EXCLUSIVE ‘I raised my daughter to stand up for what she believes in’: Mother of Year 8 pupil scolded by a teacher for questioning classmate’s claim she identities as a cat says she is proud of her daughter amid ‘ridiculous’ gender row
- The mother, who is kept anonymous, claims many share her daughter’s views
The parents of a 13-year-old girl who was branded ‘despicable’ by her teacher after she rejected a classmate’s claim that she identified as a cat have tonight told of their fury.
The angry couple say their daughter was ‘bullied’ by her life education teacher for speaking out and have blasted a decision to report her as ‘ridiculous’.
Two teenage Year 8 pupils at Rye College in East Sussex were ordered to stay behind in class after clashing with their classmate who identifies as a cat.
One of the girls secretly recorded their conversation with the teacher, who can be heard reprimanding them both for their views that gender is binary, calling it ‘really despicable’ and ‘very sad’.
The girls are also told ‘if you don’t like it you should go to a different school.’
The pupil said she was made to stay after the class at Rye College in East Sussex (file image)
Tonight, the mum of one of the girls, who has asked to be kept anonymous, told MailOnline: ‘I’m so proud of my daughter, she will always stand up for what she believes is right and this is all that she did.
‘She expressed a view that many, many of her classmates and their parents would share yet she was shouted down and bullied by someone in authority.’
She continued: ‘For that teacher to tell her to leave and go to another school if she didn’t like what she was being told made my blood boil. What kind of welcome is that for a 13-year-old girl.
‘My daughter texted me from her life education class last Friday and said that she was being taught gender identity and asked to fill out a worksheet. We’ve spoken about the issue before and she’s like me you can be whatever you want to be – but facts are facts.
‘I replied that she could walk out of the lesson if she didn’t feel what she was being taught was right.
READ MORE: Teacher who scolded Year 8 pupil for questioning classmate’s claim ‘she’s a cat’ in gender row faces backlash from furious parents for ‘aggressive’ and ‘threatening’ manner
‘She didn’t, however, and stayed in the classroom but her and her friend put their views across and clashed with another girl in the class who identifies as a cat
‘My daughter told the teacher that what they were learning was ridiculous and the girl identifying as a cat tried to argue that it wasn’t and that anyone could identify as anything.
‘As she said that my daughter replied “so If I identify as a kangaroo then I can say I’m a kangaroo?!” Some of the others in the class started laughing and the girl who thinks she’s a cat started crying.
‘My daughter and her friend were told to stay after the class and were given a warning to stop and toe the line. That’s when she started secretly recording the teacher.
‘I have to say that when my daughter came home from school and told me what happened. I didn’t believe her, I thought she was a typical teenage girl exaggerating.
Rye College is a member of the Aquinas Trust, which boasts that one of its key values is ‘promoting equality, celebrating diversity, and addressing disadvantage’
Rye College has been bombarded by angry social media messages, including those above
‘But then she played me the recording and I was shocked and then horrified and then furious. I still get angry listening to it.
‘There are girls in her class and at the school who are trans and she has no problem with any of them, she calls them by their preferred pronouns and accepts them for who they are – but there are only two sexes. It’s just science, you are born male or female.
‘The fact that the school is shielding this young girl who identifies as a cat and reprimanding anyone who challenges that notion seems to me to be completely absurd.
‘Why on earth are 13-year-old kids being taught about gender identity anyway? They’re just children. It’s not right.
READ MORE: Twelve-year-olds are being taught about anal sex in school while nine-year-olds are told to ‘masturbate’ for homework: The shocking lesson plans used by teachers
‘So many people agree with us on this but many are reluctant to put their heads above the parapet, so to speak, because they’ll be labelled a bigot, a TERF or a Tory. But this sort of stuff is messing with children’s heads.’
Speaking at the family’s end-terrace in nearby Hastings, East Sussex, the girl’s father added: ‘We’ve heard absolutely nothing from the school, nobody has called us at any point today or over the weekend, but it’s all over the news.
‘I think they’re just trying to sweep it under the rug to be honest and are burying their head in the sand because they’ve had such a negative response from people all over the country.
‘I thought the way my daughter handled it was very respectful but the teacher got very, very irate and just shut down the conversation.
‘So many other parents have got in touch to say that they agree with what our daughter said and congratulated her for sticking to her guns.’
MailOnline spoke to one of the girls involved on the phone after being given permission to by their parents.
She said: ‘I don’t know why this girl identifies as a cat. She just does. There’s nothing about her that would make you believe she thinks she is one.
‘I’ve been brought up to stand up for myself and if I think something isn’t right, I wont just sit there, I’ll say so.
‘The girl who identifies as a cat hasn’t spoken with me or my friend today but from what I’ve heard she believes she’s in the right. But I believe I’m in the right too.
‘My teacher hasn’t spoken to me or my friend about it either, although I walked past her today and heard her discussing it with another teacher and she was saying that the headlines in the media were “all wrong”.’
A spokesperson for the school and trust, said: ‘We are committed to offering our pupils an inclusive education.
‘Teachers endeavour to ensure that pupils’ views are listened to, and encourage them to ask questions and engage in discussion. Teachers also aim to answer questions sensitively and honestly.
‘We strive to uphold the highest standards across the school. We will be reviewing our processes and working with the relevant individuals to ensure such events do not take place in the future.’
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