The school’s new lanyard policy, and what it means for students

Ayden Taylor, Writer
October 7, 2022

For a long time, Student ID’s have been a prominent part of our school day. It’s how teachers take attendance; it’s how we pay for school lunches., it’s how people know our names. But recently, the school has been enforcing a new policy, one that encourages students to wear their IDs on lanyards.
“I feel pretty safe.” says Davis High student, Lincoln Pocock. “It’s a good policy that I think will keep us all safe.”
For some students, including myself, this policy has been hard to adjust too. Our appearance is what separates us from the crowd, it’s our identity. But when you are wearing a school ID, your name and identity have much less meaning, to everyone, you’re just another student with a name printed on a tag.
Safety has always been the school’s number one concern, and though the policy may be embarrassing, we as students must understand that they are doing this for our safety. In a non-uniform school such as Davis, we desperately need some sort of identification to show that we belong, which ultimately makes it easier for the staff to catch threats.
But this also brings up some more questions. Is this the most efficient way to stop threats? And what happens if you forget your ID? Is it possible to be misidentified or even seen as a threat?
“I think it will be difficult for people to accept, after all some people are very self-conscious about themselves.” says another student, Nick Quinonez. “While this might be a good way to keep us safe, I think there are more efficient ways to do it, like metal detectors or something like that.”
“Being misidentified isn’t really a concern of mine. Maybe you’ve noticed but the school has also put doorbells and cameras on every door. They have pictures, they know who you are, even if you forget about your lanyard.” says Lincoln optimistically.
Every job you will have in your life will require some sort of identification. This could simply be a badge, ID card, nametag, or even a work shirt. Threats increase every year, and the truth is we need a way to bypass these threats. Lanyards just might be the most efficient way.
If I was working at a restaurant, wearing my work shirt, and I see someone who is dressed like a customer walk to the back and start working. I know something is wrong. I know he or she doesn’t belong there. Your identification offers almost tunnel vision for you to easily snuff out intruders. It keeps them safe, so why don’t we do it at schools?
Lanyards are important. Your safety comes before your identity. So next time when you are told to wear your lanyard around your neck, just wear it. Because by doing it, you are making the school safer.