Aw I read through this and it's so sad how your son gets bullied :<! If it ends up getting too serious you should really talk to the principal about it. Also, maybe you should try making your own poster or something about therianropy, if you think you can get the right info. I wish your son luck <3

Slightly off topic for the thread, but this is a quick warning to anyone who uses tiktok and posts about being a therian, or even just watches therian content on there. Especially the pups: please read this.

any comments saying "I need a therian gf" are not a compliment. Neither are the comments asking for a "stretch tutorial".

These comments are made by people who are sexualising therians, especially younger therians who are doing quadrobics, or cat-like poses, although I've seen these comments on pretty much any post about therians. There is a concerningly large amount of people posting these comments. All of these accounts commenting this should be blocked and reported if you come across them, ESPECIALLY if their commenting on your own videos.

I was going to post about this on TT myself, but i don't really post therian content there, and it probably wouldnt reach people that really need to see this if i did. (a few people have already posted about this issue on TT too.)

Stay safe fellow critters

I understand that. As long as the bullying isn't severely affecting him, but if it is, the long-term consequences could be bad. You know the best course of action, though, he's your son and you know him best. I definitely agree that he should be able to be himself and be proud of who he is and others should respect that, but unfortunately that's not the culture at schools and it can be difficult to change it. I wish you the best and I hope informing the adults at school of therianthropy will help.

thanks @little wolf I'm proud of how he does his own thing regardless of what others think. It's difficult, I don't want to have to tell him to try not to paint a target on his back particularly when doing quads is when he's at his happiest. I feel like some of the teachers think he deserves to be bullied for being weird but we're a proudly weird family and he is not harming anyone, they don't have to understand or like it, they just need to treat him respectfully.

This site's educational page, maybe. https://therian-guide.com/index.php/1-home.html Legitimate resources are hard to come by for therianthropy. I would also suggest sitting your son down and talking with him about being more subtle to protect himself. I myself was bullied relentlessly at school because of my therianthropy and learned the hard way that school is not a safe place to be open about this kind of identity. That said I really appreciate your support of him. He's lucky to have a parent like you on his side.

Are there any resources people know of that explain therianthropy that are aimed at educators? I'm trying to support my therian son who is getting bullied at school for doing quads and it doesn't help when teachers are saying he's being silly for being on all fours. I don't expect school staff will take the time to read anything too in depth but if there was something like a poster with some basic facts about therianthropy and maybe some hints on how to be supportive I feel like that would be a step in the right direction. Does anything like that exist?

I feel like TikT0k has made at least some kids, or younger teens, think therianthropy is just quadrobics, mask making, and posting Shorts. I know at least two other "therians" in real life who claim to have "turned" into therians and do the things mentioned above. I feel like it's mostly spreading false ideas of therianthropy to a younger audience.

I think it's become slightly "trendy" to be a therian, as a lot of kids see it on Y0utube or TikT0k and decide they must be a therianthrope too. It's normal to "play pretend as an animal" at 9 or 10 or whatever, but I think the term is just being thrown around without people knowing or acknowledging the definition.

https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-Is-this-a-cult-A-compassionate-guide-to-therianthropy-from-a-former-skeptic

^^^^
This is a FANTASTIC faq-type guide for any human who might need information about therianthropy, and i want to be sure that any youngster coming out to their loved ones or friends share this with them, as it will help them to understand.

Oh goodness, I wasn't expecting the renewed interest in this thread!

There are definitely some things I'd like to rewrite now that I'm more knowledgable about the community (and also less repressed), but unfortunately it's been so long that the option for me to edit this thread is long gone.

I still stand by a lot of these sentiments and hope that this is a helpful guide for those who are just finding out about therianthropy from a secondhand perspective, but I think I should have been less heavy on the "it's purely psychological" side of things.

Therianthropy does indeed have a spiritual aspect for some/many people -- not all of course -- but it's nothing close to a cult or any kind of damaging belief. On the contrary, the beliefs associated with therianthropy are usually very healthy and mundane. The concepts of souls/spirits, connection to nature, and reincarnation are widespread among all kinds of religious, spiritualities, and non-religions, and are even present in abrahamic religions like Christianity and Islam.

I think the main thing I wanted to point out in my thread, is that the modern concept of therianthropy is not analogous to the old werewolf/transformation rituals you'd find on late 90's - early 2000's internet. Nobody here is touting that you should eat poisonous plants and howl at the full moon to travel to the werewoof plane and 'become' a therian. Concepts and rituals like that are actively shunned in the therian community nowadays, and therefore parents shouldn't need to feel concerned about unhealthy or dangerous influences! Chances are, your loved one's experience with therianthropy is harmless, and expresisng it is likely even healthy for their wellbeing.

- Fern

therianthropy isn't a "cult" the definition of a cult is a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister. technically, therianthropy, depending on the person experiencing it, can be a coping mechanism, like some people are born a therian, while others can develop it from severe trauma or bad family life. personally, i was born with the therianthropy, but instead i had developed my c'link or copinglink.