@@@@ Texas School Districts Sending DNA Kits to Parents

[AJL]

Texas school districts are sending parents DNA kits for their children to complete and have on hand in "the event of an emergency". During the 2021 legislative session, the Texas legislature passed SB Bill 2158 "requiring the Texas Education Agency to "provide identification kits to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools for distribution to the parent or legal custodian of certain students."

Full article here -- www.today.com/parents/family/texas-parents-schools-dna-kits-identify-kids-bodies-rcna52769?cid=sm_npd_td_tw_ma

WTF!? So instead of passing comprehensive gun legislation, rolling back constitutional carry, prohibiting high powered rifles, etc., let's just give parents kits to ID their kids via DNA when they're murdered.

Fuck off, Texas!

[sequins]

I have been FUMING about this.

Person derails from a normal life/generally is a shit person -> decides to shoot up other people -> threatens people -> buys guns -> announces their intentions -> shoots up a school (after security fails to protect anyone) -> victims are so disfigured that they cannot be identified without DNA.

The fact that the texas govt thinks the LAST step in this chain of events is the one that requires action is just so mind-boggling to me. I cannot understand why every parent/person who loves a child can vote anything other than democratic in the coming election, given the utter inaction on the state level in addressing this issue. It's infuriating that they think this is the action that people are demanding.

[sonrisa]

WTF?

And - there is no way they aren't going to abuse this.

[sequins]

Yes and to top it all off, submitting biospecimens to the state of Texas is not dangerous to large segments of the population at all.

[wildrice]

The idea that my niece or nephew in TX might need to be identified by their DNA makes me want to vomit. What the hell is wrong with this country and especially with Texas.

And I agree there are a ton of other personal information risks involved, especially for people with marginalized ethnicities.

[lemoncupcake]

Our state has gone down the shitter but this is so overblown.

This is just like when you were a kid and got free photos/fingerprints done for you parents to keep in case of emergency. DNA is added because of how technology has changed, but this is *not* something that parents are turning back into the schools and is not directly related to violence in schools.

[AJL]

Oct 19, 2022 15:39:41 GMT -5 wildrice said:

The idea that my niece or nephew in TX might need to be identified by their DNA makes me want to vomit. What the hell is wrong with this country and especially with Texas.

And I agree there are a ton of other personal information risks involved, especially for marginalized ethnicities.

Same, but it's my children. Already this year, there have been three credible threats of shooting at both their schools (2 at my son's and 1 at my daughter's).

[wanderingback]

Oct 19, 2022 15:41:05 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Our state has gone down the shitter but this is so overblown.

This is just like when you were a kid and got free photos/fingerprints done for you parents to keep in case of emergency. DNA is added because of how technology has changed, but this is *not* something that parents are turning back into the schools and is not directly related to violence in schools.

Huh? What do you mean free photos/fingerprints? Photos and fingerprints are 2 very different things. I never had that done when I was a child.

Eta: I don’t think it’s overblown because there are a lot of other ways that education dollars could be better spent.

[lemoncupcake]

Oct 19, 2022 16:57:58 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Oct 19, 2022 15:41:05 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Our state has gone down the shitter but this is so overblown.

This is just like when you were a kid and got free photos/fingerprints done for you parents to keep in case of emergency. DNA is added because of how technology has changed, but this is *not* something that parents are turning back into the schools and is not directly related to violence in schools.

Huh? What do you mean free photos/fingerprints? Photos and fingerprints are 2 very different things. I never had that done when I was a child.

Eta: I don’t think it’s overblown because there are a lot of other ways that education dollars could be better spent.

It was definitely a thing in the 90’s in our area - usually they’d have a booth at fairs or community events. I actually still have mine, my parents had it in a folder with my shot records and birth certificate.

[plutosmoon]

I had fingerprints done at school as a kid in the early 80s, as did my parents in the 40s and 50s. My parents were told it was in the event they were separated from their parents during nuclear war, mine was in case we were kidnapped we were told it would help reunite us with our parents.

This feels very different in the light of the reality of mass school shootings, and the inability of our federal and state governments to do a damn thing to protect our kids at school and the fact it's dna not just fingerprints. It angers me that this is the best Texas can do while parents are burying their children.

[lemoncupcake]

I’m plenty angry about our lack of action re: gun violence and education funding, but this particular program doesn’t have anything to do with either of those. It’s been going on for decades at this point

[noodleoo]

Oct 19, 2022 15:41:05 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Our state has gone down the shitter but this is so overblown.

This is just like when you were a kid and got free photos/fingerprints done for you parents to keep in case of emergency. DNA is added because of how technology has changed, but this is *not* something that parents are turning back into the schools and is not directly related to violence in schools.

Hard Disagree.

