USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools," he wrote. But as of right now, I have not been able to verify a single one of the claims. The Waunakee Community School District does not have protocols for furries, nor do we have an issue with disruptions in our school and classrooms.. The next day, the popular conservative Twitter account Libs of TikTok tweeted the video of Hansen at the school board meeting. The inmates cannot continue to run the asylum. "Restroom facilities are available at all district facilities in compliance with state law," she added. Ive studied more than 40,000 furries from 70 different countries over a decade, she said. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The Michigan incident started when a mom of kids at the Midland School District, about 130 miles northwest of Detroit, spoke at a school board meeting about a rumor which she took as fact alleging the school was accommodating furries by providing litter boxes in unisex bathrooms. Our approach is always unique to the student and we will take into account professional advice and the wellbeing of the student, the Australian school said in a statement. Thankfully for our furry friends, smaller brains don't necessarily correlate to lower intelligence. Pain In The Bud, FurryGate: Rogan, Boebert, Greene Drag Cats Into Politics With Claims Of Litter Boxes In Schools Pain In The Bud. It could damage the student's future self-image and destroy ambitions.". Cant even google interprete for you. Hansen noted the rumor warranted "more investigation" and did not make a claim about who had installed the litter boxes. The Waunakee school district has not seen a wave of students identifying as cats, and they did not enforce any "furry protocols" in order to deal with these alleged students. Don't pay your auto insurance bill until you read this. February 27, 2023 . Brogan, Dylan. Some politicians issued warnings about children acting as cats during debates regarding school policies related to transgender and nonbinary youth. Whos doing it? And this little girl in the very front row says, You have to meow back at him; he identifies as a cat. Are you kidding me?, The student stormed out of the classroom when she laughed at him, she said, and the schools administration fired her: They said We no longer need your services if you cant identify with all the children in the classroom.'. Interestingly, Pesta follows the slide about "furry protocols" with another false rumor about a teacher being fired for protesting against the installation of litterboxes at schools in Michigan for students who identified as cats. "This is still a problem. (LogOut/ Despite Hubbard'sclaim that the person picturedis non-verbal, the woman can be heardspeakingin a 2016 Norweigan mediainterviewabout her identity. WATCH: New Buddy Wildlife Documentary Premieres OnPITB! A private school in Australia is reportedly supporting a young "non-verbal" student identifying as a cat. Proof would be a letter home to parents, a notice on a district website, a copy of a school policy, that sort of thing. I understand WHY my daughter home schooled our grandchildren.". 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. '"The grandmother said a petition to end the practice was created by students and has more than 1,000 signatures. Tim Kraayenbrink, a Republican Iowa state senator, said at a forum in May that local schools had been required to put cat litter boxes in the bathroom for furries to use, as he discussed schools that allow transgender students to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. 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 claim: Photos show non-verbal student whose cat identity is accommodated at public school Some social media users are sharing a photo they claim shows a student who identifies as a cat.. WATCH LIVE: Merrick Garland testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee. 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. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Then, there was the news of Target permitting transgender people to use fitting rooms and restrooms aligned with their gender identity, not their biological sex. This is what we're doing now in 2022. Michigan had installed litter boxes in order to appease students who had started identifying as cats, there's no evidence that any schools in Michigan installed litterboxes for their students. 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. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools.. "It's sad were at a point in our culture that a rumor like this even needs to be addressed," said Blair Stenvick, the communications manager for the Portland-based nonprofit Basic Rights Oregon. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools," he wrote. Like Richard Littejohn at the Daily Mail, I'm not sure how many . You need evidence for that, and this is a very serious treatment.. Lastly, the superintendent of the school district has dismissed the rumors as misinformation. No wonder they get confused, self conscious, low self esteem, and a lot more negative issues. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. The school districts say these claims are untrue. A teenage girl from Melbourne, Australia, identifies as a cat, according to multiple news stories. Sir David Cattenboroughs Newest Documentary Reveals The Elusive Silver-FurredBuddy, Check Out This Beautiful Gallery Of Larry The Cat, PLUS: A New Game Features A FuriousFeline, Cat With Gang Tattoos Rescued From Mexican Prison, Up ForAdoption, Buddy Scores 47 In Knicks Route OfCeltics. Hey wait -I seriously allergic to cats. These things just made me feel uncomfortable and so unnecessary as to why theyre barking at me, and its very distracting during school days.". Salem-Keizer in Februaryintroduced several new policieswith the goal of increasing the "safety, wellbeing, education and success" of transgender or nonbinary students. McHugh deemed the current treatment of transgender children reckless and irresponsible. He also argued against allowing children to transition and equated the process to frontal lobotomies. He also stated that there would be negative long-term consequences of allowing children hormonal treatment and transitioning. "The students are told they cant wear hats or Budweiser