Lanyards adjusted for first-year troubles
Last year, Perry introduced a new policy requiring all students to wear class-colored lanyards. The colors are chosen by each class’ assistant principal, and students keep the same colored lanyard each year.
After one year with the policy, Perry administration hopes this year’s adjustments will further protect students.
According to 2023 assistant principal Zachary Ervin, the purpose of the lanyards is to quickly identify students and others. “It makes it easier from our [administration] standpoint to identify someone not wearing one, and to look into it,” he says.
Perhaps the most noticeable change this year is the new visitor pass stickers. When students forget their lanyards, they will now receive a visitor sticker, as opposed to the infamous “orange lanyard of shame.”
The stickers include a picture of the student as well as his or her name. This change comes as a result of students ultimately not returning the lanyards, leading to security concerns.
“A lot of the time we would have to track a student down to get it back,” secretary Heather Dillman says.
In a world where we’re constantly reminded of our compromised security, Perry’s goal is to change as seen fit to protect students and staff.
Zoey Jane Buckless • Dec 18, 2019 at 6:37 PM
Hello, my name is Zoey and I have a few problems with the school policies I would like to address; though for now, I will focus on the ongoing problem with lanyards. I have searched through all of the schools’ guidelines, handbooks, and dress codes. The only reference to a lanyard I could find was listed under a very short section titled Refusal To Identify Self on page 40 of the online PMHS Pipe LIne. It simply states that we, as students, are subject to school discipline if we fail to provide proper identification. The proper identification, in this case, being our class lanyards. In a previous post by the Focus, you said, “All students and teachers have to abide by the new dress code…”. My problem with this is that this statement includes teachers. There are plenty of teachers, I see on a daily basis, that do NOT wear any form of identification, more specifically a lanyard! I feel that it is unfair to enforce a rule only on the students when the rules clearly state that teachers must abide by the same rule. It is also stated in that same article that it is the teachers’ responsibility to enforce this rule upon the students. How, I ask, can they enforce a rule they themselves do not follow? However, that is not the focus of my problem. In the article, I am commenting on it says, “When students forget their lanyard, they will now receive a visitor sticker, as opposed to the infamous ‘orange lanyard of shame'”. First of all, if the whole point of the lanyard is for our safety, and to help the staff identify us, students, a simple visitor sticker will not achieve that purpose. The sticker is easily hidden on a person’s clothing and is smaller and less obvious. Another problem with the stickers is that they too are orange and when they are worn in plain sight, it brings about the same shame as the “infamous orange lanyard of shame”. So in all reality switching to the stickers served no purpose other than allowing us to not have to return a lanyard at the end of the day, or for a member of the staff to go on a manhunt to get one back. While on the topic of forgetting or losing your lanyard, as most of us do on a constant basis, let us discuss the aspect of consequences and payment. The one thing I’m always wondering about is the consequences. As I said earlier, I have searched any available document that would mention even the slightest thing related to lanyards. The funny thing is I couldn’t find anything about the consequences or payment plan, or even the rules pertaining to lanyards! Amazing right? You would think for something as important as our lanyards seem to be there would be some type of documentation stating the information, we as students need to be informed of and have access to! As I just pointed out that is not the case. This needs to change immediately. I myself, as well as many others, do not even know much about the consequences, payments, or replacement policy. All I do know for sure is that in order to replace a lanyard we are forced to wear, we must pay for the lanyard and the new identification card. This is stupid seeing as most of us cannot afford to pay for a new one at the moment, but if we do not pay we don’t get a lanyard, which forces us to accept disciplinary actions enforced by the staff. As for the consequences, the first time is a warning, then lunch detention, then, from what I’ve heard ISS. All this over a lanyard…it’s ridiculous when putting into perspective, which is exactly what I am trying to do for the administration; show them the correct perspective. All I will say for now is that if you want to make us wear lanyards don’t make us pay for them. We shouldn’t be forced to pay, or take the consequences and still have to pay, for a lanyard that we are forced to wear. This is only the beginning of my argument, I have much more in store for the administration. I know that my efforts will most likely be ignored, or end fruitless, but this is something I must do regardless of the outcome.