Texas school board fires teacher Amber Parker who told students not to judge pedophiles

A Texas school board voted unanimously to fire a high school teacher after video footage emerged of her telling her students not to judge pedophiles, whom she dubbed "minor attracted persons."

In a viral TikTok video, 53-year-old El Paso Franklin High School teacher Amber Parker can be heard arguing with a student about the use of the term "minor attracted persons," a euphemistic term for individuals with a sexual preference toward minors, or pedophiles. Neither Parker, nor any of the students can be clearly viewed.

"You're not allowed to label people like that. Stop it, Diego. We're not gonna call them that," Parker can be heard to say. "We're gonna call them MAPs, minor attracted persons. So don't judge people just because they wanna have sex with a five-year-old."

Multiple students can be heard voicing opposition to Parker's comments. The 18-second clip ends as one individual, who appears to be the one recording the video says "what the fuck?!"

The incident occurred last week, according to the Daily Mail, and was reportedly part of a class discussion ahead of their reading of The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

School board trustee Daniel Call initially expressed support for Parker, expressing the belief that she was playing Devil's advocate in the debate, but reversed his position after the investigation, telling KFOX14 that "[a]ny reasonable person that heard what the seven trustees heard would've voted to terminate Amber Parker."

Jason Parker, Amber's husband, denounced the termination and release of the video, saying "[i]t is both scary and disturbing that that an edited 18 second clip could destroy a 30-year career when taken completely out of context," according to the Daily Mail. "She is exemplary as a teacher and truly cares about the students."

She is currently on paid administrative leave, pending termination.

“It is both scary and disturbing that an edited 18 second clip could destroy a 30-year career when taken completely out of context,” Jason Parker said. “She is exemplary as a teacher and truly cares about the students. Needless to say we have spent many sleepless nights because of this cruel release to social media of the 18 seconds," he said.