A teenage girl is now said to identify as a cat at the private school in Melbourne where she attends to support her ‘animal behaviour’.
The eighth-grader does not speak during school hours, according to the Herald Sun report, despite being described as “phenomenaly bright”.
A parent reportedly told the newspaper that the school let the girl behave like a cat as long as it didn’t distract her or the other students.
“Nobody seems to have a protocol for students identifying as animals, but the approach has been that if it doesn’t disrupt the school, everyone is supportive,” a source close to the family told The Daily Mail. log.
An eighth year pupil at a private girls’ school in Melbourne is said to have identified herself as a cat, which the school supports
The school did not confirm the student’s behavior in a statement to the Herald Sun, but said its support staff were struggling with a range of psychological issues.
In a statement, the school said students had “a range of issues, ranging from mental health, anxiety or identity issues.”
“Our approach is always unique to the student and we will consider professional advice and the well-being of the student,” the school said.
The girl who identifies as a cat is claimed not to speak at school, even though she is ‘phenomenaly bright’
The Herald Sun also reported that a boy identified as a dog for some time and was treated by a psychologist in Melbourne.
In March, female students at an elite private school in Brisbane were reported to be crawling and cutting holes in their uniforms for tails because they identified themselves as cats or foxes.
“When a girl went to sit at a free desk, another girl yelled at her and said she was sitting on his cock; there is a slit in this child’s uniform where the tail apparently is,’ a worried parent told the Courier Mail.
The school denied the parent’s request.
There have been other reports of girls in Australia identifying as cats, although one school said its staff were unaware of this.
“Furries” are a subculture of people who identify as animals, often dressing up in costumes as part of what they call their “fursonas”.
There have been reports of students identifying as “furs” in American schools.
In January, a Michigan school district was forced to deny that litter boxes had been provided to students who identified themselves as ‘furs’ after a woman requested them at a school board meeting. last month.
District Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow responded that it was “unconscionable” that he had to address the issue in an email to parents that was also posted on Facebook.
‘Let me be clear in this communication. There is no truth in this false statement/accusation! There have never been litter boxes in MPS schools,” Sharrow said.
Psychologist Judith Locke said she’s not surprised at people’s tendency to identify as “romanticized” versions of animals.
Furries are a subculture of people who identify as animals and often dress to represent their ‘fursonas’
Brisbane psychologist Judith Locke said she was not surprised by the emergence of the “furry” trend.
She claimed it was only a matter of time before people would start identifying as animals after romanticizing them in their lives, in movies and on TV.
“But there is a real challenge around accepting people’s decisions about how they see themselves these days; it is a difficult area.
Australian adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said he had only come across one client who identified as an animal in his 25 years of practice.
The client was a young boy identified as a dog.
Dr Carr-Gregg said that once the stressors in his life were removed, the boy resorted to identifying as a human.
According to the Furry Furscience website, three-quarters of those who adopt “fursonas” are under the age of 25.
“Furries tend to be teenagers and young adults, although there are also plenty of adults in their late 20s and 30s in the fandom,” the website says.
“In some cases, the furries are between 70 and 80 years old.”
Fur enthusiasts, here seen at a convention in the Polish city of Krakow, dress like the animals based on the aspects of their personality they have or aspire to
Furscience says that fursonas are a form of “self-expression” and “creativity”.
“Creating a fursona is a creative exercise, which can have a number of psychological benefits,” the site says.
“Inventing a character can help you think about who you are as a person and who you would like to become.
“For example, if you always stood out in school for being tall, having a fursona giraffe might help you feel more comfortable with your height.”
About half of the world’s furs are in the United States or Canada, with Australia accounting for about 1% of those participating in the trend.
This Furry Convention In Berlin Shows The Range Of Animals People Are Adopting As Their “fursonas”