[skr]

Sometimes “they” is used as a neutral term even for one person if the gender isn’t known. It seems less awkward than “he or she” and “it” certainly is out of the question.

[SisterK]

if the gender is not known,
it is more appropriate to write “a student” and “the student”

“they, them” is plural causing readers to think it is another genderfluiddemonoccupiedantifawhackjob

instead of a lost and grieving child

[GingisK]

Sometimes “they” is used as a neutral term even for one person if the gender isn’t known

I'm 76, and only recently has this been done. Gender neutral was "he" for a very long time.

[Albion Wilde]

“the ninth grader from Canyon View Junior High shot themselves while on a field trip’

Sometimes “they” is used as a neutral term even for one person if the gender isn’t known.

Even if an individual uses they/them, a better usage should have been "shot themself", not "shot themselves."

The best usage would have been the correct sex-identifying pronouns. This coddling of mental illness is ridiculous.

[vivenne]

Agree. Also, the article states that they don’t usually report on suicides but because of the “gun” and the fact the suicide was public they did report it but I think they used “they” because they were intentionally hiding the person’s identity because of their policy of not reporting/naming.