Every generation of kids end up becoming guinea pigs for something. School used to be optional until it wasn't. Vaccines weren't always mandated until they were. Social media started out being for college students before making its way outward, now every kid has a TicTac or ChatSnap.
Active shooter drills never used to be a thing, but now they are. Child labor laws prevented young kids from going into coal mines or breathing in soot as chimney sweeps. Fluoridating our water helped prevent cavities. Banning corn syrup and trans fats and instituting soda taxes are aimed at curbing childhood obesity. The list can go on and on.
The question at the root of all these social changes is a fair, but important one: is this change good or bad?
At this point when it comes to trans children, the research is inconclusive. There are some studies showing a high rate of children dropping out of gender therapy, indicating that they wanted to stop transitioning. There are other studies showing very low rates of de-transitioning among children who already have.
Currently, the general scientific consensus around puberty blockers is that their effects are reversible if the child decides they don't want to continue with their transition, so long-term harm doesn't seem likely. I'm inclined to let them undergo gender therapy for a while and later on medical transition because they can stop with no major ill effects physically.
That said, 97 children in a 12-year span is a miniscule number relative to the population at large. You're talking about 8 kids a year in a nation of millions. This article is very clearly designed to be inflammatory and get people on the right riled up about basically nothing. More children die from being unvaccinated or misfiring a gun at home, but sure let's focus on this microscopic slice of the human population
