title: angel messages for november   video
text: by wmw_admin on october   sanchez manning  daily mail oct   
  the bbc has been accused of acting recklessly after targeting children as young as six with a programme about a schoolboy who takes sexchange drugs 
  parents are angry that the show available on the cbbc website features a transgender storyline inappropriate for their children 
  and concerned campaigners said it could sow the seeds of confusion in young minds the programme just a girl depicts an yearolds struggle to get hormones that stunt puberty making it easier to have sexchange surgery in the future 
  one mother writing on the mumsnet website said her daughter had become worried after seeing the video she said her girl who likes wearing boys clothes and playing football had asked me anxiously if that means she was a boy 
  tory mp peter bone said it beggars belief that the bbc is making this programme freely available to children as young as six i entirely share the anger of parents who just want to let children be children 
  it is completely inappropriate for such material to be on the cbbc website and i shall be writing to bbc bosses to demand they take it down as soon as possible 
  former culture secretary maria miller voiced her concerns over the bbc tackling the subject in an ageappropriate way saying such issues should be raised where children can have support from parents 
  and tory mp julian brazier said this programme is very disappointing and inappropriate children are very impressionable and this is going to confuse and worry them 
  family campaigner norman wells said it is irresponsible of the bbc to introduce impressionable children as young as six to the idea that they can choose to be something other than their biological sex 
  just a girl is the fictional video diary of a child who calls herself amy and dresses as a girl it is hosted on the cbbc website aimed at children aged between six and  
  in the halfhour programme amy  played by an actress  reveals she was born a boy called ben but has already started using pubertyhalting drugs 
  such hypothalamic blockers provoked a furore two years ago when the mail on sunday revealed an nhs clinic was willing to give them to children as young as nine 
  critics cited research claiming that most teenagers confused about their gender never go through with surgery with many realising they are gay the bbc row comes amid growing controversy over gender issues fuelled by a number of highprofile cases in one a christian couple were threatened with having their yearold daughter taken away because they oppose her plans to become a boy 
  in another a sevenyearold boy was ordered to be removed from his mothers care as she was raising him as female causing him a great deal of emotional harm 
  in just a girl amy says when i was born mum said dad was so pleased that he had a boy to take to the football but mum knew i was different she realised early on that i was born in the wrong body 
  she adds my mum supported me when i did a powerpoint presentation to my class about transitioning and that i wasnt going to come to school in boys clothes any more but girls clothes i wasnt ben i was amy 
  later amy is shown telling a friend josh  a boy who wants to be recognised as a girl  that she is on hormone blockers saying it took ages to get them after loads of tests and talks at the clinic once they realised i was trans for real i got them she says in another entry amy tells viewers she has developed a crush on a boy called liam but confides liam thinks im just a girl but im not im trans and whats he going to say if he finds out stop being my friend why im still me arent i 
  child psychotherapist dr dilys daws said the programme could confuse children she said that while it was natural for youngsters to wonder what it would be like to be the opposite sex the bbc was irresponsible to feature the extreme step of gender change for sixyearolds because they were too young to grapple with such issues 
  the programme generated hundreds of comments on mumsnet 
  one mother who said her sevenyearold had watched the show asked am i being unreasonable to think this is an inappropriate topic for a young age group 
  another replied dont think this is remotely suitable for a sevenyearold to start suggesting that children can be transgender when theyre far too young to actually have a gender is reckless and damaging a small boy who is told that he can become a girl may take this as meaning that sex changes are possible that sometime in the future hell wake up with a girls body 
  another user added i dont think hormone therapy should be normalised any more than yearolds drinking or doing recreational drugs should be normalised 
  other critics slammed the bbc mr wells director of the family education trust said the more we promote the idea that a boy can be born into a girls body and a girl can be born into a boys body and that drugs and surgery can put things right the more children will become utterly confused respecting and preserving a childs birth sex should be seen as a child protection issue 
  but some parents on mumsnet were more positive one wrote i dont believe there is too young for stuff like this the earlier you teach your children that everyone is different and that nobody is normal the better 
  dr polly carmichael a clinical psychologist specialising in transgender children said raising awareness of these issues is the best way to challenge stigma and discrimination associated with identity issues programmes like just a girl can contribute to a healthy and informed public discussion 
  the bbc said just a girl is about a fictional transgender character trying to make sense of the world deal with bullying and work out how to keep her friends which are universal themes that many children relate to and which has had a positive response from our audience 
  cbbc aims to reflect true life providing content that mirrors the lives of as many uk children as possible