Should we encourage children to identify as cats and other animals?

In a world where individuality and self-expression are celebrated, the question arises: Should we encourage children to explore and identify as cats and other animals?

This thought-provoking issue delves into the realms of imagination, identity, and the boundaries of societal norms.

Most children love to play ‘dress up’ when they are growing up.

In the grounds of a school in Bedfordshire, a girl can often be seen wearing her cat mask and furry tail, miaowing and purring as she rubs up to her friends, who stroke her head and tickle her chin.

Such imaginative play would be endearing if this were a nursery or infant school. But this girl — who now goes by the non-binary moniker of ‘Kit’ — is actually 16 and has just taken GCSEs at her large secondary school.

Schools are allowing children to identify as cats, horses and dinosaurs – and teachers are ‘failing to question them’, it was claimed this week.

Now, further stories are emerging of pupils who identify as animals with very human characteristics – often known as ‘furries’.

At a state secondary school in Wales, one student is said to ‘meow’ when asked questions by a teacher, rather than answering in English, the Telegraph reports.

In other schools, one apparently insists on being addressed as a dinosaur, one claims to identify as a horse while another is said to wear a cape and demands to be acknowledged as a moon.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, told MailOnline: ‘In the current climate this cannot be dismissed as innocent examples of ‘imaginative play’, but further examples of the confusing and harmful ideologies which are continuing to escalate in our schools.

‘This story exposes the confusion and untruths being embedded in schools which are developing into a public health crisis.

‘This is where ‘inclusive’ education leaves teachers, parents, and children – lost in moral chaos and confusion.

On Tuesday, Downing Street told headteachers that they should not be teaching children that they can identify as cats or other animals.

What are your views? Is it ok to allow children to experiment in this way? Or will this add to confusion? Is truth becoming stranger than fiction? Can you imagine this happening when you went to school?