A mother from Texas who describes herself as a former ‘woke‘ liberal pulled her 13-year-old daughter out of school after she found out she had been asked to play the role of a ‘seducing hooker’ in a game in her seventh-grade classroom.
Laura Maria Gruber, 45, had sent her daughter to KIPP Poder Academy in San Antonio. The school’s website claims to celebrate ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’
But last September Gruber pulled her teenage daughter out of the school after she found out her teacher got students in her classroom to play a game known as ‘Bear-Hooker-Hunter’ – a kind of adult version of rock-paper-scissors.
Gruber, who is originally from Puerto Rico, claims that her daughter and other seventh-graders in the Social Emotional Learning class were paired up with one another and struck poses at the front of the class.
The teens were then told to pretend either they were a ‘hunter’ and to point an imaginary gun at one another; a ‘scary bear’ with its paws up, or a ‘seducing hooker’ with a hand on one hip and another behind their ear.
A Texas mom has complained to a school after her 13-year-old daughter was in a classroom in which students were asked to role play the part of a ‘seducing hooker’
The explicit goal of the game is unclear but it’s thought to be some form of ‘team-building’ exercise
The explicit goal of the game is unclear but it’s thought to be some form of ‘team-building’ exercise.
‘I picked my daughter and her best friend up from school and my daughter said “We played this game at school, Mom, and you’re going to be upset,”‘ Gruber told Fox News.
‘When she told me about kids getting up in class and posing as hookers, I almost crashed the car.’
Upon learning about the bizarre classroom role play, Gruber pulled her daughter from the classroom and demanded an apology from the administrators.
Gruber’s argument to the school was that the game sexualized the teens and noted that one girl in the class had been sexually assaulted and was ‘triggered’ by the experience.
The KIPP Poder Academy in San Antonio claims to celebrate ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’
Although her own daughter decided not to take part in the game, the boys and girls in the class were told to organized themselves in order of maturity with some being bribed with candy in order to play along.
‘The teacher was pretty young, so you can imagine what kind of people are coming out of universities now to teach our kids,’ Gruber said. ‘My daughter was so grossed out and embarrassed. She said the boys and the teacher were laughing.
‘Another little girl in the class had been sexually assaulted, so the experience was especially cringe for her.’
Six months since Gruber first made the complaint to school administrators, she received an apology after meeting with KIPP administrators in San Antonio and Austin.
Other parents of children in the class were not told about the classroom antics or Gruber’s complaint until the school board issued an apology about the game.
‘I really feel like I’ve been had. I wanted my child to go to this school for the diversity and trusted them. But I didn’t realize it would involve sexual diversity and kids being sexualized,’ Gruber told the New York Post.
‘The worst part is that this school is in the inner city and San Antonio is well known as being a child sex trafficking hub.’
School Principal Stephanie Lee agreed that the game fell below its usual standards while noting that the intent was never to sexualize those taking part
In its apology KIPP admitted that the game did not meet its ‘bar of excellence’ and that it was not appropriate for students.
The school denied that the game sexualized children, despite the teens having to pose as ‘seducing hookers.’
School Principal Stephanie Lee agreed that the game fell below the school’s usual standards while noting how the intent was never to sexualize those taking part.
‘While we always chase excellence as a core value, sometimes we stumble,’ Lee wrote in a February letter home to school families.
‘This game was not part of any KIPP curriculum, and it was not appropriate for students,’ Lee added.
‘While we always chase excellence as a core value, sometimes we stumble,’ principal Lee wrote in a February letter home to school families
‘This game was not part of any KIPP curriculum, and it was not appropriate for students. Any activities with actions or words like ‘hooker’ or ‘seduce’ should never have a place in our schools. While the intent was never to sexualize a child, I recognize that the impact may have caused students to feel uncomfortable or traumatized. That does not honor the respect we aim to teach our students at all times; in truth, it is degrading.’
‘The term ‘hooker’ is an unkind word and not one you should use or repeat,’ the principal stated in the letter home.
Gruber said she disagrees with the school’s explanation and that waiting six months for a response is unacceptable.
Gruber brought her complaint to the Texas Education Agency who closed the investigation because they were ‘focusing more on inappropriate teacher-student relationships.’
The Texas Attorney General is also allegedly said to have declined the case together with the U.S. Department of Education who have also dismissed the case following an interview with Gruber.
Although KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools are for their progressive education stance and with a focus on teaching black, Latino, and LGBTQIA children, Gruber believes the incident only serves for parents to be ever more aware as to what their children are being taught in the classroom.
