Ive studied more than 40,000 furries from 70 different countries over a decade, she said. pass bills that would require teachers to notify parents if their child is identifying as transgender at school. But thats beyond the scope of this blog, which is to celebrate cats, have a laugh and occasionally put the spotlight on animal welfare. A Wisconsin school district has a set of "furry protocols" that allows students to identify as cats. The rumour alleged that pupils at Banff Academy were identifying as cats. There is a real subculture of people known as furries, a community of children and adults who roleplay as anthropomorphized animal characters. email: John@depetro.com. Good question! The claim that a Wisconsin school district implemented furry protocols in order to deal with a wave of students identifying as cats is based almost entirely on one alleged email said to have been sent from a third-party (an anonymous student's grandmother) to a podcast host. Why did people believe them? However, a spokesperson for Aberdeenshire Council told The National: There are no cats and no pupils identifying as cats at Banff Academy.. Seriously, Parents are allowing their kids to think they are cats! No teachers have come forward to talk about the supposed protocols, and no students or parents have corroborated any of these claims. For foreign students. A video of Wisconsin talk radio host Vicki McKenna's appearance on the Dr. Duke Show, a podcast hosted by Dr. Duke Pesta, racked up more than 100,000 views as it circulated on social media: There's no truth to this rumor. They should not be allowed to attend school as school is meant for humans. This is what we're doing now in 2022. since when do cats attend public school? Well, not a little bit, a lot a bit upset furious; I would even use that word, Hansen said. Meanwhile on TikTok, one video claiming kids are now requesting litter boxes at school collected 3 million views on the platform. READ MORE:Anti-monarchy activists 'turn Buckingham Palace into polling station', But no, the school, the school resources and the other students and teachers should not have to be put through that because its a lie and we have to reject them.. That same month, school board candidates in Arkansas and Tennessee made similar remarks, and Jennifer Benson, a school board member in Fargo, North Dakota, told a local news outlet children were wearing leashes to school and using litter boxes. On the October 11 episode of his Joe Rogan Experience Spotify podcast, Rogan claimed that a school "had to install a litter box in the girls room because there is a girl who's a furry, who . Click here to sign up for our fact-check text chat, Communication Regarding False Accusation Made at December MPS Board of Education Meeting, Litter Boxes for Students Who Identify as Furries? "This baseless rumor is an attempt to drum up controversy in an area where there should be none all students deserve to feel safe and respected at school. Rumors began to surface that these students were permitted to use litter boxes in bathrooms to accommodate them, but the districts superintendent debunked such stories. So thats why weve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. Even more disturbing is the fact that the private school she attends is willing to acknowledge. I have two grandkids in school and my grandkids didnt want to go to school anymore," she said.She said the issue gained attention on social media once people started sharing photos and videos of the feline costumes and behavior, "I started getting videos and messages from kids, and I said, 'Ok, Im going to post this so parents know whats going on. ' she said in the TikTok video. But the claim has taken on a life of its own among a growing number of Republicans, conservative influencers and political commentators. A private school in Australia is reportedly supporting a young "non-verbal" student identifying as a cat. Roughly three in four are under the age of 25, the group writes. The false claim that children who identify as cats are using litter boxes in school bathrooms has spread across the internet since at least December, when a member of the public brought it up. The Meade County School district is dealing with an unusual situation: a group of high school students is attending school acting like and dressing as cats.The superintendent tells WLKY the situation is being addressed, but according to a concerned grandparent, its an ongoing problem that has many students on edge. A teenage girl from Melbourne, Australia, identifies as a cat, according to multiple news stories. Stop the world we need to get . Sorry, not a known recognizable language. But there's no truth to the rumor there's a litter box in unisex . Yet it seems the rumor has reached Oregon, with recent gossip asserting Salem-Keizer Public Schools officials approved a student's request to self-identify as a cat and allowed litter boxes in the restrooms of Sprague High School. I'd even use the word 'furious,'" she says. In Kentucky earlier this school year, officials were perplexed by a group of middle school students who dressed and acted like cats, apparently after accepting a social media challenge, according to a report by news station WLWT. