Fact Check: This image does not show a Texas mother sending her child to school in a bulletproof vest

By Riddhish Dutta: Gun violence, especially in schools, is an ongoing problem in the US. According to a Washington Post database, there have been at least 386 school shootings in the country since 1999, with more than 356,000 students having experienced gun violence at schools.

An image making the rounds on social media right now shows a child, purportedly from Texas, dressed in a bulletproof vest and helmet. According to those posting this picture, this was how the mother of the child prepared her for her first day of school. Uvalde in Texas witnessed a school shooting on May 24, 2022, during which 19 students and two teachers were killed and several others were injured.

"Jayne writes from Texas: A mom here in my county told me 3 weeks ago through tears that she purchased a bullet-proof insert to put in her daughter's backpack. She couldn't buy the one that stops AR-15 bullets because it weighed almost as much as her 5-year-old. This is our reality in Texas," read one such viral post. The archived version of a similar post can be seen here.

India Today Fact found that the image in question was part of an advertisement — it doesn’t show a real incident.

Our Probe

A reverse search of the viral image led us to a report from August 16, 2022, that featured this image in a video. The headline read: "Texas child shown in back-to-school advertisement wearing body armour." The report mentioned that a group of mothers in Texas commissioned this advert.

Reportedly, this advertisement was curated to make a stand against Texas Governor Greg Abbott after the incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that happened just before the summer break. As per a report from Chron, published on August 17, 2022, a group called "Mothers Against Greg Abbott" was formed before the summer vacation was over and children started to return to their classrooms.

A search with subsequent keywords took us to a YouTube channel named "Mothers Against Greg Abbott," where we found the original 30-second-long video featuring the frame in question around the 18-second timestamp.

The description of the video reads, "Kids all over Texas and the United States are getting ready for back to school, but something feels different this year. Our kids are not soldiers, regardless of what the extreme right thinks. Whether you're a Republican, a Democrat, or neither, it's time to come together and demand meaningful gun safety reform now. Please go here to donate to help us get these ads on the air."This made it clear that it was an ad campaign.

However, we also found news articles that reported how a mother created a “bulletproof” back-to-school dress. While the dress wasn't bulletproof, it was designed to make a statement.

Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the claim of a mother sending her child with a bulletproof outfit in Texas is not true.