School identification badge systems and implementation

School ID badges

As in any discussion on basically any subject, our evaluation on the use of badges in schools needs to include several perspectives (students, first of all, then school staff and teachers, parents and the community) and each perspective needs to build arguments and counterarguments to sustain the perspective and point-of-view we will be determining.

In order to perform an optimal evaluation of the different categories' perspectives, we need to be able to gather facts and information on the matter, especially opinions from the parties involved. These will act as the background information on which we will be building the case. I will be referring at the end of the essay to the research strategy.

For the beginning, we need to be able to define and identify the issue, as well as the several sides we may have to deal with. A high school in Missouri introduced identification badges, which the children are required to wear during school hours on the school premises. Several students and parents felt entitled to protest against this measure, while the school staff believe it to be an excellent measure by which students can be identified.

For the beginning, we need to be able to discern where each party stands on this issue, as well as their argumentation. Let's take the students' side first. According to several of them, the measure was "an infringement on their rights." Some of them wore stickers over the badge as a sign of protest.

I am not too sure that high school students are able to act on this issue out of anything other than the classical teenage attitude. In my opinion (and I will expand on this in the research strategy part), if we had a survey asking the students what rights were actually infringed, I am not sure we would have a 20-30% proportion who would be able to tell us.

It is obvious that the student argumentation revolves around their rights, but aren't most teenagers' arguments revolving around their rights, usually a much higher number than actually existing? In no case am I trying to banter the student perspective, but I am expressing doubts as to their arguments, because it seems to me that it is rather an opportunity to manifest their revolt rather than actually take a stand on a certain issue. While I might be wrong on this subject, nevertheless, the student perspective seems to have no real arguments.

On the other hand, the students may accuse the fact that, for identification purposes, only they are supposed to wear identification badges. Had it been that the school staff and teachers were required to wear them as well, we would probably have had no issue. Here, it seems rather discriminative to require something only from one side.

However, as we have seen from the article, these badges have been used on school grounds in the library. What is the enormous difference between presenting your badge to the school staff when asked and actually wearing it? So, while the positive argumentation from a student perspective would be that the badge is an "infringement on their rights" and may lead to discriminative procedures on school grounds, the counter argumentation may prove them wrong, as identification badges have been used in the library and the requirement to wear them anywhere else on campus should not be making such a great difference.

The school staff and teachers should probably be for implementing the badge. It is interesting to note that the policy to implement badges was not taken by the school board, but by the school administrators, something which the parents will be speculating on their part.

From the school staff perspective, the identification badges would be a useful instrument to recognize who is a student and who is a teacher. Additionally, somewhat related to the identification purpose, as well as to the security perspective that one parent has mentioned, the staff can easily recognize who is actually meant to be on school grounds and who isn't. If we consider the global terrorist threat, this is a highly important argument.

On the other hand, as the parent has mentioned, security and safety measures on school premises need to have a limit somewhere, otherwise we risk having a reminder of concentration camps, where number identification tags were used. As the parent has asked, where can we draw the line?

From the parents' perspective, wearing a badge may be an additional form of security and safety on school grounds, but it also may be considered a measure that will give way in the future to new ones. At this point, students are requested to wear an identification badge, but what happens if, for example, additional measures in the future will restrict their access to parts of the school during strict period of times? Sure, one needs to respond to threats, but what if security measures are means to restrict the students' liberties as well?

From the community perspective, a safe school may mean a safer neighborhood. As an example, the fact that the police will be called upon as soon as anybody suspect is on school ground is something that may give a whole new perspective on security for the community as well.

As we have seen from the paragraphs here above, the four different perspective actually represent two important arguments for the use of identification badges.

While for one side, the use of badges is an easy form of identification that allows the staff to easily spot any foreign presence on school ground, on the other hand, the use of identification badges may be an incipient restriction of the students' liberties and freedom and may lead to other measures.