TW TW TW



I just saw a story on the news about a woman being arrested for a crime based on her DNA being added to a database from her rape kit. Hell no to the state widely collecting DNA of children.

[penguingrrl]

Oct 19, 2022 15:41:05 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Our state has gone down the shitter but this is so overblown.

This is just like when you were a kid and got free photos/fingerprints done for you parents to keep in case of emergency. DNA is added because of how technology has changed, but this is *not* something that parents are turning back into the schools and is not directly related to violence in schools.

I’ve never heard of schools doing fingerprints either, and that would also make me uncomfortable. And school photos are a fundraiser, not just for this. 

[winecat]

What part of this is “small government,” you hypocritical mother fuckers?

[sequins]

I understand what you're saying lemoncupcake, this bill predates Uvalde, and the DNA submission is not mandated.

BUT - in the current political climate - school shootings + government going after patients and providers for seeking/providing lifesaving services, we are in the slipperiest of slopes. Basically one court decision away from all of this being weaponized. Also, while this bill doesn't explicitly state gun shootings as the reason for the DNA id, what other mass casualty events have kids in schools faced in the US?

[seeyalater52]

Oct 19, 2022 17:43:48 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Oct 19, 2022 15:41:05 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Our state has gone down the shitter but this is so overblown.

This is just like when you were a kid and got free photos/fingerprints done for you parents to keep in case of emergency. DNA is added because of how technology has changed, but this is *not* something that parents are turning back into the schools and is not directly related to violence in schools.

Hard Disagree.

TW TW TW



I just saw a story on the news about a woman being arrested for a crime based on her DNA being added to a database from her rape kit. Hell no to the state widely collecting DNA of children.

I’m also pretty sure that DNA kit results even though private companies can be subpoenaed by law enforcement. This is a huge overreach even if it’s voluntary, especially given that many families don’t have a true sense of the potential implications.

[lemoncupcake]

Oct 19, 2022 19:17:47 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Oct 19, 2022 17:43:48 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Hard Disagree.

TW TW TW



I just saw a story on the news about a woman being arrested for a crime based on her DNA being added to a database from her rape kit. Hell no to the state widely collecting DNA of children.

I’m also pretty sure that DNA kit results even though private companies can be subpoenaed by law enforcement. This is a huge overreach even if it’s voluntary, especially given that many families don’t have a true sense of the potential implications.

None of this is collected back by the state or schools. I literally have the envelope in front of my face and it clearly states “keep this at home in case you ever need it”.

I’m sure Texas would love to collect our DNA, but that’s not what is happening here.

[sonrisa]

Oct 19, 2022 17:43:48 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Hard Disagree.

TW TW TW

YES. Exactly. And often they had been sitting on the kit for *years* not using it to catch the perpetrator and finally ran it late and used it against the victim.

[lemoncupcake]

Oct 19, 2022 17:43:48 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Oct 19, 2022 15:41:05 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Our state has gone down the shitter but this is so overblown.

This is just like when you were a kid and got free photos/fingerprints done for you parents to keep in case of emergency. DNA is added because of how technology has changed, but this is *not* something that parents are turning back into the schools and is not directly related to violence in schools.

Hard Disagree.

TW TW TW



I just saw a story on the news about a woman being arrested for a crime based on her DNA being added to a database from her rape kit. Hell no to the state widely collecting DNA of children.

If a parent does the fingerprint or swabs, they don’t send it anywhere.

[lemoncupcake]

Y’all. Texas is bullshit, and Republicans are monsters. I’m fully aware of this and agree with you. But I’m saving my outrage for something more pertinent to the issues.

[seeyalater52]

Oct 19, 2022 19:38:39 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Oct 19, 2022 19:17:47 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

I’m also pretty sure that DNA kit results even though private companies can be subpoenaed by law enforcement. This is a huge overreach even if it’s voluntary, especially given that many families don’t have a true sense of the potential implications.

None of this is collected back by the state or schools. I literally have the envelope in front of my face and it clearly states “keep this at home in case you ever need it”.

I’m sure Texas would love to collect our DNA, but that’s not what is happening here.

I’m confused what the point is of distributing them then. Seems like an egregious waste of taxpayer money but that’s kinda par for the course, so…. *shrug*

[tacokick]

Oct 19, 2022 19:38:39 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Oct 19, 2022 19:17:47 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

I’m also pretty sure that DNA kit results even though private companies can be subpoenaed by law enforcement. This is a huge overreach even if it’s voluntary, especially given that many families don’t have a true sense of the potential implications.

None of this is collected back by the state or schools. I literally have the envelope in front of my face and it clearly states “keep this at home in case you ever need it”.

I’m sure Texas would love to collect our DNA, but that’s not what is happening here.

It does seem like the 2022 version of the fingerprint kits we were sent home with during he kidnapping panics of the 1980s. Strange and disturbing but kind of empty?


