Australian teachers are being trained to spot early signs of transgenderism in children as young as five by listening for key phrases such as, “I feel different”, “I’m androgynous” and “I’m born with two spirits.”

Experts have claimed the training has contributed to a staggering 236% surge in the number of children wanting to change their biological sex, The Daily Telegraph revealed.

Figures obtained exclusively by The Daily Telegraph show as many as 74 children aged between 6 and 16 have been referred to gender dysphoria clinics this year. In contrast, there were 22 referrals in 2015, and just two in 2013.

Western Sydney University Professor of Paediatrics John Whitehall said, gender identity experts are “part of the problem as they mess with the kids by giving them a platform to believe they have a genuine problem. It’s a sad, tragic and very dangerous fad, especially when medical treatment can involve hormones that interfere with the brain as well as the body, and progress to irreversible surgery and loss of fertility.”

In the U.K., the number of children being referred to gender identity clinics quadrupled in the space of just five years. In 2012-13 there were 20 children aged between three and seven who were referred to gender clinics. By 2016 that number jumped to 84, while referrals for children under the age of 10 also increased from 35 in 2012-13 to a staggering 165 in 2016.

The Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow, Scotland witnessed a similar surge, reporting a 300% rise in referrals during that same period.

Chris McGovern, a former advisor to the Department of Education in the U.K. said, “It has become an industry. People are making a career out of encouraging children to question gender at an age when they need to be left to be children. When teachers raise these issues children can become confused or unhappy and traumatised by it.”