How would you respond if your child wanted to identify as a cat?

There is a bit of a crisis in UK’s secondary schools over some students wishing to self-identify as cats or other animals. It happened in the United States a while ago and in Australia. There was a furore over it with claim and counterclaim. In the UK the school in question, Rye Collage, has denied allegations that one of their pupils self-identified as a cat. But the ‘problem’ is rumbling on. The Department of Education is investigating and Rye College said yesterday that it had met the department over the matter.

Pupil identifying as a cat in the classroom causing great difficulties for the teacher and disrupting education
Pupil identifying as a cat in the classroom causing great difficulties for the teacher and disrupting education. Image: DALLE-E

There is troubling secondary matter concerning a recording of a teacher admonishing a pair of pupils for having the opinion that gender is about biological sex (about anatomy). The teacher strongly disagreed and told the pair that they were ‘despicable’ for having those opinions. This feeds into the hugely difficult discussion about trans people and whether gender is binary (one of two options) or whether there is a spectrum of genders.

That’s another discussion best avoided! But here, on this page, I’d like readers (if there are any!) to tell me in a comment how they’d respond to their child identifying as a cat. I’d like that because British schools are asking the Department of Education for guidance. They want help on what teachers should do when a child identifies as an animal.

I’ll throw my hat into the ring. I am old-fashioned. I believe that when kids do this they are having fun or they are stressed in being human and want to temporarily opt out.

I’d ask a professional such as a psychiatrist to talk to the child to get to the bottom of the matter; to find out why. You’ve got to get to the underlying reason. Is it something frivolous or is it something more serious which needs psychriatric help?

But I do believe that pupils should not identify as a cat or any other animal. They need to face reality as a human to prepare themselves for adult life which can be tough at times. Opting out in becoming a cat is similar to taking mind altering drugs to escape reality.

It is not good. It is also disruptive of class work and it places teachers in an invidious situation requiring sensitivity at a time when the woke movement has already placed extra sensitivity demands on teachers.

The majority of British secondary teachers are women. Arguably they are more sensitive in their approach to this problem but this may make dealing with the issue more problematic and complicated.

Why are some Australian schoolgirls identifying as cats?

School accused of installing cat litter trays for students who identify as ‘furries’

2 thoughts on “How would you respond if your child wanted to identify as a cat?”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. If the kids are still taking care of their human responsibilities and not harming themselves or others, I say it’s probably ok. It seems like a healthy way for them to process their thoughts and feelings about their identity in these confusing times.

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