Our high school is getting ready to have all the students wear ID tags around their necks, and everyone is in a furor over it. We live in a very rural area with a very small high school (senior class is 98) and this is the first time we've had to deal with the issue of security. I am from a larger city and really don't have a problem with this, but I'm wondering if any of your schools do this and how large they are, and if you think it's a good thing or just whistling in the dark. Just curious!

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 11:44 am:

No ID tags at our school, but they are cracking down on girls carrying big purses.

By Annie2 on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 12:10 pm:

What is the purpose of the id's? Have kids come on campus that do not belong to the school? What will the id tags actually prevent or help?

By Tarable on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 12:19 pm:

All the middle and high schools have them around here. I love it. It prevents anyone who is not a student from being allowed in the school. They check the IDs on the way in. It is a safety thing. I live in a suburb of Dallas and I think the schools are pretty big in comparison my DDs 7th grade class is like 500, and I know 5 middle schools feed into the high school.

I see no reason to be up in arms about wearing an ID at school, if anything I find that it is another way the kids make it themeselves.. My dds has stickers and stuff on it and a key chain with a frog on it.

But at our schools you have to sign in as an adult to go in the school and wear a name tag printed off at the front desk. I do know that last year there was a lock down at my DDs middle school because an unidentified person was there.. turns out it was an a/c repair person that didn't follow procedure to get a name tag...

I feel safer knowing my kids have security around them and they know who everyone is that is at their school.

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 12:41 pm:

When J & J were in high school, they had to do that. The ID's were scanable, were used in the cafeteria, and other school functions. It was part of the security and safety policies at school. ID's were required for riding the bus, for entering school, for prom, etc. and had to be on a lanyard around their necks while in school. Yes, it was to prevent *unauthorized* kids on campus, as well. I, personally, thought it was a good idea.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 02:31 pm:

My kids have school IDs, that they scan for lunch, or to get library books. They just don't have to wear them, like people do, when they are working. They were always in their wallets. I don't know that they routinely check them, when the kids go into school, though. Also, we pay extra money at registration, for them to have activity privileges, too, so they get into football games for free and get a yearbook.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 02:42 pm:

The Jr high does this locally. They wear the ID's on the lanyards around their necks. I see no issues with it honestly. Kids were loosing them regularly when they were just in card form, this way it is right around your neck. They use them for lunch, library, computer access on and on.. So they truly need it where it is handy and they seem less likely to loose it.

They are talking school uniforms for around here and I am for that too.

By Vicki on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 03:21 pm:

It always boggles my mind when security is addressed and people get mad about it. Why on earth are they in a tizzy over it? Blows my mind.... just like the people that get ticked when a cashier asks them for id when they use a credit card. You would think they were asked for their first born or something! I just don't get it???

By Tsa on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 04:12 pm:

I totally get it. A big reason we moved to a rural community (graduating class of 75) is so that we wouldn't have to deal with all of the security. The teachers should be able to recognize the kids and figure out who doesn't belong. Is it really for security or is it for lunch and library. I would get it for lunch and library but security at such a small school is crazy. Is it for insurance reasons so if something happened the school can say we had systems in place? What is the reasoning? Yes, I would be up in arms about it.

I guess the reason why I'd be so upset is that it is almost like the kids just become a number. With such a small class the teachers have an obligation to make sure the kids are ok and no amount of id tags are going to insure that.

By Kaye on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 04:32 pm:

My kids have id tags. It is about security. It is also used for funtions. But really for the first few weeks of classes it is super nice for teachers. It is always nice for subs, to know kids names. Everyone in a building wears a tag, teachers, students, workers, volunteers. Mine just don't know any different so they do it.

By Vicki on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 05:47 pm:

I do understand that Theresa, but honestly, no matter where things happen everyone always is shocked that it could happen in their community at their school etc. Small rural communities are not exempt from having bad things happen.

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 06:18 pm:

Bobbie, all of the local school systems, both public and private have all gone to uniforms in the last 10 years. And wearing the ID's on a lanyard helps the teachers recognize the kids who belong and those who don't. Contrary to what Theresa mentions, the kids didn't just become a number; wearing the ID was also for their protection. I'm for anything that helps with security in the schools. The high schools and jr. high schools in this area have a police officer whose only function is to be present at the school all day to make sure there are no incidents. But then, this IS Louisiana, where things are less civilized..........unfortunately............