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with. It doesnt make sense," she added.But according to Superintendent Mark Martin, a petition isnt needed.He said the costumes violate the school dress code:"A small number of Meade County High School students have violated the dress code policy during the early part of the school year. But it is important to recognize that the claim comes from a place of deep fear-mongering about creating LGBTQ2SIA+ inclusive spaces in our schools.". I cant stay in the same classroom as that cat! inaccuracy or intrusion, then please [Doctors] dont have evidence that [the treatment] will be the right one, McHugh said in 2019. The woman'sname is Nano and she was 20 at the time the images were captured, according to the reports. Beyond Republican politicians and officials, plenty of social media users have latched onto the rumor, most notably on Facebook and TikTok. As the number of people identifying as trans and nonbinary has increased in recent years, particularly among young people, so has the amount of anti-LGBTQ legislation from conservative politicians. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. A source . NBC News reported: A Nebraska state lawmaker apologized on Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats. The rumor of litter boxes in schools appears to have begun among parents on social media, and one of the first schools to confront the falsehood was in Canada last fall. "Two-spirit" is a term used by some Native Americans to describe community members who identify with a third gender or other gender variants. The photos show a Norweigan adult who claimed to be acat in 2016. "The students are told they cant wear hats or Budweiser shirts in school, but they can wear cat ears, cat tails, masks, leashes. Olivia, 16, from California, said shes been part of the furry community for six years. Thats the problem. Sign up now to get the Washington Examiners breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. A reaction from another user calling for schools to stop admitting furries to schools brought in over 1 million views. Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado, speaks at a forum in Denver on Sept. 30. morning journal obituaries past 3 days; when will allegiant release december 2022 flights Rogan did not name the school, and his publicist did not respond to a request for comment. The postfrom Peggy Hubbard, who lost a recentIllinois Republican U.S. Senate primary, implies a connection to a U.S. school district, but the pictures don't show an American public school student or anything recent. "Apparently, from what I understand, theyre called 'furries,'" the grandmother, who asked to remain anonymous, told WLKY. The behaviour is often linked to a "furries" subculture being adopted by many teens, where many furries feel a deep connection to a particular animal that they take on their "fursona", according to Gerbasi et al. Roberts also noted that the vast majority of furries characters are wild or mythical animals, who wouldnt use a litter box in the first place. Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Many commenters who watched the video took the claim seriously. North Kingstown Councilwoman Mary Brimer sounded the alarm after hearing stories from parents of the school installing litter boxes at a school in a special section hidden from view. We should all be sympathetic to these people, which is why we should not enable any of their delusions. The enabling of this behavior is halping people with legitimate mental health issues get applause instead of the medical help they truly need. There are websites that claim there is a catgender movement, but that is a different thing. Midland Superintendent Michael Sharrowrejected the claim outright in an email sent Jan. 20 to parents, staff and community members. North Kingstown is in the news again as a school is reportedly allowing two students to identify as cats this school year complete with providing a litter box. This material may not be reproduced without permission. In a word, Sharrow told community members that if it sounds too wacky to be true, it probably is. Website development by. In an episode of Spotifys The Joe Rogan Experience podcast this week, host Joe Rogan told former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard that a litter box was installed in a school that his friends wife worked at for a girl who identifies as an animal. A clip of the discussion quickly began to circulate on social media. 2022, https://isthmus.com/api/content/5442e938-b445-11ec-8e34-12274efc5439/. District officials confirmed to the Statesman Journal that the claims are categorically false. "Sprague High School, or any Salem-Keizer school,do nothave litter boxes for use as restroom facilities," Emily Hicks, a spokeswoman for the district, said. In April 2022, a false rumor about a school district in Wisconsin implementing a set of "furry protocols" in order to deal with a rash of students who were "identifying as cats" was presented as genuine news on a conservative podcast. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. In a follow-up video the teacher admitted she made up the story to create awareness of what kids are going through at school. She didnt elaborate, so its not clear if she was criticizing school policies for allowing students to identify as different genders or arguing that kids needs arent accommodated. Since then, however, it has spread to numerous US states and now to Scotland. Oh, you are a human? "This is a young lady who is exceptional (sic) bright, her family petitioned the school board for right to 'identify as a cat," reads part of a Sept. 23 Facebook post featuring the images. Six Republican members of the North Dakota Legislature introduced a bill Wednesday that would send a clear message to nonhuman-identified students . The superintendent at the school in Kentucky told WLWT the students violated the dress code, and that the administration had addressed the situation. A video of a central Michigan school board meeting went national in mid-January after aparent claimed that a"nefarious" agendahad taken hold of public schools in her county. 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