Lanyards have been a requirement for all students and staff to wear anytime during the school day. In theory, having a lanyard on will show others who is a student or teacher here at the school, but these straps can often cause more issues than the ones they solve. 

A personal issue that I have with lanyards in general is how they feel. I often don’t wear necklaces or tight shirts due to the odd feeling they create. Lanyards are difficult for me to wear because of how uncomfortable they can be. Although not everyone experiences this, it’s still an issue for the people that do. Of course people can go out of their way to buy a lighter strap, but they shouldn’t have to waste money on accommodations that can easily be changed. 

“When I wear my lanyard it really irritates the back of my neck, and it’ll be all red at the end of the day. It’s also pretty easy for my friends to rip off which can hurt sometimes. It’s overall really uncomfortable,” freshman Cara Bolvin said. 

Lanyards can also cause a dilemma for any student. A badge holder is used to hold a student’s actual ID and the plastic breaking at the top is a very common occurrence. This can not only cause a student to lose their ID, but also lose any other important things they may be keeping in them. If we didn’t have lanyards, we wouldn’t need to use these and risk losing possessions.

Another flaw is that the specific red lanyards students are given aren’t mandatory to wear. A student can go out and buy any lanyard they want if they dislike the red AAHS ones. This can easily be a gateway for non-students to enter the premises without raising any suspicions. A person could go out and buy a lanyard then walk into the school and blend in with the students.

Lanyards also don’t serve much of a use besides holding an ID. Some argue that it makes the person’s ID visible, but some students forget to wear their lanyards and don’t get in trouble. When teachers do random ID checks, most are looking for IDs, not lanyards. Student’s could easily store their identification cards in their pockets, wallets or even their Chromebook cases. If there’s still a need for making a student’s ID visible on their person: badge reels, clips and even badge holders by themselves can be used without irritating a person’s neck. 

“I never get in trouble for not wearing it…I only got asked once, and I told him I left it in my classroom. He told me that I had to wear it at all times. He let me go in the end after I told him it was irritating against my neck,” Bolvin said. 

Lanyards serve no purpose and are only an issue for students. A concrete way of knowing if someone is a student is simply asking for their ID. Lanyards are only an unnecessary add on that creates more problems for students.