By Tarable on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 07:00 pm:

Karen, there are officers in the high schools and some of the middle schools all day long here too. So it is not just Louisiana that is less civilized. It truthfully makes the kids feel safer and they know if they get in a fight they are in trouble with the police not just the school which actually cuts down on fights a lot too, at least compared to when I was in school in a much smaller school than my kids go to (my graduating class was 63).

My dd loves her school and everyone knows their names and it is a BIG school. I am actaully suprized by how many of the teachers actually say hi outside of school when we see then and not just hi but know her by name, so she definately doesn't feel like a #.

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 08:13 pm:

I'm all in favor of security and safety measures, but I still don't see how they help with security. Those boys at Columbine went to the school they shot up. That young man at the Univ in W.Va went there. Most of the time in the stories that I have heard, it has been a student at his/her own school and would have had the lanyard and ID around his neck as he went about his horrible deeds. There have been a couple of incidents and those lives are worth it, of course.

Our dd's school started requiring the teachers to wear badges. The teachers were all up in arms about that but have calmed down now. We as parents are required to have a name badge on after school starts, but I have forgotten a couple of times this year when I started something before school Started and got involved in what I was doing. Shame on me.

By Tink on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 08:18 pm:

They aren't using them here yet but I will support ID tags when they are suggested for this area. The school we're at now has strenuous check in policies and it's a small school for this area but not all teachers and staff are going to know every child.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 11:28 pm:

I am sorry but, to anyone that doesn't know your child with in their school, your child is just a number. Not all the teachers teach all of the children and they are not going to recognize, know, a child if they have never had personal contact with that child. The children in the same turn are not going to recognize some one in the school that shouldn't be there, they take for granted those walking in the school are supposed to be there.

Here is a link to the school related attacks. It dates back to April 9th, 1891 and many are small towns.

October 2, 2006, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
United States, Charles Carl Roberts, 32, 6 dead, a one-room Amish schoolhouse. I don't think you can get much smaller than that.. It had one door in the front, one door in the back and they were not safe..

Karen, We have police at all of our schools too, K-12. They stuck them in years ago when all the school shootings were going on and they have stayed and I live among the soy beans and corn fields. LOL.. When I was in high school the police would be outside in the bus lane with the kids and directing kids off of school property, at sporting events but now they have their own police on duty when ever the school is open for business..

By Tsa on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 12:00 am:

I guess I truely do live in Mayberry. The teachers do know the kids or know there families. We live in a farming community and yes a lot of people are related. We also all rally behind our kids in town. When our boys went to the State High School Football tournament 2 hours away, the town filled 4 coach buses to attend. We also had more fans in the stand than the major metropolitan teams.

I am also not dumb enough to believe that bad things can't happen here. I just don't see how wearing your name around your neck is going to change any security?

I don't know if this would be the hill I was willing to die on but it sure isn't one I would like to climb.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 12:29 am:

ID's aren't going to stop the violence between the kids.. I could go into a long rant about society and the way things have been and have not been handled but it won't do any good. We have people that have never lived out side their glass houses making rules for people they know nothing about, nothing new and no surprise. Until they start listening, nothing will ever be solved and things are only getting worse.. Apparently there has been an uprise in violence in Tween girls over the past few years..

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 08:09 am:

In 2006-2007, 1519 students went to my kids' high school. I think it would be impossible for every teacher to know every kid. That's just too many kids. My kids' teachers, definitely knew my children, so that's what matters to me.

High school football is a big thing in this town, and the stands are usually packed with people on Friday nights. I go for homecoming, becuase I get to see the band march, but really have no interest otherwise. Football's not my thing and football while freezing in the stands, isn't really my thing, either. When the football team was in the playoffs for going to state, you could hardly find a seat, though! They did miss out on going to state, though, after they lost the 3rd playoff game. I'm sure people would have gone to Madison, but we probably wouldn't have.

By Karen~admin on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 08:42 am:

No, ID's surely won't stop the violence, I never meant that they would. However, the ID will help identify a student who belongs there vs just any old schmoe who happens to walk in off the street. Back in the 70's, at our local high school, a child was killed in a racial riot. Ours is a small town.

