Pupils are feline a bit funny

Unfounded claims that pupils are identifying as cats and demanding litter trays in toilets are spreading to other schools across the north and north-east.

Earlier this week, a string of posts on social media alleged, without evidence, that some pupils at Banff Academy were making the unusual request to be treated like cats.

Despite Aberdeenshire Council making it clear that these were “false rumours” – which have also appeared at schools around the world – others have insisted that their children are not lying.

In the wake of the Banff Academy hoax, The Press and Journal understands that similar unfounded claims about children identifying as cats are circulating in other schools, including Hazlehead and Bridge of Don academies in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen City Council was asked if there was any truth to the claims, but a spokesman said the local authority “won’t be providing comment in response to this inquiry”.

Reactions to the story on The P&J and Evening Express Facebook pages show that some Banff parents continue to take the claims seriously.

One said: “My nephew insists it’s true. He says one wears cat ears and a tail.”

Facebook user Ricola Redmonds, said: “My daughter says there is a girl in her school that’s identifying as a cat.”

But another Banff mum, Corrine Green, said she’s confident there’s no truth in the claims. She said: “My kid goes to this school and he hasn’t seen anyone looking like a cat, I think I will believe the teachers.”

Others have suggested that pupils are fuelling the rumours as a joke.

“Ahh yes, teenagers would never make up something,” a Facebook user named Mark Kullas wrote. “They are always the paragons of truth and absolutely would not lie to you if they found it really funny.”

Another Facebook user, Ag Petrie, pointed out how similar stories spread around the world in recent months, all without proof. “It’s a story that has been going around far-right American religious sects for months, no real shock that it’s been used here.”

And another user said that there is a common format to these rumours when they appear in different parts of the world.

“I’ve been told this story about ‘my local school’ by people in two countries and five different cities,” wrote Jennie Carlsten.

Other commenters suggested pupils were behaving in this way in Shetland and the Highlands, but did not provide any proof.

A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “Highland Council was aware of these claims and considered them to be a hoax.”

Rumours of schools installing litter boxes for pupils who choose to identify as cats began circulating in 2021.

They appeared primarily on far-right social media channels and news networks in the US.

In each case, the local authorities and schools in question dismissed talk of litter boxes as rumours.

The claims were often used to criticise ways in which schools are making accommodations for trans students.

RUMOURS: Social media posts said pupils at Banff Academy were identifying as cats.