Referring to non-specific persons: should we use ‘he', 's/he', 'he or she', or ‘they’? — PART 1

This is the first of a short series of posts on an important topic: when we want to talk about a non-specific person, what pronoun should we use to refer to that person? Here are some of the standard possibilities in English:
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1. If a child is under 1 metre in height, he is not required to pay an admission fee.
2. If a child is under 1 metre in height, he or she is not required to pay an admission fee.
3. If a child is under 1 metre in height, s/he is not required to pay an admission fee.
4. If a child is under 1 metre in height, they are not required to pay an admission fee
   
   

Although (1) was once the norm in English to refer generically to a person of either sex, this practice is widely discouraged in modern-day standard English. However, it can still be found in some Hong Kong publications and online documents. The following is from a booklet produced by the Family Health Service for grandparents, describing how to manage their grandchildren:
 
1. People now always talk about 'positive parenting' in bringing up children. What exactly is that?
Positive parenting means:

• Building up a good relationship with the child by having closer communication with him. Discipline would become easier if the child likes you.
• Giving more attention and respect to the child. Praising and encouraging him.
• Having realistic expectations by taking into account the child's developmental level and characteristics (e.g. his abilities, interests and dislikes).

 
The writer presumably intends the pronoun ‘him’ to refer to both male and female grandchildren, but unfortunately almost all English readers of this passage will automatically assume that a male grandchild is being referred to. Despite the intentions of the writer, this passage comes across as a piece of ‘sexist’ writing, which excludes females from its focus. 

The simple rule that follows from this is DO NOT USE THE PRONOUN ‘HE’ TO REFER TO A PERSON WHO MAY BE EITHER MALE OR FEMALE.

In the next post in this series we will look at options 2 and 3 above (‘he or she’ and ’s/he’) to see how useful they are, and what problems they bring with them.