Remember getting your end of year awards? Maybe yours was something complimentary like 'most likely to become a millionaire', or you were unfortunate like some of us and got 'most likely to be found in the self-tan aisle'…Anyone?
Well, there's a teacher called Stacey Lockett, from Lance Cpl Anthony Aguirre junior high school in Houston, Texas giving highly inappropriate and, quite frankly, racist awards to 7th-graders (children aged 12-13).
A few days ago news broke that a girl, named Lizeth Villanueva, was given the 'most likely to become a terrorist' award.
[twitter ]https://twitter.com/search?q=Lizeth%20Villanueva&src=typd[/twitter]
Apparently the teacher warned the kids the awards 'might hurt feelings', which is like saying no offense before you saying something really offensive.
'It was not a joke,' Lizeth told CNN. 'I do not feel comfortable with this … I do not feel comfortable being in the same classroom with [the teacher].'
Lizbeth apparently didn't talk all day after receiving the insulting certificate and didn't go into school the next day.
The award is bad in itself, but it's timing after the Manchester Arena attack makes it all the more terrible.
Now another student, named Sydney Ceasar, has come forwards with her deeply offensive award: 'most likely to blend in with white people'.
'I don't like it,' Caesar told Fox 26, with her sister Lauren Easton adding. 'Where's the common sense in that? I mean how can you think that that's OK ― to say it in the first place?'
Her mother, Latonya Robinson, is calling for the teacher to be fired.
'For a child to be called either a terrorist, or she's not black enough ― basically, now, the students are taking that, and that's her label for the rest of the school year.'
'We have enough bullying being done by the students, now it's being done by a teacher.'
There are reports that another student was told they were 'most likely to be homeless in Guatemala.'
In a statement, representatives for the Channelview School District said: 'The district does not condone the incident that occurred and we are taking this matter very seriously.'
Whether or not these mock awards were a joke, these are pre-teen girls being given awards by an authority figure.
Sanctioning this kind of language normalises offensive and racist behaviour in a school.
That being said, one good thing has come out of this dubious situation - a GoFundMe page has been set up for Lizeth for her college tuition.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
