow of a major general who was Commandant of the US Army Intelligence Center and School]
https://drrimatruthreports.substack.com/p/must-watch-video-just-another-utterly