Are School ID’s Necessary? (FACEOFF)

Yes: (C.G)

As a non-uniform school, Palmetto needs some form of identification. IDs make it possible for faculty to quickly and easily identify who enters and exits the school, making it important to monitor while creating safer school grounds. Even with the hassle and the detentions it may bring if a student enters the school without it,

Throughout life there are many different situations where a person needs to wear an ID,  such as in a hospital or an office building . IDs provide a safe work environment where only authorized personnel allowed access,  keeping employees protected and feeling comforted. Wearing an ID isn’t something new and it’s something to get used to.

But IDs not only keep track of who enters and leaves the school, they also collect students’ information for things such as school lunch or the teachers ability to pinpoint students violate school rules. According to Solomon Asch’s experiment detailed on Very Well Mind, people become less likely to conform to social norms or rules when the person has the ability to hide their identity such as a mask, an anonymous submission, or the ability to lie about one’s identity. Without IDs, a student can lie about their name or identity to avoid repercussions, thus providing an important detail to the dispense of IDs.

Not only does an ID provide safety and a follow up on students identification, according to One Source Security, IDs also provide a more comfortable atmosphere for students with free and reduced lunch. Feeling less noticeable, it makes them feel comfortable with privacy.

If Palmetto were a uniformed school the insistence for clearly visible IDs would not be in high demand for faculty, but for now that doesn’t seem to be the case. So, instead of fighting it, it may be more productive to attempt to understand the main reason: to keep students safe, secured and identified.

No: (N.M)

When students at Miami Palmetto Senior High walk down the hall, it is now common to see an ID hanging around their neck. Periodically, the administration announces that IDs are mandatory for students to wear at MPSH. This is not a unique situation; schools all over the country now enforce an ID policy. IDs represent a safety measure taken by schools to ensure that everyone in the school belongs there, however IDs overall prove to be a waste of time.

The point for these IDs is to maximize school safety. However, the identification cards actually do not do much. When walking into school, it is possible to enter without showing an ID to a security guard, teacher, or administrator. Therefore anyone could walk into the school in the morning, student, teacher or otherwise. In addition, when students do not have an ID by administration, it takes even longer to question them about it than it would to just look up their name in the system. Those who arrive at school without an ID are normally not doing it for malicious intent, it is likely they  forgot it at home. An ID does nothing to protect students against someone who comes into a school attempting to hurt them, it is simply a little name tag that hangs on a lanyard.

While school administrations all over the country claim that IDs determine who belongs at the school or not, that makes no difference to the safety of the school if a student is attempting something dangerous. There is no reason why they could not be wearing an ID as a way to get into the school without raising suspicions. At the end of the day, an ID is not going to stop someone who has their mind set on hurting people at a school.

When students missing their ID’s have to go to indoor suspension or after school detention, that is an enormous waste of time that cuts into their time in the classroom. Instead of learning or going to after school activities like sports or  clubs, they receive punishment for forgetting a little card at home. The punishment takes away from the ultimate goal of school, to learn and grow as a person. Students should by no means miss their classes and lose valuable lecture time over a moment of forgetfulness.

Adding to this unnecessary waste of time, students must pay with their own money for a replacement ID.The fee to replace an ID is five dollars, a ridiculous sum of money for a small plastic card. Students should not be forced to pay money, if anything the school should promote students wearing their IDs by giving them a replacement for a free or a lower cost. Some students simply cannot afford to pay the money it costs to replace an ID, especially if they lose it on multiple occasions.

In this day and age, access to technology allows administrators know who belongs where. Teachers who send their students who do not wear IDs are simply following orders.

Instead of worrying so much about IDs, schools should take safety measures to make sure the doors to classrooms remain locked and that students know what to do in case of a lockdown or active shooter scenario. Minimizing entrances into schools can also make it harder to access the student body from the outside. IDs pull focus from the real issues, they do nothing except cost money to schools and students,while taking those students out of the classroom for punishment that proves a massive waste of time. Schools do not need IDs, and especially do not need the large emphasis put on them.