February 08, 2022. Really. Occams Razor would indicate she was just chasing clicks. "It is ok to pretend to be a cat or dog in your private time, but the world and work force should not be forced to play along," one said. At least 20 Republican politicians have claimed that schools are making accommodations for students who identify as cats. I have two grandkids in school and my grandkids didnt want to go to school anymore," she said. Under a new state diversity policy, students may inform schools of how they identify and what pronouns to be used. In the days before McKenna appeared on Peta's podcast, Pesta gave a few presentations that mentioned this alleged email. These situations have been addressed consistently by administration and the dress code policy will continue to be implemented with fidelity. I was also walking down the hallway three weeks ago when a boy wearing dog ears barked at me and my friend as we passed, she said, adding the boy left the school building on all fours. It's more about the complexity of neural connections. oh, dont forget to stock up on cat food as human food isnt really good for them. Author lied. "I was hearing rumblings of this last year, but it really got bad when they went back to school this year. Fact Check: Was Teacher Fired for Not Meowing Back at Student Who Identifies as Cat? Newsweek, 25 Jan. 2022, https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-was-teacher-fired-not-meowing-back-student-who-identifies-cat-1672597. 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 . subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. "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. You need evidence for that, and this is a very serious treatment.. We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. "So, now in schools, if a kid wants to identify as a furry, . Not everyone supported the policy changes, with a group protesting them outside district offices in April. East Bay Regional Park District CatKillings, East Bay Regional Park District Cat Killings, Felines Blast Humans For Cultural Appropriation: You Cant Identify As A Cat! Pain In The Bud, Les flins sen prennent aux humains pour leur appropriation culturelle : Vous ne pouvez pas vous identifier en tant que chat ! Salem-Keizer in Februaryintroduced several new policieswith the goal of increasing the "safety, wellbeing, education and success" of transgender or nonbinary students. Clearly, identifying as a cat is absurd and indicative of a serious personal problem. No Left Turn in Education, a Leading Anti-Critical Race Theory Group, Frequently Pushes Toxic Rhetoric in Media. Media Matters for America, https://www.mediamatters.org/education/no-left-turn-education-leading-anti-critical-race-theory-group-frequently-pushes-toxic. In December 2021, conservative activist Lisa Hansen claimed at a school board meeting in Midland, Michigan, that an unnamed school in the district had placed a litter box for the kids that identify as cats in a unisex bathroom as part of the agenda thats being pushed. Hansen, who later started a local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist group, did not respond to requests for comment. The spread of rumors about litter boxes has grown alongside other extreme and baseless rhetoric accusing LGBTQ people and educators of grooming children through lessons and policies on gender and sexuality. "Let me be clear there is no truth whatsoever tothis false statement/accusation! www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF2k85dOs_Y. Brogan, Dylan. WATCH: New Buddy Wildlife Documentary Premieres OnPITB! A Michigan school superintendent debunked the rumor after a video from a December school board meeting resurfaced in which a speaker airs concerns about students who "identify as cats." Lisa. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools.. If we do encounter a verifiable story about a school district doing that, Ill absolutely write about it. Perhaps even more surprising is what nearly a decade of research on the subject can tell us all about how we relate to animals, how we understand ourselves, and how we benefit from letting the inner child run wild every so often.. Fact check: False claim about Boston Children's Hospital's transgender care program. Well, not a little bit, a lot a bit upset furious; I would even use that word, Hansen said. Republican lawmakers in numerous states are attempting to pass bills that would require teachers to notify parents if their child is identifying as transgender at school. Will Democrats and Big Tech ever apologize? He later told a local newspaper he didnt verify the claim was true, and he did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News. Seriously, Parents are allowing their kids to think they are cats! The #1 Way To Support This Channel Is Backing Me On SubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.com/thequarteringBecome A Youtube Member! 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.. As usual, left-wing ideologues have created larger societal problems by refusing to address the main issue. Urban decay: There's a reason criminals love Los Angeles's district attorney, Student borrowers advocate Biden debt relief program amid Supreme Court battle, Trump and DeSantis attend dueling Republican conferences as GOP primary field heats up, China will target the US homeland in war over Taiwan, Army leader predicts, Users recoil at new iPhone feature that slows charging when clean energy isn't used. LGBTQ2SIA+ is the acronym used by Basic Rights Oregon and other advocacy groups to describe those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, two-spirit, intersexual, asexual and/or other varying genders and sexualities. Reporting from USA Today contributed to this story. [Doctors] dont have evidence that [the treatment] will be the right one, McHugh said in 2019. This material may not be reproduced without permission. "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. Olivia, 16, from California, said shes been part of the furry community for six years. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. 2. 