That same high school, where all 4 of my kids went in the 80's and beyond, has a metal detector. When the kids enter school, they must pass through it. They are subject to random backpack searches. Cell phones and lighters are prohibited on school grounds. They are confiscated if found - they are not even supposed to be in vehicles in the lot - and only seniors are allowed to drive their own cars to school, and even at that, must go through channels, have the proper paperwork, passes, and stickers for their car, giving them permission to park it on the campus. Ditto any drugs, legal or prescription. If a child is required to be on meds, they must be brought to the school nurse by the parent, forms signed, yada yada yada. Kids aren't allowed to leave school with anyone who is not on a list the parents provide to the school, and even then, you must show proof of ID when you go to sign your child out. I'm just trying to make a point about security and the measures being taken to protect kids.

The reason the schools have gone to uniforms here is very simple: fashion became the battle between the haves and the have-nots. The kids who came from well-to-do families that were wearing $200 sneakers and brand name jeans and carrying brand name purses/bags to school were being jumped, or robbed, having their shoes/clothing, etc. stolen from them, during PE, or at other times, they were intimidated and victimized. The ones stealing from them, for the most part, were kids who either A) had nothing and wanted what they didn't have, or B) were selling/trading the *good* stuff for drugs - which I *personally* feel was the main reason. At any rate, uniforms puts them all on equal footing, in that manner. They are not allowed to wear hats, caps, pullover sweaters over the uniforms, flashy jewelry, etc.

Yes, violence will occur, fights will happen, kids will find ways to slip illegal stuff into schools. It happens every day. I'm not saying our school(s) were all bad. There are huge athletic programs, tons of extra-curricular activities, we have some excellent teachers and leaders. But nowhere is perfect, we have more and more people moving from the city to the suburbs, especially in the last 2 years since Katrina, and measures have to be taken.

I agree that not all teachers/staff can know all kids, but as I see it, they are doing what they can with the tools they have.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 09:22 am:

Agreed. Uniforms remove many boundries between the kids and it limits the rules to be broken. There is a time and a place for individuality and because enough kids can't set limits on that then something needs to be done.

I am all for metal detectors too, for that matter.. My child might not carry in something against the rules but another might and if they can stop it at the door all the better.

By Janet on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 10:06 am:

Interesting debate...thanks for your comments. As I said, I have no problem with the tags and I also wouldn't have trouble with metal detectors if I thought they would help. We've had three area schools (all small towns) since the beginning of the year in lockdown for students either threatening or actually bringing firearms to school, so it's definitely not a large city problem. I actually think that small, rural communities are more at risk because of the lack of security measures. We have signs on the doors of the schools that state, "all visitors must report to the office," but most people just walk into the school and no one notices. We are beginning to change the doors so that they automatically lock, but right now, it would be frighteningly easy for anyone to come in and do whatever.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 12:01 pm:

Janet, DS school has a buz in door with camera's. You can not walk into the building with out being buzzed in, they know who is at the door, because they can see you and you are required to go straight to the office or you will be tracked down by the police officer, who is generally in the hall by the front door anyway. So basically, their school is on lock down every day.

They have had two bomb threats (one written, one called in) and they discovered a hit list all with in the two months they have been back in school. Last year and 8th grader (girl) sent out a threat of mass murder via text. They have been able to track down all four kids because they weren't "smart" about it but what if they had been real??

By Kym on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 02:42 pm:

I don't have time to read all of the responses, but will give my two cents.

Our HS is big, about 3800 kids total, dd's freshman class is exactly 900 kids. So it is important for them to have these tags for security as well as lunch and library, clubs bus etc.

A little story (not a brag really) I went to a meeting for the Freshman Academy over the summer with a frined of mine, both of our oldest kids are freshman, she is 41 and I am 37, we sat next to eachother. Each time the speaker, who didn't know us, referred to parent, he pointed at her, each time he refeered to student, he pointed at me! I look young, but not that young! So for me it's a good idea to have a student id badge always accessible. Even in a small school, a substitute bus driver or teacher Would NOT know all of the kids, and some young looking adult could easily sneak there way onto campus, into a bus, into a club meeting etc.

So long story short, I think they are a good idea for simplistic purposes and for safety reasons. And Karen, in rural AZ we too have armed Police Officers at our school the entire day.