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!)

Those who tend to get sucked into gender identities and neo-identities tend to be autistic/mentally ill/have a history of neglect or abuse.
Typical childhood timelines often don’t apply. As an autistic teen I was still playing with the same toys I did as a 6 year old, and got great enjoyment out of it.
I would strongly hazard a guess that anyone identifying as a cat isn’t a typically developing child.

I would strongly hazard a guess that anyone identifying as a cat isn’t a typically developing child.

Which makes it even more terrifying that any teacher would go along with this ideology that is riddled with safeguarding red flags.

It’s a huge eye opener to me that there are so many people in so many influential positions and organisations who lack the critical thinking skills that are vital to keeping all children, vulnerable or not, safe. “Just following guidelines” doesn’t make it the right thing to do.

IKR! I'm loving all the "Youre right to be wary. Because it’s absolute rubbish", posts from panicked subscribers to identity politics watching their entire ideology go down the drain.

And I'm still snorting at the only reason children are identifying as furries is because they read the Daily Mail 😁

It’s brilliant that two 13 year old girls have caused males , TRAs and gender ideology believers to panic

So well done. It became about cat identifying. Showing how baseless it all is.

With any luck, all these reports of children identifying as nonsensical things will focus on the fact that minors are targeted over identity politics.

Not being able to 'identify' as anything under the age of 18 would be a good start.

A child who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by a doctor could be accommodated up to a point that doesn't impact any other of the children.

Focus on this batshittery could so easily backfire.

GrabbyGabby in what way will it backfire?

Quite

And what's telling is talking about cat gender ironically is making people talk in terms they wouldn't about other gender identities.

Remember some schools are teaching that there are a huge range of gender identities (the list of 72 is apparently not exhaustive), not just your bog standard trans boy and trans girl and they are all valid - so what makes cat gender illegitimate compared to other genders?

Why are autistic kids being flagged as more vulnerable and they should be stopped for cat gender but not trans?

Even if this is a load of bollocks and a made up story, the point still remains about the absurdity of teaching gender and how so many kids just aren't emotionally equipped to deal with what they are being told - either because they are vulnerable to be told they can become something that is at odds with reality and all that comes with it or because they are being gaslit and taught that their boundaries are not important and they must follow authoritarian doctrines rather develop critical thinking and freedom of expression.

CatKidGate opens the conversation in a way that should have been done from the beginning. It exposes the exasperation and frustration and sense of injustice going on. And it's not ok.

It's not really about cats at all

@TeaKlaxon it left a bad taste in my mouth too.

Maybe but I recall him making statements I liked when briefly in the role. He was also very pro free speech in Universities even before he was demonstrated against by students just for appearing at the Conservative Association at Warwick University by what seemed like student trans activists.

The story isn't about cats at all really.

It's about how teenage girls feel they have to record their teacher because otherwise they risk being labelled as transphobic/ genderphobic and they are compelled to prop other peoples fantasy.

It's about the lack of trust between parents and schools.

It's about the extent of concern about the lack of transparency and oversight about sex education in schools.

It's about how there is a mentality amongst teachers that they should just follow orders' without having safeguarding centred and how if you can't question and be critical safeguarding becomes impossible.

It's about the lack of understanding about how more vulnerable children who are emotional immature for any reason (often autism) are much more unable to process this stuff and are being harmed by it in a variety of ways.

It's about how children are resenting the level of rainbow education and how it's starting to produce a backlash in kids. It's no longer alternative culture - it's top down imposed authoritarian scripture.

It's about fear of cancellation rather than responses being possible to be honest and open and measured.

Everything screams how appalling the culture has become at schools that we've got this stage.

The fact it is believable that kids can be identifying as cats speaks volumes even if it's not true.

To dismiss it as a lie misses so so many underlying issues.

The government needs to ensure the quality of what is taught in schools, it needs to ensure its appropriate, that it isn't ideologically driven, it's not causing social contagion, it's not causing fear of being maliciously accused of transphobia (when transphobia has become so all encompassing and anything that's not full on enthusiastic cheerleading), it's about a massive black hole in safeguarding but most of all it's about this lack of transparency and loss of trust. And honestly I don't see why this is proving just so hard to remedy.