2022 03 31 Dr Duke Pesta VFW Hartland. There are websites that claim there is a catgender movement, but that is a different thing. "Unbelievable.". After we confirmed North Kingstown is allowing students to identify as cats, we have now learned another school district is allowing a student to identify as a dog.The school is trying to deal with a student who dresses as a dog, lays on the floor, eats food out of a bowl on the floor and barks and growls at other students. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to Regarding the Norwegian woman, that one startled me as I have a cat named Nano. 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. Thank you for supporting our journalism. '"The grandmother said a petition to end the practice was created by students and has more than 1,000 signatures. But the claim has taken on a life of its own among a growing number of Republicans, conservative influencers and political commentators. USA TODAY has previously debunked other false claims that school districts accommodated children who behave like animals by providing litterboxes or allowing them to lick their "paws" in class. But there's no truth to the rumor there's a litter box in unisex . That has not stopped such rumors from circulating on social media, where they have been repeated like a game of telephone, often with descriptions of friends of friends who supposedly saw such things firsthand. students identifying as cats. As the video circulated, the Midland superintendent issued a statement to clarify Hansens claim was false. "Furries" roleplay as anthropomorphized animal characters. On Facebook, public posts show variations of the claim popping up throughout the country every day, citing unnamed grandchildren or neighbors, from Florida to California. Theyre all just like yours: A friend of a friend says it happened in their daughters district, or a teacher friend said she heard a school put a litter box in a bathroom. Rand Paul was vindicated this week regarding COVID. The photos show aNorweigan woman who was the subject of multiple media reports in 2016 when she claimed to be a cat trapped in a human's body. No teachers have come forward to talk about the supposed protocols, and no students or parents have corroborated any of these claims. (LogOut/ Rumors began to surface that these students were permitted to use litter boxes in bathrooms to. The district where Columbine High School is located has been stocking classrooms with small amounts of cat litter since 2017, but as part of go buckets that contain emergency supplies in case students are locked in a classroom during a shooting. False rumors about. I dont understand why these kids are acting so un-human and not happy with themselves, she said. We have excellent schools here. former QAnon supporter and Republican politician Marjorie Taylor Greene. One student was apparently disciplined for pulling on the tail of one of the cat identifying students who was seen hissing at students in the cafeteria. I understand WHY my daughter home schooled our grandchildren.". Local advocates want to shut down that line of thinking. 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. Netflix's new show is a slow-building horror-drama with Lovecraftian elements. theco-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Oregon trans student's advice to LGBTQ youth, Salem-Keizer: Claims of litter boxes in school restrooms are false. ! So thats why weve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. This is what we're doing now in 2022. 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. The fandom is centered around an interest in anthropomorphism, or human characteristics given to animals, according to Sharon Roberts, co-founder of a furry research group called Furscience. The email was also published in a regional Facebook group. The story about the fired substitute also had its roots in an online video, with a woman who says shes a teacher relating the story via TikTok. The inmates cannot continue to run the asylum. 5:55 Rumours about litter boxes in schools for students identifying as cats are false, Norbert Carpenter tells CBC News: Compass host Steve Bruce Litter boxes will not be put in schools on. Like Richard Littejohn at the Daily Mail, I'm not sure how many . The "furry protocol" rumor is the newest wrinkle in a series of false claims concerning absurd behavior in schools. 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. And it has not stopped some politicians from picking up these claims and using them to alarm people by saying that this is where protections for LGBTQ students will lead. Hansens claims were picked up and reshared by a state GOP chairwoman, Meshawn Maddock, who warned Parent heroes will TAKE BACK our schools in a Facebook post. TikToks are going viral of school students claiming to identify as animals . At least 20 conservative candidates and elected officials have claimed this year that K-12 schools are placing litter boxes on campus or making other accommodations for students who identify as cats, according to an NBC News review of public statements. This is freakn ridiculous! There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools," he wrote. Weve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country. Do your research. Rumors claiming schools are putting litter boxes in restrooms for students who identify as cats have spread across the United States this year, and have now reached Salem. And um, I am really disturbed by that., Furry is an evolving word once exclusively used as an adjective meaning consisting of fur, according to Merriam-Webster, but now can be used to describe people who have a keen interest in, or even dress up as, anthropomorphic animal characters, like those often seen in comics, games and cartoons.. Dr. Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief and director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Johns Hopkins University Hospital (and current distinguished professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences), echoed this sentiment when discussing the medical field and transgender people. 