As the six-hour long school day goes on, students and staff are required to wear an ID badge, and not many people have a second thought about it. However, they create many problems in schools, and wearing them should not be mandated. These ID badges can inflict negative feelings: stress, discomfort, and even a feeling of insignificance. Is it really worth wearing these overkill cards just to theoretically improve school security? A vast majority of students would say no.

Being forced to wear these ID cards makes you feel insignificant, nobody cares to remember your name, almost like a worker ant in a giant colony. However, in reality, almost all of the staff around the school can recognize and greet any given student. So why require ID cards? To make matters worse, not wearing your ID results in severe punishment; simply having an ID in your pocket instead of around your neck can result in two days of lunch detention. This strictness almost creates a jail-like environment.

School ID cards may have a few positive aspects, but they can easily be countered by better solutions. For instance, IDs can be used to buy lunch and check on to a bus, but it really isn’t necessary. Typing in a number to buy lunch is faster, and attendance is taken in school anyway, so checking in on a bus is not needed. The real hallmark of School IDs is the idea of an increase in safety. They seem to be enforced more as safety incidents happen: “In April 1999, two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., shoot and kill 11 of their fellow classmates. In attempt to increase security, a mandatory ID policy is adopted.” (Key Events). A weapon is the only real threat coming from a child, and this can easily be solved by implementing a metal detector at school entrances. Instead of feeling invaded, students would feel protected and comforted by the thought that there are no weapons on campus. If an unknown child were to appear on campus, they would have no weapon, and no threat.

Instead of the use of school IDs declining, it is growing, and it is getting much more severe in some states. Schools in San Antonio, Texas are trying a program where a radio tracking chip is embedded in student ID cards. Being constantly tracked would make you feel like a prisoner on probation! Although this can help prevent truancy, the integrity of students could be damaged. So far, students in these schools are not liking it: “Students have also raised concerns about their constitutional rights, saying that tracking an individual would dissuade students from exercising their First Amendment freedoms of assembly and association.” Student Tracking IDs). If this process is adapted by schools across the country, a colossal amount of students will be angered.

Although School IDs should not be eradicated, they should not be required to be worn at all times. Instead, they should be kept in a backpack in case a student’s identity is questioned. With an ID in the student’s backpack, students can still take it out to buy lunch or scan in to the bus if needed. This way, constant threat of punishment will be relieved from students, and they will be less stressed as a result. If ID policies were made less strict, school would be a much more enjoyable place.