That said, I’m against giving your DNA to anyone unless truly medically necessary and unavoidable. The laws have not kept up with that.

[pizzaandtulips]

It was the McGruff safe kits for fingerprints and photos when I was a kid. I just googled them and they are still around, now with DNA collection, too.

[AAM2012]

Oct 19, 2022 15:05:27 GMT -5 AJL said:

Texas school districts are sending parents DNA kits for their children to complete and have on hand in "the event of an emergency". During the 2021 legislative session, the Texas legislature passed SB Bill 2158 "requiring the Texas Education Agency to "provide identification kits to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools for distribution to the parent or legal custodian of certain students."

Full article here -- www.today.com/parents/family/texas-parents-schools-dna-kits-identify-kids-bodies-rcna52769?cid=sm_npd_td_tw_ma

WTF!? So instead of passing comprehensive gun legislation, rolling back constitutional carry, prohibiting high powered rifles, etc., let's just give parents kits to ID their kids via DNA when they're murdered.

Fuck off, Texas!

I haven’t read any responses yet..

It has ZERO to do with identifying a child who was killed but 1,000% relating to getting their DNA into the system so “they” can be identified for crimes they or their families may or may not have committed in the past, present or future.


They = anyone not white.


Edit: Ok I read the article…I have not heard of any issues with victims being identified in which this would help expedite the process. DNA tests aren’t like something that just can be done and get instant results.

Outside of stressing families…I don’t see how this will help anything. And even if they have to submit it in an emergency, it will then be part of the database not just for the child but their entire family tree.

I do agree, at minimum it’s good to have clear, recent photos of a child and if you want to do fingerprints you can.

[lemoncupcake]

Oct 19, 2022 20:12:40 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Oct 19, 2022 19:38:39 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

None of this is collected back by the state or schools. I literally have the envelope in front of my face and it clearly states “keep this at home in case you ever need it”.

I’m sure Texas would love to collect our DNA, but that’s not what is happening here.

I’m confused what the point is of distributing them then. Seems like an egregious waste of taxpayer money but that’s kinda par for the course, so…. *shrug*

Like others have said, it’s definitely a holdover from kidnapping panic. All of the website and mailer verbiage is about reuniting lost & missing kids, trafficking, etc.

[pixy0stix]

My fingerprints were definitely sent somewhere to be in some database when I was a kid. They weren't sent home.

So the DNA kits are just swabs that the parents keep? What's the point then? Don't they get DNA from toothbrushes etc if they need it? I know swabs are preferable, but ffs.

I won't even do DNA ancestry testing because those databases aren't safe from the government (unlike medical testing). So if it's sent somewhere, no thank you.

[niemand88f]

Oct 19, 2022 19:39:29 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Oct 19, 2022 17:43:48 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Hard Disagree.

TW TW TW



I just saw a story on the news about a woman being arrested for a crime based on her DNA being added to a database from her rape kit. Hell no to the state widely collecting DNA of children.

If a parent does the fingerprint or swabs, they don’t send it anywhere.

This- the kits are going out in Utah too. Waste of money for such an uncommon need but not quite as nefarious as some are interpreting it.

www.ksl.com/article/50497847/utahs-top-law-enforcer-says-parents-need-this-tool-in-case-their-child-gets-abducted
“ That's why the state reinstated a program that helps parents keep identifying information about their children on hand if the worst-case scenario occurs and they go missing. The National Child ID program provides kits to take a child's fingerprint, keep a DNA sample, photo and important medical information about them in one place… Reyes said since the program was reinstated last year in Utah, law enforcers so far haven't used the kits in any cases yet“

[basilosaurus]

So they don't have resources to process rape kits but all the money in the world to identify children and parents? And you know there's going to be at least a few you are NOT the father situations

[goldengirlz]

Oct 19, 2022 18:46:00 GMT -5 sequins said:

I understand what you're saying lemoncupcake, this bill predates Uvalde, and the DNA submission is not mandated.

BUT - in the current political climate - school shootings + government going after patients and providers for seeking/providing lifesaving services, we are in the slipperiest of slopes. Basically one court decision away from all of this being weaponized. Also, while this bill doesn't explicitly state gun shootings as the reason for the DNA id, what other mass casualty events have kids in schools faced in the US?

It predates Uvalde, but according to the article linked, it was still in response to a school shooting (just not THAT school shooting):

“The law passed after eight students and two teachers were shot and killed inside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas …”

So of course people feel queasy and angry about this. And just because we did something in the 1980s doesn’t mean we should keep doing it. Should we put school shooting victims on milk cartons next? “We did it in the past” is a ridiculous justification.

It’s basically the government telling parents they can’t keep your children safe at school — and they’ve given up trying.