yes, I'm sure after the teacher stripped her down she understood as well.

31-thats a really perverted idea

Boys have penises, girls have vaginas.

No...Just.Just.No

kids in middle school are usually between 11 & 14 years old

More like 11-14ish, grades 6-8. Junior high schools are also used here; they have a similar demographic, but they operate according to a different theory and class structure. Junior high schools usually only have grades 7-8, ages 12-14ish. Sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably in casual conversation, though.

Thank you, TIJD. I was actually wondering what the difference was. Then, I went to a junior high. Most schools in my area are junior highs, I guess; they're just known as "middle schools".

Not to contradict you, but where I live, junior high is grades 7-9, so the ages are 12-15ish. Although I'm sure Chris was probably 11 or 12...

Ah, listen to 77, then. I was homeschooled, so I had to wiki it. My county used the 7-9th junior high model too. However, one of the reasons I was homeschooled was that the local schools were quite far behind the national standard at the time, so I thought perhaps their system was the exception to the rule. BTW, no offense taken to the contradiction, 77, and you're welcome, Fortuitous. ;)

Some middle schools are 6-8 and some junior highs are either 7-8 or 7-9. So really middle school is the same thing as a junior high give or take a year. I don't think I've ever heard of a 6-9 school.

No Jane you are both right. My junior high school was grades sox through eight so 11ish to 14

11-13 ..

Where I live, we have some schools that are grades 6-9 and some that are 7-9. I started middle school in grade 7 and I was 12 when I started that year and 15 when I finished grade 9.

It's actually 11-16 it just depends on where you are and if the kid started school late.. Where I am it's usually 11-15 and middle school is grades 7 to 9

Oh FFS, what's wrong with giving a pre-adolescent control over his or her appearance? It's one thing to dress an elementary-aged child drastically different than his or her peers, but IMO, it's important to start letting an older child make those decisions for themselves so they can safely exhibit some independence. They're more than capable of understanding that people may misidentify their gender at that age, and certainly already heavily consider their peers' reactions by then, too. They should be allowed to weigh those things out and decide how to present themselves.  It's quite natural to experiment with personal style and social position in middle school-- hell, even examining gender identity at that age isn't rare. I can't understand why that's sad, or why it should frustrate adults who work with that demographic. 

Says the person who dresses as a dyke.

I mostly agree, IrishJane. My kids are far from that age group but I hope I'll be understanding if they experiment with androgyny or dress in a fashion that is stereotypically characteristic of the opposite gender. When self-esteem is developing, it's more important for a child to like his/her own apperance than for an adult instructor to approve of it. If you don't have the ability to deal with the issue, you probably shouldn't work with adolescents.

God, I know, I wish they would have forced us to wear skirts and ribbons in our hair. I was so mad we didn't have home economics, knitting, watercolor painting, and pinafore lessons in high school. Math is hard, and I wouldn't want to trouble a teacher with listening to inflections, looking for an adam's apple, and heaven forbid avoiding instantaneous prejudgment. When I get married, I'm having my husband lock up the power tools, I wouldn't want him to seem me drilling something and assume he's the woman in the relationship. In fact, maybe we can get label guns and put male female stickers on everyone to clarify the situation. You know, like they put those warning labels on things to protect stupid people from taking a toaster into the shower with them. So sad.