Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Texas Schools Now Sending Parents DNA Kits To Identify Students' Bodies 'In Case Of Emergency'

gon control activists stage protest
OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images

A law requiring the kits passed the Texas state legislature in 2021, nearly a year before the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde.

A new move by Texas schools takes the state's and the country's gun violence crisis to a whole new dystopian level.

Texas school are now sending students' parents DNA kits so that they can identify students' bodies "in case of emergency."


The law passed the state's Senate last year, nearly a full year before May's horrific school shooting in Uvalde, the second-deadliest in America's all too long history of school shootings.

The move has shocked and enraged many who feel the move is just yet another effort by the state's heavily Republican government, politicians and Governor Greg Abbott to dodge meaningful action on gun violence and gun safety.

The law mandating 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," was passed last year in the wake of a shooting at a school in Santa Fe, Texas in which eight students and two teachers were killed.

It requires schools to provide ink-free fingerprint and DNA identification cards to parents of all students in kindergarten through sixth grade that can be stored at home by parents. Parents are not required to use the kits.

The move comes just months after the shooting in Uvalde, after which many of the young victims were unidentifiable due to the extent of the injuries they sustained in the shooting. DNA swabs had to be provided by parents to positively confirm identity for some victims.

The move has left many Texas parents outraged. One of them, combat veteran and former FBI and CIA agent Tracy Walder, spoke to TODAY about receiving the kits, calling the move "beyond comprehension."

"I worry every single day when I send my kid to school."

"Now we're giving parents DNA kits so that when their child is killed with the same weapon of war I had when I was in Afghanistan, parents can use them to identify them?"

Walder went on to say that the kits send a clear message: The Texas government intends to do nothing about gun violence, no matter how damaging it may be to the state's children.

"This sends two messages: The first is that the government is not going to do anything to solve the problem. This is their way of telling us that."
"The second is that us parents are now forced to have conversations with our kids that they may not be emotionally ready for. My daughter is 7. What do I tell her?"

Another parent, Brent Cross, whose 10-year-old son was murdered at Uvalde, was a bit more pointed in his criticism. He tweeted:

"Yeah! Awesome! Let’s identify kids after they’ve been murdered instead of fixing issues that could ultimately prevent them from being murdered."
"It’s like wiping your a** before you take a sh*t."

Texas parent Wendi Aarons was even more to the point about how the DNA kits make her feel.

"It makes me physically sick."

Many on Twitter shared these parents' sentiments, as the news left them appalled and infuriated.










Adding to the absurdity is the law's stated reason for the DNA kits: to “help locate and return a missing or trafficked child.”

Governor Abbott, his Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, both Republican Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and scores of state-level Republican legislators in Texas are all backed by the National Rifle Association, which spends more money lobbying in Texas than any other state in America.

More from Trending

Screenshot of Mehmet Oz; Donald Trump Jr. drinking a Diet Coke
Triggered with Donald Trump Jr.; Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Dr. Oz Just Revealed That Trump Thinks Diet Soda Kills Cancer Cells For Truly Bonkers Reason

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, had people facepalming after he revealed that Trump loves drinking diet soda because he believes it kills cancer cells.

Oz appeared this week on Triggered, the podcast hosted by Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and spoke about his department's ban on all new durable medical equipment suppliers. He has been known to peddle pseudoscience and conspiracy theories and did so for years before he ever entered public office.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

C-SPAN Clip Goes Viral For Showing Just How Bizarre Things Have Gotten During Trump's 2nd Term

A C-SPAN clip has gone viral for showing just how bizarre things have gotten during President Donald Trump's second term, describing just a few of his latest moves that have made people facepalm.

C-SPAN coverage is pretty straightforward and matter-of-fact... but things are so weird right now that even the standard monotone narration one expects can't help but underscore this weirdness.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pete Davidson attends the "All In: Comedy About Love By Simon Rich" Gala Performance at Hudson Theatre.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Pete Davidson Hit With Backlash After Making Wildly Inappropriate Joke About His Infant Daughter

Five months into fatherhood, Pete Davidson is folding his new reality into his comedy, but one joke about his infant daughter is igniting a wave of criticism online.

Back in December, Pete Davidson and his girlfriend, Elsie Hewitt, announced the arrival of their baby girl. Hewitt shared the news on Instagram, posting a series of photos from their first days with their newborn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dick Vitale
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Fans Rally Around Legendary ESPN Announcer After He Reveals Devastating Fifth Cancer Diagnosis

Lovingly known as "Dickie V," Dick Vitale is the longest-running announcer at ESPN, having started with the debut of the program in 1979 and with a contract that will keep him on the announcing panel at least through 2028.

Vitale has been present for some of the biggest moments in college basketball history, his commentary like a soundtrack for those historic moments. Last season, the "Dick Vitale Invitational" college basketball event was even launched in his honor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lewis Capaldi; Kim Kardashian
Sarah Stier/Getty Images; Karwai Tang/WireImage

Lewis Capaldi Has Hilarious Reaction After He's Accidentally Romantically Linked To Kim Kardashian—But Some Fans Missed The Joke Entirely

This just in: Hollywood's hottest new couple is Kim Kardashian and... Lewis Capaldi?

Okay not really, but the internet thought so for a hot minute after the two were thought to be spotted together at Justin Bieber's Coachella performance over the weekend.

Keep ReadingShow less