{"id":623915,"date":"2026-09-14T01:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T01:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/623915\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T01:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T01:12:09","slug":"us-schools-and-police-warn-about-viral-cat-in-the-hat-trend-after-teens-arrests-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/623915\/","title":{"rendered":"US schools and police warn about viral \u2018Cat in the Hat\u2019 trend after teens\u2019 arrests | US news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Schools and law enforcement authorities in the US are issuing warnings<\/a> against a viral \u201cCat in the Hat\u201d social media trend<\/a> in which disturbing or AI-generated versions of the Dr Seuss character are used to threaten students, schools and communities.<\/p>\n

The latest warnings come as safety concerns increase and several teenagers have been arrested or charged over posts connected to the trend.<\/p>\n

The Cat in the Hat trend originated on Snapchat<\/a> as images or short videos showing a disturbing version of the Cat in the Hat, often resembling the character played by Mike Myers in the 2003 live-action film, lurking outside homes, schools or on streets at night.<\/p>\n

Some footage appears to be AI-generated, while other posts include real people wearing costumes. Additionally, some videos include threatening messages towards specific towns or schools. More disturbing versions named individuals or included lists of supposed targets.<\/p>\n

The posts originally circulated in Ireland and the United Kingdom in August 2026 before quickly becoming viral in parts of the United States and Canada, the BBC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even though social media users view the trend as a hoax or prank, authorities are warning that causing people to fear for their safety could potentially constitute as criminal harassment.<\/p>\n

Recently, near Wichita, Kansas<\/a>, a 15-year-old was arrested after allegedly posting a video on social media that made ominous threats toward students using the trend.<\/p>\n

A statement<\/a> shared by the Hutchinson police department said that during the investigation, officers determined that a 15-year-old Hutchinson high school student created a TikTok account for that community referencing the Cat in the Hat trend. The juvenile was ultimately charged with two counts of criminal threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThreats of any nature are taken seriously by the Hutchinson Police Department and Hutchinson High School. Regardless of whether a post is intended as a joke, it is unlawful to cause others, particularly students, to fear for their safety,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

Similarly, in Worth county, Georgia<\/a>, two students at Worth county high school are facing charges<\/a> after the school district said they participated in the viral social media hoax.<\/p>\n

Both students involved are being charged, and will also face disciplinary action, school officials say.<\/p>\n

Due to the potential threats caused by the trend, some school communities have also increased their police presence as a precautionary measure.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> released by the Grand Junction police department in Colorado<\/a>, it said that it increased its presence at West middle school and Grand Junction high school \u201cout of an abundance of caution\u201d after the circulation of a Cat in the Hat post. The post led to the arrest of a 14-year old student.<\/p>\n

As the trend continues to circulate, law enforcement authorities are urging students to report any safety concerns to a trusted adult, school administrator or law enforcement official rather than reposting or sharing the content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Schools and law enforcement authorities in the US are issuing warnings against a viral \u201cCat in the Hat\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-623915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}