Committee targets furries in schools
A bill passing through the Indiana Senate would reiterate that schools are authorized to enforce dress codes and curb disruptive behavior to address concerns about students identifying as furries.
This follows a nationwide wave of claims — none proven — that students dress and act like animals in classrooms.
Indiana Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, is the author of Senate Bill 380. The “Miscellaneous Education Matters” bill makes changes to how the state calculates high school graduation rates and also includes this line: “A school corporation may adopt a policy regarding students dress code or disruptive behavior. When introducing the bill to the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Raatz, he said it was to address concerns about students who “might imitate or act furry.”
“Essentially what this signals to school corporations is that through the dress code, you have the ability to determine how students dress,” he said.
Cat litter boxes in schools? Tony Dungy apologizes for tweet that sparked outrage and backlash
Parents and school employees complained to him, Raatz said, declining to name their districts or schools in an interview with IndyStar. The bill does not require schools to make changes, he said, but reinforces the idea that they can.
School corporations already have the right to create and enforce a dress code, as many do. Raatz said that line was added to a different section of the code — the one governing the duty and powers of school corporations to supervise and discipline students — and the slightly different wording of the section of the law that already allows schools to implement dress codes.
Stay in the conversation about politics: Subscribe to the OnPolitics newsletter
Indiana schools say it’s not a problem
IndyStar was unable to find evidence of an Indiana school district reporting students dressing like animals. A search online turned up no verified reports of furries in schools here, nor did inquiries sent to several districts. Representatives from Westfield Washington Schools and the districts of South Bend, Fort Wayne, Lawrence Township and Wayne Township said it hasn’t been a problem in their classrooms.
“We are not aware of any students wearing fur or animal costumes during the school day at Wayne Township MSD,” said district superintendent Jeff Butts.
Schools in South East Hamilton said the biggest issue they had faced with the “furs” was the time it took to combat false rumours.
“We have not had any disturbances to my knowledge with students acting like ‘furries’,” said HSE spokeswoman Emily Pace Abbotts. “This general problem, I believe, stems from the national media, which has also spread that schools have litter boxes in their toilets. This is not true for schools in southeast Hamilton – and it is concerning that people believe it.”
Not just Indiana:Students identifying as furries using litter boxes? Michigan superintendent debunks rumor.
The district already has a dress code in its student handbooks to limit “dress distractions.”
Kim Patterson, a middle school teacher in rural Howard County, said there were no furs in the schools either. Patterson is a board member of the Indiana State Teachers Association.
“The only ‘furry’ kids I see are high school kids who don’t shave,” Patterson said.
Several people came to a meeting of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation board of trustees last fall, the Evansville Courier & Press reported, to raise concerns that the district was allowing students to stray. dress and behave like animals, even providing litter boxes in the bathrooms.
“There are no litter boxes in our schools. Period. There never will be,” Evansville Superintendent David Smith said after the meeting.
Beyond Indiana:Fact check: Wisconsin school district debunkers claim it has a ‘furry protocol’
What is a hairy?
At the heart of the rumors – repeated by conservative politicians and commentators nationwide – is the idea that schools are letting children identify as animals as an extension of allowing them to choose their own gender identity independently. from that assigned at birth.
According to Furscience, a team of scientists studying furry fandom, the term furry describes a diverse community of fans, artists, writers, gamers, and roleplayers. Most furries create an anthropomorphized animal character that they identify with. Some furries wear elaborate costumes or accessories such as animal ears or tails, or pose as anthropomorphic animals in online communities. While a small percentage of respondents believe they have a deeper connection to animals, the vast majority do not identify as animals.
Although many self-identified furries are teenagers and young adults, according to data collected by Furscience, this does not mean that all students who wear a headband with cat ears on it – a popular accessory among children sold at large retailers – are part of the furry community.
SB 380 is expected to receive a vote from the Senate Education Committee next week. If passed, as bills sponsored by powerful committee chairs usually do, it would go to the Senate for debate.
Call IndyStar State Political and Government Reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.
USA Today
