Some Texas public schools have begun distributing DNA and fingerprint collection kits to families so that parents could have a tool to help law enforcement if their child is trafficked.
As part of Texas’ recently enacted Child Identification Program, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has been tasked by the state Legislature with providing all public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools with “inkless, in-home fingerprint and DNA identification kits to be distributed through the district or school on request to the parent or legal custodian of any kindergarten, elementary, or middle school student.”
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick celebrated the program on his website, stating, “Parents will have their children’s fingerprints for safekeeping, and God-willing, they’ll never be needed. Too often, children are abducted, and these kits might be the difference between tragedy and a swift return.”
The Uvalde school shooting earlier this year also highlighted the practicality of child identification kits, as identifying some of the victims in that shooting would have been challenging to accomplish visually.
“A high-powered firearm can cause very devastating injuries and can make identification challenging from a visual point of view,” stated Dr. James R. Gill, Connecticut’s chief medical examiner, speaking with The New York Times shortly after the Uvalde massacre in May.
He advocated for DNA testing, arguing that it is more accurate and spares parents the trauma of having to view gruesome images of their slain children, like in the case of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Bob Sanborn, president of the nonprofit Children at Risk, told the Houston Chronicle, “When you put [the Child Identification Program] in the light of Uvalde, it’s one of the most macabre things you could think about.”
National school security consultant Kenneth S. Trump seemed to agree, telling the Houston news outlet:
“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 ‘do no harm’ to the point where we are creating more anxiety.”
He argued that districts should communicate the actual probability of things like human trafficking, school shootings, and other risks to children so as not to create unnecessary fear or anxiety or suggest that kids are in imminent danger.
The security consultant pointed out that DNA testing is not needed at every school shooting, stating, “Uvalde was such a mess of a situation with so many victims; therefore, it was needed there. We have to be very careful to not base all forward-moving preparedness actions based on a back pattern of the last incident alone.”
Houston ISD and Clear Creek ISD are some of the first districts in the state to start notifying parents about the opportunity.
According to the Houston Chronicle, a memo sent to Houston ISD principals by their district stated:
“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.”