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Texas schools give DNA ID kits to families to help identify children in 'emergencies' like Uvalde massacre

This comes after parents had to wait in line for hours after Uvalde mass shooting to give DNA samples to cops in order to help them identify the 19 children who were killed

TEXAS: It has just been months after the horrifying mass shooting took place in a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, killing 19 students. The shocking incident has now prompted Texas public school districts to begin to provide families with DNA identification kits that could be used to identify their children in "emergencies."

Parents waited in line for hours after the May shooting in Uvalde to give DNA samples to the police in order to help them identify the 19 children who were killed, reported Daily Mail. The kits are being distributed to K-8 students to take home and keep with their parents in the event of an emergency. The parents can present the id card to law enforcement in the event of a shooting at a school or another tragic incident to help quickly identify their child.

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The kits are based on SB-2158, a law that Texas legislators passed and Governor Greg Abbott signed in 2021. The goal was to find children who were either missing or being trafficked. According to the Houston Chronicle, each kit comes with an inkless fingerprint, a place for saliva, and a space where you can describe your child's appearance. The Texas Education Agency is distributing the kits to the districts. 

The Houston Independent School District, the largest school district in Texas, informed parents and families in a letter that the distribution would start this week and that the kits are optional. The letter cited by Houston Chronicle reads, "Caregivers are under no obligation to use the kits. But they must be informed by your institution that the available kits will allow them to have a set of their child's fingerprints and DNA that they can turn over to law enforcement in case of an emergency."

The kits have advantages and disadvantages, according to Kenneth S Trump, a national school security consultant, who spoke to the Houston news organization. Trump stated, "On one hand, I see the value in saying, 'Here's a tool you can have in case of potential threats.' But I think we need to be very cautious about crossing the line of doing no harm to the point where we are creating more anxiety."

According to the law, all elementary, middle, and junior high school students are eligible to receive the kits. The reason behind the program not being accessible to Texas high school students is unknown. In the Texas public school system, Child ID kits could be distributed to as many as 3.8 million students. 

Although the kits didn't start out being discussed in relation to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, they do bring attention to a depressing part of the story. In an effort to identify their children, parents waited in line after the May shooting to provide swabs of their DNA.

The depressing video showed distraught parents waiting to speak with authorities to learn if any of the remains found inside the school matched their son or daughter. Loud sobs could be heard all day and into the evening outside the auditorium of Robb Elementary School, where the families had gathered. The news that their child had been murdered was delivered to at least five family members who had been waiting at the school with their child's DNA.

Some people think that the Child ID kits being distributed could stop a situation like this from occurring again. It has already been made known to parents in at least one Texas school district that they can pick up a kit at any time. The DNA kits can be readily available for use at any time for families with children enrolled in the Clear Creek Independent School District. Even though some people claim that the intentions are admirable, many parents and families claim that they find the concept gloomy and unsettling.

Clear Creek ISD Spokesperson Elaina Polsentold ABC 13, "This is certainly unique. I would agree this is a role that we haven't played in the past as a school system." Anthony Church, a parent, said, "It was almost like the state just throwing their hands up and saying, 'We can't do anything about the guns. We're not going to change any of the laws. So, therefore, the next best thing is to make sure that we can identify your K through eighth grader if they are killed in any type of school incident." The father did admit that he and his family would use the kit, but they were not pleased with the circumstances. The parent said, "When I receive them we're going to complete the kit and store it in the cabinet and pray to God nothing happens."

In July 2021, Governor Abbott approved the legislation and thanked the original author in a post on social media. He tweeted, "Thank you@DonnaCampbellTX and@RepJamesFrank for authoring SB 2158, which requires@TEAinfo to provide school districts with fingerprint and DNA ID kits. This law will enhance law enforcement’s ability to safely recover missing children in Texas. #txlege."