IDs make a fashion statement

KEARNEY, Neb. — For many students at Kearney High School, a new security measure is now a fashion statement.

Kearney students are now required to wear IDs. The identification card, which has the student’s photo and name, must be worn on a lanyard around the neck.

Many students can be seen walking the halls with animal print lanyards, multicolored fuzzy lanyards, camouflage lanyards or even lanyards with flashing lights.

Although students may be getting creative with the new requirement, the IDs are just another way to make the school safer, Principal Steve Wickham said.

“We’re following the lead of other schools our size,” he said.

Almost 1,500 students attend Kearney High School, and “not everyone knows everybody,” Wickham said.

The IDs have a bar code students use to check in at lunch and to check out books in the media center.

Wickham said the IDs will eventually take the place of student activity cards and will be used to identify Kearney students at school dances and other school activities.

“It’s primarily a quicker way to identify students,” he said.

The students have been wearing their new IDs since the beginning of the second term in mid-October.

So far, school administrators have been lenient on students who forget their IDs. But students who refuse to wear IDs or forget them several times face consequences such as detention or Saturday school.

“They’re new, so we’re trying to be cognizant that they have to get used to it,” Wickham said.s

Each student was given a free lanyard donated by Jostens, the company that provides graduation materials to the school. The student council also is selling blue Kearney High lanyards to raise money.

Teachers and staff have worn IDs for many years, Wickham said.

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