Safety at school is an increasing concern for students, parents, and teachers alike. To combat their fear for student safety, ID badges are now being enforced at Utica and it is mandatory for students to be visibly wearing their IDs at all times.

To accompany this, teachers are conducting ID checks to make sure every student is complying, and any student found without their ID must purchase a new one.

Most students don’t fully support ID requirement, but they don’t outright oppose it either. They don’t mind it, but think the reasons aren’t exactly practical.

“It makes sense on why they’re doing it,” senior Daniel Waterstradt said, “but I still think it’s a little bit over the top.”

Not everyone agrees that ID enforcement truly improves security at Utica.

“It may be able to identify people who aren’t supposed to be in the school,” senior Alaina Wisswell said, “but if someone forgets their ID at home or just isn’t wearing it, does that automatically mean that they’re not supposed to be here and they’re a threat? It’s very possible that someone with the intent to harm attends the school anyway, so that rules out the point of them having IDs.”

Some also disagree with IDs needing to be visible on a student at all times.

“I think keeping the ID on you is a good idea,” Waterstradt said, “I just think needing it to be visible is weird. I think it’s fine if you had it in your wallet or your purse or something like that, since that’s just an obvious spot you’d for an ID if something happened. Somewhere visible on you is just a little bit too much.”

Students are also concerned about how often teachers are checking for IDs.

“The staff isn’t checking the IDs regularly like they claim to be,” Wisswell said, “so an intruder could go completely unnoticed until it’s too late.”

“I think that IDs being visible can help with security at the school in the event of a shooting,” Waterstradt said, “but only a little bit. It’s so little to the point where it’s completely insignificant.”