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Writer and Texas parent Jenny Lawson posted about a Texas bill requiring schools offer instruction on battlefield wound care to kids. This came after the state eliminated sex education.
Lawson noted her kids' school district in San Antonio has "canceled all sex ed classes this year but is now required to offer kids training in bleeding control techniques, including 'tourniquets approved for use in battlefield trauma care by the armed forces'."
The bill in question is Texas House Bill 1147, which is titled "Relating to the regulation of bleeding control stations in public schools." The legislation was introduced in March but is pending in committee.
The bill would "provide for a school district or open-enrollment charter school to maintain and make available to school employees and volunteers bleeding control stations," which are designed "for use in the event of a traumatic injury involving blood loss."
You can see her tweet below.
\u201cIn case you're wondering how things are going in Texas, our district canceled all sex ed classes this year but is now required to offer kids training in bleeding control techniques, including "tourniquets approved for use in battlefield trauma care by the armed forces."\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
The legislation has been criticized by many who see it as yet another example of the state's refusal to do anything about an epidemic of gun violence.
Lawson's tweet came in the wake of a mass shooting in a Houston suburb that claimed the lives of five people, including an eight-year-old child. The shooter is still at large and more than 200 law enforcement agencies are searching for him.
Many condemned Texas politics as a result.
\u201c@TheBloggess From now on, "Texas T/tea" stands for Tourniquet, not oil.\n\nAs a Texan gun owner and parent, I demand better gun safety laws and enforcement.\n\nIt's the guns.\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
\u201c@TheBloggess this is great, you can't learn how to use a tampon for your period, but you CAN learn how to use a tampon to stop the bleeding of an ar-15 round that does so much damage many won't recover anyway. \n\nsounds like abbott texas, and republican heaven.\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
\u201c@TheBloggess So it's okay to talk about bleeding from gunshot wounds, but not menstrual bleeding? \n\nMake it make sense.\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
\u201c@TheBloggess I can't believe this is a sentence that needs to be written: \n\nIf you trust a kid to treat a sucking chest wound, you can trust them to understand pregnancy, consent, and sex.\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
\u201c@TheBloggess THIRD GRADERS are going to be taught bleeding control techniques. That\u2019s 9 year olds. Unreal.\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
\u201c@TheBloggess @KevinMKruse Nothing like expecting kids to have the mental wherewithal and physical coordination to conduct battlefield triage when they are at an age they can barely ride bicycles.\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
\u201c@TheBloggess @drfarmertx Bleeding control techniques will do nothing for injuries caused by AR-15 type weapons. Nothing.\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
\u201c@TheBloggess "Hey, kids! Why find out what it means to 'play doctor' when you could instead train to be a REAL combat medic!"\u201d— Jenny Lawson (@Jenny Lawson) 1682961069
Advocates in Texas claim even with updates made in 2020, sex education in the state is still inadequate, as lessons on consent and inclusive language for LGBTQ+ students are not included in the current standards.
Different school districts in North Texas have varying approaches to sex education.
For example, a district in Fort Worth will not offer sex education this academic year, despite approving a $2.6 million purchase of overall health curriculum in April. In another North Texas district, staff uses a program called 180 Degrees, which aims to educate students on the risks of premarital sex and the value of healthy marriage relationships.
However, advocates warn Texas' "opt-in" requirement for human sexuality instruction, which was established in 2021, could result in some students missing out on important information.
This is particularly concerning given Texas has the ninth-highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, with the state also ranking second for repeat teen births and experiencing a rise in sexually transmitted infections. Furthermore, sex education standards in Texas do not adequately address contraception methods other than abstinence.