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An Australian senator has lashed out at a private school in Victoria for supporting a student who apparently identifies as a cat.
Senator for Victoria Ralph Babet hit out at the 'woke' decision of the school to support the teen.
According to a report in the Herald Sun, the unnamed school allows the 'phenomenally bright' student to act out animal identity so long as she does her school work.
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Now the United Australia Party senator has launched a blistering tirade against the school, describing the decision to let her behave like a cat as a 'symptom' of the 'radical left'.
"This is a symptom of allowing the woke radical left in society to run rampant, unchecked," Babet said on social media.
"Can we just put a stop to this garbage right now. You go to school to learn reading, writing and arithmetic."
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He added: "You are not a cat. You are a little girl. The end."
The school did not confirm the student's behaviour to the Herald Sun, but said that staff at the educational facility are helping their students to deal with 'a range of issues, from mental health, anxiety or identity issues'.
"Our approach is always unique to the student and we will take into account professional advice and the wellbeing of the student," the school said, as per the Herald Sun.
Adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg told the Courier-Mail that it is actually quite rare for students to identify as animals.
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"In 25 years of clinical practice I only ever came across this once," said Dr Carr-Gregg.
"A boy temporarily identified as a dog. He used it as an escape from his reality."
He added: "Once the stressors in his life were resolved, he reverted to being a human being."
The Melbourne school incident comes months after a school in the US was forced to issue a statement after parents complained of a rumour that the school had provided litter boxes for students to use instead of toilets.
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Concerned parent Lisa Hansen said she was 'really disturbed' after she reportedly learnt from a student that 'at least one of our schools in our town, in one of the unisex bathrooms, a litter box for the kids that identify as cats', the New York Post reported.
"I’m all for creativity and imagination, but when someone lives in a fantasy world and expects other people to go along with it, I have a problem with that," she said.
The complaint prompted Midland Public Schools superintendent Michael Sharrow to debunk the claim in a public statement.
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"There is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation," he wrote on social media.
"There have never been litter boxes within Midland Public Schools."
Rachel Lang