For those of you with students attending Marblehead High, you may have heard of an upcoming safety measure. Beginning this April, students will be expected to wear their student IDs on their person at all times, on threat of detention or suspension. There will likely be a grace period, but afterwards, students without IDs may be subject to detention. Upon further infractions, it has even been suggested that students without their IDs be sent home and forced to miss school. Much of what we know now is conjecture, as few resources have been provided to students explaining the policy and its reasoning. However, the major justification for this new policy is that it responds to growing concerns about gun violence. Although I respect this intention, I believe this new policy is not an effective response to gun violence.
In the event that someone who doesn’t belong tries to attack, administrators argue, they will be noticed before they can do any harm due to their lack of identification. I have two issues with this argument, the first being that someone who is armed, even upon being called out, will not simply be subdued. A madman with a submachine gun will not be stopped by an administrator asking them for an ID. True, when an attacker is recognized, police can be called. However one can not reasonably assume that someone without an ID is truly evil without somehow interacting with him or her, at which point it would be too late. On the other hand, if someone was visibly a danger, for example holding a gun, then a lack of ID as a cause for concern would be irrelevant.
The second, and greater issue I take with this argument is that much of the time, shooters perpetuate violence against organizations that they are a part of. The Virginia Tech, Columbine, and Parkland massacres were all perpetrated by students or former students at said organizations. If, God forbid, someone attacked MHS, it is entirely likely that they would be a student, and thus would have a student ID. Only more involved measures would be truly effective to identify when people pose a risk to their community.
In these cases, the measures that would prevent a shooting are things such as recognizing warning signs, intervening with violent students, and, of course, preventing perpetrators from getting guns. Blanket measures such as the new ID policy seem designed to give the feeling of safety in spite of the fact that their actual effect would be minimal. Furthermore, for many students, this policy does not ease concerns but rather exacerbates anxieties.
Another argument for carrying IDs is that the school may soon scan them to take attendance. Late students, instead of waiting in line, would just swipe their ID and be signed in. Although this is a good idea in theory, the reality is that the tools for scanning IDs are not available. Furthermore, it has been said that administrators lack even a functional database of ID barcodes. The fact is, MHS is a public school. Although we manage to implement and finish projects, doing so often takes time. Implementing a schoolwide program on the justification of a potential future project is wishful thinking. A promise does not constitute an actual system.
The final issue I take with the new ID policy is the exorbitant punishments that may be implemented alongside it. Barring students without their ID from school disrespects the very institution it is supposed to protect. Education should always be a priority. Furthermore, in today’s academic climate, it is hard to catch up on missed work. I have even known my peers to attend school sick because they can’t afford to miss a day of work. Setting students at a disadvantage because they forgot a lanyard will benefit no one and create a new level of student stress. This new system fails to take into account the reality of human error. People forget things. People lose things. That does not mean that they should miss out on their education.
I respect Mr. Bauer and the administration, and I appreciate their efforts to create dialogue with students. However, I think that this new policy will only stress out students without having positive safety benefits. To put it bluntly, in an America where teens are mowed down with AR-15s, the minutiae of lanyards is a waste of time. In the future, I hope that administrators will reconsider this policy, or at least implement a scanning system in order to justify it further.