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Texas Teacher Faces Termination After Pedophile Comment

Texas Teacher Faces Termination After Pedophile Comment
El Paso ISD | Image by KFOX

An El Paso teacher is facing termination after she was recorded seemingly telling her students to refer to pedophiles as “minor-attracted persons.”

Students present in the classroom claimed the teacher was speaking sarcastically in furtherance of a class lesson. However, the El Paso Independent School District’s Board of Trustees still placed her on leave pending termination.

In the 18-second video posted to TikTok on August 29, the teacher can be heard saying, “Stop calling them that. You’re not allowed to label people like that. Stop it, Diego.”

“We are not going to call them that. We’re going to call them MAPs — Minor Attracted Persons. So don’t judge people just because they want to have sex with a 5-year-old,” she said.

The acronym “minor-attracted person” or “MAP” refers to adults who are “preferentially attracted to underage youth.”

The El Paso Teachers Association identified the teacher as 53-year-old English teacher Amber Parker of Franklin High School.

After the video went viral, El Paso ISD became aware of the incident.

El Paso ISD trustee Daniel Call posted to his Facebook page, “I normally try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but this is where I draw the line. Pedophilia is sick and is always wrong, no politically correct acronym can make it right.”

The term MAP has previously been criticized for destigmatizing pedophilia.

Mike McDonnell, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse and leader of the Pennsylvania Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, stated, “Minor attracted individual absolutely is a slap in the face to sexual abuse victims globally.”

He continued, “We were victimized. We were targeted by predators who had groomed us and who had used us as their bait and as their play. That is the crime and it needs to remain named a crime.”

Call ended up dating his post, though, writing, “Update on my last post; After hearing from some of the students that were in the class, including my own nephew, I believe now that the teacher that appeared to be promoting and normalizing pedophilia was pretending to advocate a position she didn’t actually believe in order to challenge the students in preparation for them reading the book The Crucible.”

The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller that dramatizes the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93 and was intended to be an allegory for McCarthyism.

Call continued in his post, “The video that many of us saw was missing this important context. I regret the negative attention that this situation has brought on this teacher and wish her well. I’m told she is a great educator.”

Both of Call’s posts appear to have since been deleted.

Ryann Ruvalcaba, a student who claims to have been in the classroom when the incident occurred, said, “[Parker] was expressing how it was ridiculous how we might not be able to call people pedophiles. That we will probably have to start calling them MAPs because it can be offensive to [pedophiles]. The class agreed.”

El Paso ISD launched an investigation into the incident, and then, at a special school board meeting on September 6, the trustees voted unanimously to initiate termination proceedings.

“Any allegation of potential misconduct is investigated thoroughly, and the safety of our students is a top priority,” stated a school board spokesperson.

Board President Al Velarde said this is “really the beginning of the process” and that the next step is “an appeals process governed by the Texas Education Code.”

“The investigation has been completed,” he added, “But there is a process defined by the TEA that we must follow when it comes to the termination of an employee.”

Following the vote, Call stated, “Initially I was shocked and horrified when I saw the video. Then when I heard she was trying to be sarcastic, I felt bad for her.”

He continued, “However, when the district’s investigation into this situation helped me understand the full story, I have no doubt that terminating this teacher was the right thing to do … Any reasonable person that heard the results of the investigation would vote to terminate her.”

Parker is currently on paid administrative leave pending termination.

For more Dallas crime-related news, see how Dallas City Councilmember Chad West of District 1 was named The Dallas Express’ Crime Boss of the Month for July 2022.

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7 Comments

  1. Thomas

    Even though this was, as supported by multiple sources, totally sarcastic/rhetorical, what really is the difference in this and those who vehemently insist that ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS (those who entered the country ILLEGALLY) be referred to as simply immigrants, migrants, and/or asylum seekers?

    Reply
  2. Val

    Teachers use all kinds of tactics to get minds and opinions going. Some even say thing they themselves don’t believe in to get conversation going on all kind of topics. Furthermore, doesn’t the good ole religious base state remember the good ole big book says “thou shall not judge”? I forgot, they only refer to that thing when it’s to support their wants on basing law on religion and whenever is supports their personal opinions.

    Reply
    • Judy

      Cherry picking at it’s best. You should really take some time to properly study the Bible.

      Reply
  3. Lay Monk Jeffery

    I would call her “fired”! Oh, I supposed to be sorry for hurting the feelings of a child molester? There I did not use the word pedophile! Why are the people in this great country of ours trying to rename everything? These are the same people that feel as if they are being treated differently but yet they label themselves as well! Keep banging your head against the wall. It’s just silly to me. Stop trying to relabel the world and just do your part! Oh, she, this teacher is a major red flag and should never be able to teach or be around children. If this was taken out of context I am sorry but you said something really stupid and you crossed the line! Think before you speak, you should know better, you are the educator. I remember my English teacher would say “drop it or get out”! It’s zero tolerance, and he was talking about students and teacher. Stick to the curriculum it’s your job!

    Reply
    • Bill Clevenger

      What happened to freedom of speech and freedom of expression? You Cann’t even tell a joke in this country anymore.

      Reply
      • Judy

        Sick joke if it was. Very inappropriate use of a term in front of children and not one they needed to learn from a teacher.

        Reply
  4. Monte Mcdearmon

    FIRE HER AND MOVE ON

    Reply

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