Staff Reports
It has been reported that a teenage girl in Melbourne, Australia, attended an undisclosed private school where she was granted permission to identify as a cat. It has been said in a number of news articles that the child's school will allow them to "act like a kitty," however it is not entirely clear what this phrase means in practice. The unnamed girl will be allowed to "act like a feline" at school, which means that she will not be required to engage in at least one distinctly human habit, namely talking. The girl may be allowed to be "nonverbal" in class, as long as her activities do not disturb the other pupils, it has been reported that the school will make this accommodation for her.
The institution has not commented on the possibility that one of its young people has made the personal decision to identify as a cat. They did, however, issue a statement in which they stated that the students there suffered from a spectrum of issues, ranging from mental wellbeing to anxiety to identification concerns.
The institution proceeded by saying, our approach has always been distinctive to the student, and we will take account expert advice as well as the student's welfare.
In addition to that, the young lady in question was described by the institution as being "phenomenally intelligent."
An anonymous person who is reportedly close to the girl's family has stated that the behaviour has been that if it doesn't interrupt the school, everyone is respectful of the girl's decision to identify as an animal. However, it appears that no one has a system for dealing with students who identify as animals.
It would appear that the girl is one of a relatively limited number of teenage girls in Australia who have only recently come out as cat people. According to The Mirror, four other female teenagers in Brisbane, Australia, who live 18 hours away, have apparently started walking on all fours and ripping holes in their clothes for a tail, although it is unclear whether the girls identify as cats or foxes. The article also claims that the girls have begun to walk on all fours and rip holes in their clothes for a tail.
According to a parent who works at the school and who spoke to the media about the incident, one of the girls is said to have even yelled at another for "sitting on her tail."
A great number of media outlets that have covered these events have raised the question of whether or not these incidents, which are generally isolated, are part of a larger so-called "furry" subculture. This is a subculture in which individuals adopt "fursonas" and act out characteristics that are frequently linked to a certain animal. People that identify as "furries" are most often seen taking in animals such as dogs, cats, foxes, lions, tigers, and wolves as pets. On the other hand, it would appear that neither the young woman described as "phenomenally intelligent" in Melbourne nor the four people walking four-legged dogs in Brisbane are members of the furry subculture.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on National Insider.
