Before this year, the administration had never enforced owning and wearing an identification badge.

Following the lockdown last February, however, the administration has begun implementing more safety procedures. In the past, IDs were considered more of a logistical nuisance, something without much significance that students would misplace, break or lose. But the major safety change this year is requiring that all students on campus wear their IDs at all times. While most students have complied some, students question the high consequences that come with not having the ID.

We, the Eagle’s Eye believe that the administration has done a good job in implementing the new badge policy. However, we also believe that the punishment is too severe and ineffective. As of now, students who do not have their ID when they arrive on campus must sit in ISS until they pay $5 for a replacement or someone brings their ID to them. For students without the means to get an ID, this means staying in ISS all day.

Although this system has been said to be effective in curbing the number of students who come to school without ID’s, it is unfair to the students who have forgotten their IDS at home or need a new one for the first time.

The administration did give students a few “trial” weeks to get used to wearing their IDs, but this “trial” does not prevent students from making an occasional mistake. Students who have bad luck one morning shouldn’t be penalized to this extent.

These types of consequences for arriving without an ID not only take class time away from students but also creates problems with workloads. If students have On-ramps, AP or Pre-AP classes and must miss them because of something as small as an ID, their already heavy workload will increase. In addition to this, many accelerated courses have strict schedules; if a student misses a day, it could mean a quiz or test that they won’t be able to retake.

Having a computer in ISS can help prevent this problem in some classes, but most of the material for the day is explained during the class. Without that information, students can’t complete their assignment, which can lead to them not understanding the future material. For some students, time to make things up is already limited because of extracurriculars, work and existing homework.

In addition to students who cannot afford to miss classes, there are some students who may choose to not wear their ID to school in order to avoid going to classes for a day. For a number of students, ISS is preferable to show- ing up for class. If they are guaranteed a ticket into the room simply for showing up without a badge, they will definitely take that opportunity. The fear factor of threatening ISS for not having an ID is only effective to a point.

We propose an alternative solution to this system: a strike system. We would like to give students three strikes per semester for students who forget their IDs. On the first two strikes, students receive a temporary ID sticker, and on the last they begin getting sent to ISS.

With this system, we hope that students would have more opportunity to learn from their mistakes before being sent to ISS. Accidents happen.

Correction: The print edition of this story incorrectly stated the amount of a replacement badge. We apologize for the mistake.