No Saturday school for lanyard offenders

Junior Owen Collins walks into school at the same time every morning. A vital part of his morning routine, he always remembers to take his school-issued ID out of his backpack and put it around his neck.

“I think having IDs is a good idea” he said. “It helps contribute to school safety and that way it’s easy to identify everyone who is supposed to be here.”

While Collins does not mind wearing his ID every day, other students are less appreciative of wearing it daily.

Senior Claire Franco believes the ID policy is not effective, and more could be done regarding school safety.

“I think IDs are a good idea in theory, but I don’t think they’re as effective as what could be,” Franco said. “Students can get away with just wearing a lanyard with a random card attached.”

Despite the differing opinions from students regarding the ID, assistant principal Patrick Scott assures that the ID policy effectively contributes to school safety.

“IDs are the easiest thing we can do to ensure that we are a little bit safer here at Har-Ber,” Scott said. “There are around 2,400 people in our building every day, and it is impossible for anyone in our building to know everyone that is supposed to be here. It’s an effort to make sure that the people that are here are supposed to be here, and if they aren’t supposed to be here or are guests, they follow the proper procedures.”

The ID policy has also slightly changed from last year, especially regarding the consequences due to not wearing an ID. Many students resented the strict consequences that were in place last year.

“I think how we wear the IDs should be less strict. We should be allowed to keep our IDs on our bags or in pockets,” Franco said.

“Last year we were more strict with the consequence,” Scott said. “It was Saturday school for the first offence. We reflected on that as an administration and a staff, and decided we didn’t accomplish the results we wanted. So instead of making this a consequence based action, let’s help students understand the importance of this. Now if a student forgets their ID, it’s only a detention.”

The administration is also working on making temporary IDs for students who forget them during the day.

“Students would be able to go to the attendance window and receive an armband or a sticker,” Scott said.

As Collins roams the halls, he reflects on the safety of his school.

“IDs work.” he said. “And I feel very safe at Har-Ber High School here in Springdale, Arkansas.”