HOUSTON (WSVN) — A Texas middle school teacher has been suspended after a student said her teacher presented her with a “most likely to become a terrorist” award in class.
Lizeth Villanueva, 13, told Fox 26 that her seventh grade teacher handed the award to her during class, just a day after the deadly suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.
“When she said my name I turned around like, ‘What, what did she just say?’ I was very upset. I was mad but didn’t show it,” Villanueva said.
The teenager said a group of teachers were giving out certificates as a joke at a mock awards ceremony before school let out for summer vacation. But she says there was nothing funny about it.
“It is kind of hard to believe somebody would do that,” Ena Hernandez, Villanueva’s mom, said after seeing the award her daughter brought home.
Other students received similarly offensive certificates, including “most likely to cry for every little thing” and “most likely to become homeless.”
School district representatives released a statement to Fox 26, apologizing for the incident.
“The Channelview ISD Administration would like to apologize for the insensitive and offensive fake mock awards that were given to students in a classroom. Channelview ISD would like to assure all students, parents and community members that these award statements and ideals are not representative of the district’s vision, mission and educational goals for our students.”
The school district reportedly disciplined the teachers; however, Hernandez believes her daughter’s teacher should have been fired.
“So far I also know, the principal also mentioned to us that there were other parents complaining about a similar situation, the same thing,” Hernandez said.
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