Heads should stop teachers allowing children to identify as cats, says No 10

[IwantToRetire]

The spokesman said that teachers should not teach “contested opinions as facts” and called for headteachers to intervene in extreme cases.

“It would not be right to comment on the actions of a specific individual or a specific school without knowing the full details, but we understand why these reports will be concerning for parents,” the spokesman said.

“In broad terms, teachers have a responsibility to encourage their students to engage respectfully with those they disagree with.

“They should also not be teaching contested opinions as fact, shutting down valid discussions and debates.

“It’s important parents and carers are reassured that children aren’t being influenced by personal views of those teaching them. Any example that strays from this would be wrong and we would expect headteachers to act.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/20/rye-college-children-neo-pronouns-cats-moons-rishi-sunak/

Unlike the headline the article makes it clear that a "spokesman" (how old fashioned and sexist shouldn't that be spokesperson?!) has said this so Sunak may or may not have a public opinion about this ...

But the Telegraph seems to be keen to keep the issue of self identifying on their front pages.

When I first heard about children doing this I thought (hoped) that it was younger children making fun of the trans generation, but seems not.

NB article is behind a paywall but can be read at https://archive.ph by entering the Telegraph URL above into the box.

(The cat in picture below looks very cross. Probably feels the same way GC women feel - outraged at the notion that some young human could in any way know or speak with experience based knowledge about being a cat!)

Try to engage with what someone is saying and get bullshit in return 👍

The fact that it all seems to be cats just backs up the social contagion aspect of trans identities among kids - just as social contagion plays a part in so much other stuff at that age, from anorexia and self-harm to playground crazes. I imagine some of these kids are genuinely confused [perhaps more the ND ones] and have been led to really think you can identify as a cat, and others are pushing the concept as far as they can for fun or to take the piss out of it, and if catgender is what teachers will fall for and what works then it will take off.

Do they eat cat food? That would be a good show of commitment. Not eating cat food, not a cat.

Just laughing at this. Mine would have been doing the same and asking for a litter box in the corner of the classroom 😁😁

Rosie Duffield summer this whole nonsense up, "It's half funny, half scary" .

Teachers should never be allowed to live this one down, they lost the respect of most people and are now a joke, turns out they are big scary cats - meow - minus a tiny minority like Safe school alliance.

I agree, I’d not be surprised now if kids start to mock the teachers involved now until it fades away.

The cat video offers hope that a general LGB backlash will be limited.

Which means our best hope as parents is our children manage the behaviour of the adults.

This ideology couldn't be stopped by parents, heads, teachers. The children may just pull it off though

Kudos to the press officer for including strays in the press release about cats…

‘’Any example that strays from this would be wrong and we would expect headteachers to act.”

This is ridiculous now! When i was in school in the late 90’s you were either male or female….so what the fuck has changed????

When my children had teachers like the one recorded, I told them stick your fingers up at them so they can't see, it worked a treat. If they were still at school I would tell them meow to each other so the teachers can't hear and laugh amongst yourselves.

Just musing on the potential knock on effects of allowing children to identify as cats:
Having to learn the language of 'meow' to discuss Shakespeare, Physics, History.
Providing cat litter trays- quite an expense as cat litter isn't cheap.
Changes to school lunch menu- unless the tuna baguette or fish and chip options would cover it which would certainly not be the case for our two.
Names- we have a cat in our street called Pop-Tart but I also know of cats named Fido, MinkyMoo, Jumbo and KittenMitten. Would exam certificates need to show chosen names?
Regular naps are required by cats- can the curriculum be adapted?
Would Dreamies be on sale at Break?
Would bottom washing be allowed in public?
Would students be allowed to carry catnip mice around in their mouths?

These are rituals , routines and behaviours that cats have an expectation of and should not be denied.

And, of course, classroom doors would have to be kept open at all times so the students could wander in and out at will.

Coughing up hairballs in lessons

A bit off-topic, but what you describe here in relation to schools mirrors what I’ve seen in my workplace. Little consultancies advising on gender seem to have got the ear of the company and because their messages are now disseminated by our employer through the same internal channels as training on modern slavery, anti bribery, etc., it’s accepted as right and good. Rather like the teacher’s comments in the article, I also find the message is often garbled. We had some mandatory training on sexual harassment recently, which highlighted transphobia as a form of sexual harassment, which made no sense at all to me. Whoever created the material had a powerful platform and yet clearly didn’t understand basic concepts. Yet people were saying how useful it had been and how much they had learnt.

I know most of us on here are focussed on the threats to women’s rights with the present trans campaigning, and that is certainly the most immediate concern, but there is a bigger problem all this is highlighted and that is how easy it is to get people to espouse nonsensical ideas (that the majority don’t fully understand or articulate in consistently - and note that I say espouse rather than believe) and to cast out wrongthinkers.

Which means our best hope as parents is our children manage the behaviour of the adults

This could help

The best bit was that I caught my children doing a slow wind up like a fishing rod - middle finger at me behind my back, I laughed as it's a good way to help them control their temper, they eventually grew out of it.

I don’t understand how pretty much every September you have stories about haircuts or uniform infringements and it’s suspension. Now kids can crawl about and it’s ok . Plus furries is a very specific sex culture that children should not ideally be aware of.

I don't know if he is correct, James Lindsay believes it's all for ESG credit scores, that pension managers are like the mob bullying businesses.

You are deliberately missing the point that the only way the 'right wing are all over this' is because the left wing left a political vacuum in this area because their brains all fell out.

Women who would never read the Daily Mail have been applauding it because the Guardian bullied all its gender critical staff out and let Little OJ run riot. The Unions bullied all the gender critical women out. The political parties told them they were unwelcome.

Miss this point and you were never paying attention in the first place. Instead you hide behind 'just following the guidelines'.

Well, of course. Because everyone knows that if someone (:usually a woman) dares to express doubt that a six foot two inch person who shaves, has an Adam’s apple and intact masculine primary sexual characteristics is not actually and totally the same as every other woman and should be accepted as such, other people will threaten to décapitate , rape or strangle them.

Whereas so far no one has issued any such threats on behalf of cat identifiers. The cats are a metaphor, perhaps.

Has anyone asked the cats how they feel about humans taking over their identity? Pretty sure they aren't happy about it.
Cats have rights too dontcha know? 😉

Also discussed here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4830671-to-feel-sorry-for-the-teacher-who-was-secretly-recorded

Being a cat is a gender identity apparently. A xenogender.

LuluBlakey1 Sorry, I think you are wrong there. Schools would need to budget for cat flaps in all their doors.

What if a child identifies as a helpless kitten and another identifies as a boisterous dog? What steps would the school take to ensure the safety of the kitten while respecting the rights of the dog to be boisterous?

What if a child identifies as a spider and another child has a phobia of them? Which rights trump the others?

If a child can wear cat ears, can the other children adapt their uniform without fear of punishment?

The whole thing is demonstrably bonkers.

😂showing your age there..?

What are cats doing going to school anyway, really? That’s not very true to cat nature is it.

oh dear it really is such bollocks.