shirts in school, but they can wear cat ears, cat tails, masks, leashes. (LogOut/ A teenage girl from Melbourne, Australia, identifies as a cat, according to multiple news stories. The spread of false rumors about students identifying as cats and using litter boxes has been laughed off by many but is a point of concern for others. Many of these assertions claim that schools have or are in the process of having litter boxes placed in schools.. Lisa Hansen asked other parents to join her to do some investigating into the policy, Im all for creativity and imagination, but when someone lives in a fantasy world and expects other people to go along with it, I have a problem with that, Hansen told the Midland school board. Furthermore, there's no evidence that any schools in Michigan installed litterboxes for their students. Michigan superintendent debunks rumor. Many commenters who watched the video took the claim seriously. But according to Superintendent Mark Martin, a petition isnt needed. The Jefferson County school district disputed Ganahls claims and said its dress code prohibits costumes at school. Seriously, Parents are allowing their kids to think they are cats! In a clip from 'What is a Woman?', a documentary by right-wing commentator Matt Walsh, interviewee Sara Stockton, a family therapist based in New York, says schoolchildren are self-identifying as. (LogOut/ Shetold The New York Times on Jan. 23 that she was a "concerned mom" whodidn't feel she knew enough about what was going on at her child's school. Many kids learn in different ways - some are more visual while others absorb information better if they read about it, but everyone learns best when they are comfortable and at ease, and for one teen in Australia, that means acting like a cat.. These situations have been addressed consistently by administration and the dress code policy will continue to be implemented with fidelity. 2022. I like bringing them because its a way to show my creative outlet and something to talk to my friends about. Maddock did not respond to requests for comment. In the Dec. 21, 2021, YouTube video, which has over80,000 views, Lisa Hansen says during the Midland Public Schools board meeting she had been told there wasa litter box in the bathroom of at least one local school for students who self-identify as cat "furries. Some children, she alleged, would only communicate in barks and hisses. Furries are part of an established subculture that has existed for decades. Three school-age furries told NBC News they have at times dressed up at school, typically wearing just part of their full costume such as a mask or gloves that look like paws, but theyd never heard of any furry ever asking for a litter box. Clearly, identifying as a cat is absurd and indicative of a serious personal problem. Weve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country. You want to communicate by meowing? 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. But the vast majority of them still identify as humans, while sometimes adopting an animal-like persona and engaging in short-term roleplay, according to furries and experts, one of whom noted that there are no litter boxes at furry conventions. "This is a rumor that has been circulating nationally, and more recently in our community, and is simply just that, a rumor, and is not in any way accurate. Change). Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that photos show a non-verbalstudentwhose cat identity is accommodated at public school. This is a cat-focused blog, so my interest here is the idea that cats have been dragged into the ongoing American culture wars. A SCOTTISH secondary school has had to deny reports that some of its pupils were identifying as cats and defecating on the floor after school officials refused to provide a litterbox. Some who have believed the false rumors continue to cite them as an example of school districts going too far with so-called identity politics, drawing a connection between the litter box claims to schools allowing transgender students to use the restroom of their choice. The photos show a young woman wearing costume cat ears. Any cats involved? Brandy Zadrozny is a senior reporter for NBC News. I get to the third row and I hear this meow! Uhhh, excuse me? At a luncheon for Republican women in Mesa County, Colorado, last week, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., warned that educators are putting litter boxes in schools for people who identify as cats.. "At a recent school board meeting, it was revealed that a Michigan school placed a LITTER BOXES in the bathroom for students that identify as cats," user Jovan Pulitzer captioned the video in the Facebook post. The "furry protocol" rumor is the newest wrinkle in a series of false claims concerning absurd behavior in schools. As if to prove the superintendents point, commenters piled on, asking among other questions why the superintendent didnt address the issue of furries in schools. Even more disturbing is the fact that the private school she attends is willing to acknowledge. Im staying calm, but Im not happy about it, and its happened on your watch, and I dont understand it., Heres the video: (It should start at the relevant section, but if it doesnt, Hansen speaks at the 32:44 mark). For foreign students. Comments have been closed on this article. Tags: john depetro north kingstown rhode island Please Share This 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. An appeals court also recently upheld one Florida high schools policy of forbidding transgender students from using the bathroom of their acquired gender. Snowstorm Could Hit Metro Detroit Friday: Possible Snow Totals, Detroit Bakery Reopens In Midtown With 25 Cent Cookies, DTE Energy Will Give Automatic Credit To Those Affect By Power Outage, Here's How Many Guns Were Sold In Michigan Last Month, 2 Women Sexually Assaulted While Walking In Ann Arbor, Police Say, Popular Oakland County Restaurant, Music Venue Abruptly Closes. Its a lot easier to weather calls for cancellation when youve been around for 20 years, youve made billions for your parent company and you have a contract that keeps you on TV for years yet. Isla Bryson: Why are trans criminals put in Scottish women's prisons? 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