Parents and teachers warned not to ridicule schoolkids who identify as animals
by TEACHERS and parents have been warned not to ridicule or over-react to schoolkids identifying as Furries – people with an active interest in animal characters with human characteristics.
A Government-backed safeguarding group says children dressing up in furry costumes need to “feel comfortable expressing themselves”.
The Safer Schools initiative says teachers and parents should be on the lookout for students taking up “fursonas”, or personalised animal characters, and dressing in fur suits in a bizarre trend that started in the States.
Safer Schools, a respected safe-guarding body, shares tips on its website including approaching the child’s interest with “no judgment” and showing “understanding”.
“What you should not do is overreact or ridicule,” it says.
“If a child or young person in your care begins to show an interest in joining any community, be it online or off, how you approach and handle any related conversations is crucial.
“It is important to build a safe environment for them based on trust, where they feel comfortable expressing themselves to you.”
The body is urging parents to familiarise themselves with the Furry community so they can communicate with their child.
It adds: “The Furry community is a complex one, made up of many different identities and definitions of what it means to be a ‘furry’.”
Safer Schools has had government funding for the development of its apps, works closely with a number of local authorities and trains teachers on safeguarding.
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It makes clear it is not promoting Furries, but highlighting the risks. Boss Jim Gamble, who ran the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command until 2010, told The Sun on Sunday: “We try to provide information that helps parents and teachers so they can engage with their children in a way that makes sense.
“We are most definitely not promoting Furries or the issues associated with it.
“What we are doing is providing advice on fandom and cosplay.”
Mr Gamble insists his organisation has seen no evidence of Furries in any school he deals with and believes the vast majority of cases are hoaxes.
But he said: “Educating and empowering parents so they are able to deal with this is really important. We make it very clear there are significant risks.
“Our advice is there to allow parents to have a sensible and sensitive conversation with their child and highlight risks.”
Mr Gamble said the Government needs to introduce national guidelines for schools on identity issues.
But he added: “By over-reacting and over-magnifying the issue we feed an unhealthy curiosity.
“At the end of the day a human being is not a cat.”
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said: “This idea that we can all choose to be anything we want to be — so I can choose to be a giant, or you can choose to be a flying creature — is preposterous nonsense.
“Do we really need guidance on this?
“I dressed up — as a little boy — in various costumes and so did my children.
“Role play is an important part of children’s learning. But it is exactly that, role play. It’s not about their fundamental identity.”
Former teacher Liz Arnold, 49, said that in her 20-year career she had one child identify as a cat.
She said: “Because it was a very young child, other pupils simply accepted it. It wasn’t an issue.
“So I question the need for intricate guidance for families and teachers.”
This week it emerged schools are allowing kids to identify as cats, horses and dinosaurs in class, and teachers are doing little to question such behaviour.
And there was outrage when a 13-year-old was branded “despicable” by a teacher at Rye College in East Sussex for rejecting a classmate’s claim she identified as a cat.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has ordered a probe into the incident.
Education reformer Katharine Birbalsingh, founder of the Michaela School in West London, said she knew of a school pupil who identifies as a gay male hologram.
A Department for Education spokesman said: “It is completely inappropriate for schools to treat a pupil as an animal or inanimate object and it is important parents are able to raise concerns with schools and that schools engage seriously.”
What are furries?
FURRIES are people who have an active interest in anthropomorphism, or giving human characteristics to animals.
The characters are often made up by the community members themselves, who create an avatar known as a “fursona”.
A fursona interacts with others in the community via role-playing and art.
Some Furries make colourful costumes for their characters called “fursuits” and usually wear them in a public forum, either in person or online.
Those in the community see being a Furry as a safe, functional way to explore who you are as a person, including gender identity and sexual orientation.
The Furry community holds worldwide conventions and “meets” where Furries can have real-life encounters.
Originating in California in the mid-1980s, there are now hundreds of furry conventions worldwide annually.
A group called LondonFurs holds monthly meets for UK-based Furries.
Wrong to say kids can’t have opinion
EXCLUSIVE by Jaya Narain
PARENTS of pupils at the school in the centre of a storm over a child identifying as a cat blasted teachers for dragging “gender politics” into the classroom.
A teacher at Rye College in East Sussex branded a pupil “despicable” for questioning her classmate’s odd request.
In a secret recording the angry teacher, who has not been named, can be heard telling the 13-year-old girl her view that gender was binary was “very sad”.
The teacher tells the pupil: “If you don’t like it you need to go to a different school”, before the child says: “How can you identify as a cat when you’re a girl?”
The teacher told two Year 8 pupils that they were being reported to a senior leader and were no longer welcome at the school if they continued to express their views.
The teacher added they needed a “proper educational conversation about equality, diversity and inclusion”.
Now parents say the pupils are stressed and tearful about expressing their opinions.
One couple with a child in Year 7 said their daughter had been left in tears by the incident.
They claimed there was too much focus on “woke” gender issues and not enough on education.
The child’s mum said: “All this gender politics is stressing the children out and it’s wrong to tell them they can’t have an opinion.
“I know a lot of parents who are very supportive of the two girls involved — they’re very bright and the point they were making was reasonable.
“Everything has gone woke. Teachers should concentrate on teaching and shouldn’t be telling them they don’t belong in school.”
The family, who live in Rye, said they were “shocked” by the audio clip and said their previous experience of the school had been positive.
The girl’s dad said: “Listening to the audio clip made me angry. The teacher had no right to say a pupil’s opinion is wrong.
“It’s an opinion, for goodness’ sake. We should be encouraging our children to have opinions, as long as they’re reasonable.
“Our daughter isn’t in that year group but she was crying about the fuss and stress it has caused.
“It’s highlighted how gender politics has taken over schools. It’s not good. I feel heads across Britain need a clear plan on this issue.”
After meetings between the Department for Education and Rye College, the school has hit back, saying none of its pupils “identify as a cat or any other animal”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also commented on the row, saying teachers should not be “shutting down debate” between pupils.
This week The Sun revealed that under new government guidance, schools will be banned from letting kids change their gender if their parents say no.
Rye College is a co-educational secondary with academy status, with around 570 pupils
Its last Ofsted report ranked it as “good”.