The big problem with the ID system

Photo+Cred%3A+Nathan+Smith

Photo Cred: Nathan Smith

At the beginning of the school year, administration announced that they would be enforcing the ID policy at FUHS. They claimed that if students could remember to bring phones and backpacks, they should also should be able to remember ID cards.

And, that got me thinking.

For me, my ID card has become a big nuisance to wear visibly every day. I understand and believe that they are important for easy identification in the event of an emergency, but it’s not that often, if rarely, that you’ll be checked for your ID.

My teachers hardly ever check if we’re wearing IDs. Most of my teachers even tell us to bring our IDs on a certain day to check out books from the library, because they know we’re going to forget them.

So why do we forget them?

It’s because ID cards essentially have no everyday purpose. You don’t use your ID every day; it’s simply a plastic card you  wear around your neck so you don’t get Saturday School.

We remember our backpacks and our phones, because we use them every day.

There’s a simple solution to this – make the ID a useful, daily object.

Maybe scanning IDs to enter class, or offering rewards for wearing your ID to class every day.

As unfortunate as it is, there needs to be a form of incentive to motivate us to continue wearing our ID cards, otherwise the problem is only going to get worse.