https://www.yahoo.com/news/child-brought-home-horrifying-pamphlet-123010060.html
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My Child Brought Home This Horrifying Pamphlet From School. I'm Furious
— And You Should Be Too.
Joanna McFarland Owusu
Fri, October 28, 2022 at 5:30 AM
The pamphlet sent to the author by her daughter's school. (Photo:
Courtesy of Joanna McFarland Owusu)
The pamphlet sent to the author by her daughter's school. (Photo:
Courtesy of Joanna McFarland Owusu)
If you’re a woman or a parent or really a human of any stripe in
America, there’s a lot to rage about lately. Probably many of us have
learned to modulate our anger, because being in a constant state of
outrage is detrimental to our health.
Today my rage is crushing and all-consuming and feels like lava coursing
through my veins. My 7-year-old brought home a pamphlet from school
earlier this week titled “National Child Identification Program.”
She handed it to me with a bewildered look on her face and opened it to
show me a page with slots for her fingerprints, one box for each finger.
She said she supposed we needed to fill this out.
My mind reeled as I searched for the appropriate reply. I told her we’d
look at it later, and she trotted off. And then I opened the pamphlet
and saw two simple sketches of a naked, genderless child, labeled
“FRONT” and “BACK.”
I choked up as I realized what I was meant to do. I was to label the
figure with any birthmarks, moles, scars, or other distinguishing
feature on my child, so that her body could be identified, if, for
example, her face was blown off by an assault weapon. [Note: Officials
say the program, which predates the Uvalde shooting, is primarily used
to find missing children but the kits “can be used in the aftermath of a
tragedy,” an official acknowledged to CNN.]
As a parent of three kids ― one each in elementary, middle and high
school ― I rolled my eyes when our large, urban school district required
students carry clear backpacks this school year. I live in Texas and the
horror of the Uvalde school shooting was top of mind. I wondered if
anyone really believed clear backpacks were making anyone safer. I
breathed a sigh of relief that my youngest didn’t understand why the
clear backpack edict was made.
There are a thousand ways for parents to meet this moment with young
kids. I suppose we’re embracing willful ignorance for our 7-year-old.
She didn’t comprehend this pamphlet or what it could possibly be used
for any more than she comprehended the clear backpacks. She has a vague
understanding of bad guys sometimes doing bad things in the world, even
at schools. I can’t find the words to explain why the adults around her
won’t do simple things to keep her safe at school. It’s disgraceful and
I’m ashamed of our elected leaders, who refuse to put the lives of small
children ahead of a well-financed gun lobby. I cannot summon a rational
explanation, even on a second-grade level, for the current state of affairs.
The pamphlet sent to the author by her daughter's school. (Photo:
Courtesy of Joanna McFarland Owusu)
The pamphlet sent to the author by her daughter's school. (Photo:
Courtesy of Joanna McFarland Owusu)
My husband and I can’t shield our teenagers from headlines, and they
fully grasp the reason for active shooter drills. The best we can muster
in broaching this topic with them is that the grown-ups in our country
have failed them. Despite decades of talk about commonsense gun reform,
our country has only made modest policy changes around the margins. We
tell them that it shouldn’t be this way ― and that it isn’t this way in
other countries. Teenagers whose brains aren’t fully developed and can’t
yet buy alcohol aren’t able to acquire a gun license in other countries.
Guns, and specifically assault weapons, aren’t easily accessible in
other countries, and gun deaths in other countries are a fraction of gun
deaths in the U.S.
We all seem to maintain some emotional detachment from this topic. I
remind them that, statistically, they’re unlikely to experience a
shooting at their schools. We tell ourselves this so we can sleep at night.
So, here is my earnest, desperate plea to every person who has a child,
or knows a child, or believes children have a right to exist to carry on
the human race ― future payers into the Social Security system, if
nothing more.
If you live in Texas like me, or any other state, for that matter, where
far-right Republicans have made a mockery of your child’s safety, vote
for the candidate with a reasonable stance on gun rights. No one’s
coming for your hunting rifles. Vote for a return to some semblance of
sanity on the topic of gun control (among others).
Because I refuse to believe or accept that clear backpacks and active
shooter drills and law enforcement programs to help identify children’s
disfigured or dismembered bodies are really the best we can do ― the
best we can offer our kids.
My rage knows no bounds, and I’ll carry it with me to the ballot box.
Joanna McFarland Owusu is a writer and editor based in Dallas. Joanna
was a federal government analyst in a former life, and is a longtime
policy stan and news junkie. When she isn’t reading the news or writing,
Joanna spends most of her time Uber-momming two teenage sons and an
elementary-aged daughter around town.