Well they have failed to enforce their own 2020 guidelines which I recall being pleased about. Of course the devolved nations would argue those guidelines do not apply to them and are arguably even further down the rabbit hole.
I think weirdly it was Boris/Truss who changed May's batshit policy of self id. It was all far too late but Labour are strangely silent on all of it except to be pro Trans rights over all overs including the right of kids to be kids.
I cannot conceive of what excuse the teaching unions have for embracing all this nonsense most of their members are/(were) women.

I work with teenagers and I’m afraid from anecdotal experience it is really happening

I agree with you, RedToothBrush, the government have insisted that schools teach gender identity without specifying exactly what that means, which has left a massive vacuum to be filled. And then they’re wading in castigating teachers saying ‘no, we didn’t mean that when we said you had to teach gender identity’. Well what do you want taught?

Because schools cannot be expected to muddle through on this without support and back-up anymore.

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

But all of it is 'contested opinions taught as facts' as is most of what I have to put myself through for my mandatory EDI training. Loads of it is unreferenced random statistics about suicide etc.

How do the government not know and see this?

How can they insist that gender identity forms part of the curriculum because all of it is opinion and belief, not fact.

Great post RedToothbrush. And yes - it is this government who have funded and enabled queer theory groups - from Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence, Global Butterflies, Mermaids, GIRES & a host of others. Taxpayers money funding the gaslighting of children and the silencing of the education profession. I've been writing to my MP for 5 years about the safeguarding implications of all this - just empty promises in response.

The hysterical cries of "Noooo this isn't true" no longer have any credibility. It's happened and we now have to try to rescue countless children from the grip of unstable beliefs that are doing real harm to them.

It’s worth considering what has been happening in many western democracies and still is with gender ideology.

Canada, Aus, NZ, US (although divided) and other countries have embraced this trend and continue to do so. They have removed paths to dissent via media and government.

We still have a chance, we have the media although not centre left, we had the debate, I doubt the sense heard there has been replicated elsewhere but happy to see a link.

Whether the U.K. will manage to extricate itself as an outlier will be seen yet.

Under Labour / Lib Dems I’d say lost cause though.

And each video or image that alerts people to what’s going on helps.

It takes it out of secrecy and shines a light right on it.

The girls’ recording is very helpful. So many try to down play it.

Why are you introducing this Labour/Lib Dem angle? Why not focus on the issue happening now, under a 13 years Tory government, with Tory education policies etc. Not everything is Labour’s fault, I really don’t get this constant scaremongering. It’s not a right/left, believer/non-believer, or whatever other angle you want to bring into it.

Labour. Still not learning lessons:

twitter.com/labwomendec/status/1671488686335184896?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

I believe they're mentioned as we are mostly left/Labour voters (former, in many cases). And we expect better. They've certainly been a shit opposition, where all this is concerned.

Here’s an important relationship for the future. Stonewall have been the principal lobbyists that the kids are pushing back on.

Why don’t Stonewall have this kind of relationship with the Conservatives?

https://twitter.com/iain_w_anderson/status/1671149723841904642

It’s not about fault it’s taking a step back and looking at wider context.

This is not just a U.K. issue.

The centre left is largely silent or fully TRA, which is why we keep seeing attacks along the lines of ‘how can you align yourself with right wing media’.

They are the only ones raising it. This division is not only in the U.K.

That was to LadyWithLapdog

Posters are very clear about the responsibility of this government for this mess in schools. We're also clear that as the titled gentlemen in charge of Labour and the Lib Dems both argue that women can have a penis, so any government change is likely to make this even worse with the boundaries that are finally being introduced for children removed. Let alone the bonfire of rights that will happen under them, in terms of women's sport, prisons, hospitals, changing rooms etc.
But please advise us when Starmer & Davey have reversed their current toxic attitudes to women.

Sunny Egg but that’s just not true. I’m centre left and I’m not mad, I’m not TRA, whatever that means, I’m just as bewildered and confused about how far things have gone. I think overall it would help to not create more divisions. I am not dismissing the importance and seriousness but, honestly, it seems to be a cloak for all the other shit going on under the current government.

I’m not here to talk about Starmer and Davies anymore than I ask anyone to defend the Tories.