Emporia High School students must wear ID badges
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Student ID cards — once carried in wallets and billfolds — soon will hang from lanyards around students’ necks, under a new policy beginning this school year at Emporia High School.
“The only thing that’s new is we’re having them display them while they are here at school, on a lanyard,” said Assistant Principal Steve Turner.
The change will provide a measure of security for students and staff members and is part of the EHS administration’s effort to take reasonable security measures.
“... (A)s we talk to other administrators, many of the schools are going to this,” Turner said. “It’s not that we have any major issues, safety or security issues. It’s just that we want to keep everything in the building as safe and secure as we can.”
The school already had a policy that required staff members to wear identification, and that policy extended to visitors and service people, as well.
With an increasing transient student population, visible student IDs have become increasingly important.
“We’re just wanting everybody in the building to have some type of designation so we’ll know that whoever’s in here needs to be in here,” Turner said. “We have students coming in and out quite frequently throughout the school year.
“We just want to make sure that we can keep track of the students who are supposed to be here.”
IDs for the students will not be available for the first day of school this year, but should be available in less than two weeks.
“For this year, we’re going to use IDs supplied by our student photo vendor. So, we’re taking photos on the first day of school,” he said. “It’ll be approximately 10 days before we get all the IDs in. As soon as we get them in, then they’ll be handed out.”
Lanyards will be provided to each student and students who want to personalize their lanyards may purchase their own, as long it follows the EHS dress code.
The ID cards will be handled as usual, he said.
“We have a re-take day,” Turner said. “If they get a photo back and their eyes are closed or whatever, they would certainly be eligible for a re-take.”
ID cards that are lost will have to be replaced because, like shoes, they are part of the required dress at EHS. Replacements are expected to cost about $5.
Turner said that visitors, who always have been required to check in at the office to get visitors’ passes, will continue to have that obligation when they come into the building.
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Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on August 8, 2007 at 4:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Glad our schools are trying to be as safe as possible. I'm just curious if there is a free/reduced program for lost student ID replacements?
Posted by UserName (anonymous) on August 8, 2007 at 6:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Exactly HOW is this going to make the school safer? If I've been paying attention to the news (and as much as these things are sensationalized and rammed down our throats 24 hours per day, how could I NOT be paying attention?), nearly all of the school tragedies (Columbine, Virginia Tech, etc.) have been perpetrated by students.
So please enlighten me: Exactly HOW is wearing an ID on a string wrapped around my son's neck going to make him safer?
Why not just go all the way and tatoo a number on his forehead?
My GOD this country is turning into a police state..
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on August 8, 2007 at 6:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
since school shootings are usually caused by kids who belong to the schools they shoot, will ids really create safety or is this another flimsy measure?
Posted by Sean_Claridge (anonymous) on August 8, 2007 at 7:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's not so much as keeping your child safe from school shootings. (unless they were made from kevlar and neatly placed over their heart)
Besides, this is EHS... I don't remember seeing any signs of a school shooting that could have happened. But I have been gone for a whole year, so maybe this is a problem, but I doubt it.
But the ID is a smart idea, because it says that you are indeed a student. I think that the heart behind this policy it to make sure there aren't any foreign, suspicious characters that are at the school and shouldn't be.
Posted by food4thought (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If that is the case then all you have to do is steal one or take one. So I don't think it is going to help except for those students who abide by the rules and will always keep theirs on. For the others that are the true problem they will continue to be by leaving it at home or giving it to someone else to change their identity for the day.
Posted by bdprotheroe (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 2:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The school administrators are intelligent, meaning; they know student ID cards are not going to solve all problems and potential hazards. They are, however, well aware of the threats posed towards youth in today's society. Valid student idenification is another step towards ensuring a safe place to learn for all students.
To those of you who see the identification cards as ridiculous, might I just refresh your memory about an article in TEG earlier this week about a sex predator in Emporia:
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2007/...
I think we need to applaud the school administrators for their effort. Certainly, the school administrators still have on their "thinking caps," and are researching other methods for ensuring safety for the students.
In the words of my peers during my days at EHS in the late 80's and early 90's, I think all of you need to "chill."
Brian Protheroe
San Francisco, CA
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 9:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
predators dont lurk around schools anymore, i know the schools want to create safety for kids,but the doors are locked during school hours, how can the boogie man get in?
hanging things from their necks may not be a good solution. has anyone considered that the building was originally built for a smaller population,and if there is a reason to evacute the building it would take a long time to get the entire student population out doors that were meant for a smaller crowd?
Posted by MelissaE (anonymous) on August 10, 2007 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I see nothing wrong with wearing an ID badge.....many companies require badges to be worn by their employees.
If this is seen as a way to be safe (or, should I say, try to stay safe) then it's fine with me.
At some point, there will be metal detectors there, too. Is that going to be a problem?
UserName: I don't disagree about the "police state" occuring, however, last time I checked, our children were our responsibility and if the schools are no longer safe, who's fault is it? The parents who keep having kids that they can't pay attention to and then their kids turn out like hoodlums? The teachers & administration for "not doing something sooner"?
My point is that if something awful were to happen at EHS, EVERYONE would point their finger at someone else because NO ONE wants to accept the fact that something awful could happen or be blamed for it happening. I see the ID badges a good start at security for our children.
And, they are children. Parents SHOULD police them. But since most don't want to nowdays, everyone else will.
M
Posted by KristieR (anonymous) on August 10, 2007 at 10:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
When I went to highschool, we had a number of teenagers in our schools selling drugs. They weren't students there, either dropouts or from other schools. It's a big school and our teachers didn't know everyone. Another good use of the ID card, is if a teacher is seeing a student doing something they shouldn't, they can get the name right away before they disappear into the crowd.
It's worth a try. If it doesn't help, they can try something else. I'd rather see a badge, pin, or bracelet id.......vs something around a neck that could be used as a tourniquet during a fight.
Kristie
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