Teacher Suspended After Telling Students To Refer To Pedophiles As Minor Attracted Persons
Texas teacher Amber Parker told her students to refer to pedophiles as minor attracted persons while asking them not to judge someone for wanting to have sex with a 5-year-old.
Amber Parker was caught on video scolding students and telling them they need to refer to pedophiles as “Minor Attracted Persons,” or MAPS. This enabling language has caused dissent from many individuals who believe that children need to be protected from sexual abuse. The teacher has been suspended, is currently on administrative leave, and a termination process is underway. See the clip below.
The El Paso teacher was caught in an 18 second video that went viral after being filmed in class at Franklin High School. During the clip, Parker addresses a student named Diego and orders him to not call child molesters pedophiles. She instructs him to use the term “Minor Attracted Persons.” Then she goes on to state, “Don’t judge people because they want to have sex with a 5-year-old.”
This statement is highly alarming for anyone who has been sexually abused or is fighting against child sexual abuse. Soft language terms like minor attracted persons have entered into identity politics conversations. It has even become popular with some educators and even medical professionals working at Johns Hopkins University’s Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse.
Dr. Allyn Walker was an assistant professor at the old Dominion university who came under fire for their belief that the stigma around pedophiles needs to be removed. Walker wholly believes that compassion and phrasing like minor attracted persons will help pedophiles to be reformed, but teachers like Amber Parker and Walker fail to realize that terms like pedophile were created to directly warn those most vulnerable as well as properly stigmatize illegal activity that causes long-lasting physical and mental damage. Walker did resign from teaching in November of 2021 but was later hired by Johns Hopkins University’s Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, meaning that this rhetoric is being considered by the medical community and even law enforcement partners.
Amber Parker was subjected to a special investigation last week. The Board of trustees unanimously voted to terminate her, but she is entitled to an appeals process. Now, Parker is trying to claim that she was only being sarcastic in her comments. This has led the board’s vice president to have second thoughts over the minor attracted persons incident.
Parker is currently on paid leave for her classroom behavior. Either she inappropriately impressed her own personal belief that having sex with children is a minor crime that should not be stigmatized, or she was being sarcastic when referring to minor attracted persons towards a student in class — which is highly unprofessional and often confusing for students. Whether she is terminated and seeks an education position elsewhere depends on what happens after the suspension.
This is yet another case that leads parents to question teachers and what is being taught in schools. One in 10 students are sexually abused by teachers and school staff. By teaching students not to judge people who molest children they are actively removing the stigma of those crimes. Destigmatization normalizes this harmful behavior and makes children more likely to accept abuse. It is a common grooming tactic used to encourage children to engage in activities they do not understand. Academics who insist that common terminology be changed from well-understood labels like pedophilia to lengthy and less threatening phrases like minor attracted persons are enabling child molestation, and that is why teachers like Amber Parker and Allyn Walker have been removed from the classroom.
