New school ID cards kick up a fuss

Do schools really believe they can stop students who don’t care about doing the wrong thing?


As it is not that long ago that I myself attended high school, I feel adequately equipped with adolescent knowledge to comment on the latest trend in the era of identification overkill.

As far as I know, every high school student in Australia is issued an ID card upon enrolling to their chosen institution. And if we needed a pass-out of school during the day we had to go to the office anyway, sign out and then sign back in again when we returned. Surely that’s a simpler, far more cost effective way of keeping track of all those naughty students.

Does anyone know how much it would cost for all Queensland schools to implement this system?

For an enrolment of 1800 students, to run the system for one year would cost $2300 not including the server. Times that by however many Queensland schools there are…and it's money that doesnt need to be spent on upgrading ID's.

The Courier Mail online included comments from Australia Fair (in Southport, on the Gold Coast) centre manager Kerri Jones saying how great the system has been so far.

"The program has been a success. I can say we have far less problems with the children. They're more aware of what they can and can't do," Ms Jones said.

I’m fairly sure every student, by the time they’ve learnt how to read and write, knows that skipping school to hit the shops is wrong.

I can’t help but be skeptical of just how effective this system will be if it is rolled out around the state. I sure know, particularly after 5 years of going to school with teenage boys, that if they want to do something “bad” then not much can get in their way. Teenagers are infamous for their attraction to rebellion and I think this new ID system won’t do a thing to deter those who don’t care about the consequences, as child psychologist Kylie Sawley predicted.


By Ashleigh Stallard.