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.'". Nebraska Lawmaker Apologizes for Debunked Litter Box Claim. NBC News, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/nebraska-lawmaker-apologizes-debunked-litter-box-claim-rcna21951. In one of the images, she appears to be crawling on her hands and knees. One post calling for school districts to take action has been shared more than 31,000 times. USA TODAY reached out to Maddock and others who shared theclaim on social media for comment. At an October Midland school board meeting, an eighth grader said she was confused, as a student, why kids are walking around acting like cats and dogs., Speaking at about the 1:30-minute mark, she described a student who walked around the school with a long cat tail, cat ears and "little bells that jingled everywhere she went.". The district's superintendent said in a public statement that "there have never been litter boxes within (Midland Public) schools.". These people will hiss at you or scratch at you if they dont like something youre doing. The post has been shared more than 300 times and garnered receptions of both hilarity and condemnation. Sheryl, if you have the name of the school district, and you can show me proof in the form of a written school policy, and put me in touch with your teacher friend in Georgia who can give me verifiable details, Ill be happy to write another follow-up article. The post quickly went viral, racking up nearly 860,000 video views on Twitter. An appeals court also recently upheld one Florida high schools policy of forbidding transgender students from using the bathroom of their acquired gender. District officials confirmed to the Statesman Journal that the claims are categorically false. This thing has gotten out of control with politicians just wanting to have a talking point, said John McDonald, former director of campus safety at Jefferson County schools, whos now a school security consultant. This was the case fora Jan. 21 Facebook post that wasviewed over 8,600 timesand a tweet shared over 5,000 times. I start looking on the ground, through the fourth roweverythings good. Furscience, the public face of a team of researchers who study the subculture. Even more disturbing is the fact that the private school she attends is willing to acknowledge her feline self-identification and permits her to act like a cat in school so long as her behavior doesnt disrupt the class, according to the Herald Sun. This site is about cats, and I want everyone who loves cats to feel welcome here. forbidding transgender students from using the bathroom of their acquired gender. Follow us on Facebook! 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. Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claimthat a Michigan school put litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as cats. I'd even use the word 'furious,'" she says. 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. "She is non verbal and she crawls around making cat like noises and the school is perfectly fine with this behavior? The one thing thats certain, however, is that cats dont deserve to be in the middle of this mess. Im just embarrassed by what this has gotten to," she said. Did a Michigan School District Install Litter Boxes in Bathrooms? Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/litter-boxes-bathrooms/. The trend toward acting like a cat or dog is real, even if the Midland school litter box is the hoax du jour. "I was hearing rumblings of this last year, but it really got bad when they went back to school this year. I dont take a political position and will not, as its important for all cat lovers to feel comfortable reading the site and participating in discussions. Ive studied more than 40,000 furries from 70 different countries over a decade, she said. "Apparently, from what I understand, theyre called 'furries,'" the grandmother, who asked to remain anonymous, told WLKY. Midland Superintendent Michael Sharrowrejected the claim outright in an email sent Jan. 20 to parents, staff and community members. Surveys and pre-publication research from Furscience also indicate that the vast majority are LGBTQ and as many as a third are transgender. A Wisconsin school district has a set of "furry protocols" that allows students to identify as cats. I have never once heard a furry say they want to use a litter box, Kymera said. Alternatively have them DNA tested. A SCHOOL in Michigan has bizarrely been accused by outraged parents of installing litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as cats and dogs. Independent TV. Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado, speaks at a forum in Denver on Sept. 30. Other students felt threatened by the furries, who would hiss at you and scratch at you if they dont like something youre doing, the report said. This is a cat-focused blog, so my interest here is the idea that cats have been dragged into the ongoing American culture wars. False rumors about litter boxes in classrooms have gained momentum in recent months. "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. The Waunakee Community School District does not have protocols for furries, nor do we have an issue with disruptions in our school and classrooms.. Recently upheld one Florida high schools policy of forbidding transgender students from using the bathroom of their acquired gender Pesta! A kid wants to identify as animals serious personal problem said shes been of. To shut down that line of thinking is Backing me on SubscribeStarhttps: a! 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To, '' she said practice was created by students and has more than 40,000 furries 70. Claims concerning absurd behavior in schools chasing clicks forget to stock up on cat food as human isnt! Comment only available to our paying subscribers have been dragged into the ongoing American culture.... She was just chasing clicks to the rumor there & # x27 ; not..., dont forget to stock up on cat food as human food isnt really good for them with,. Our grandchildren. `` the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big about! Rumors began to surface that these students were permitted to use a litter box unisex. Media for comment one, McHugh said in 2019 Wisconsin school district has a set ``... Fine with this behavior would indicate she was just chasing clicks catgender,! What pronouns to be in the days before McKenna appeared on Peta 's podcast, Pesta gave few... Word, Hansen said students and has more than 300 times and garnered receptions of hilarity...