The new rule concerning ID badges has left students of Allen in an uproar. I am forced to wear an itchy and uncomfortable dog collar, displaying my worst possible photo, and ruining any given outfit in order to enter the doors of my public high school.

This regulation has no cause; Allen has never had issues with students under false identification in the past. Therefore, there is no reason to force students to begin keeping their IDs visible, rather than remaining with the old rule, that students must be carrying them at all times. It is only causing unnecessary rebellion and negative attitudes amongst the students, who feel oppressed.

Certain San Antonio schools have gone so far as to place tracking chips in student identification badges, that can pinpoint a student’s position within just a few inches. Although Allen has yet to reach that extreme, it is definitely on the road to it.

There are no warnings; if a student is caught without an ID, the consequences will be immediate, whether it is a detention or a charge of $2. This frustrating rule, it turns out, seems to be causing much more trouble than it is worth.

I can understand why school security guards would be apt to check identification on students who seem suspicious, are wandering the halls during a class, etc. However, this does not require students to visibly wear badges that they could easily carry around in wallets, purses, or backpacks.

In a hypothetical situation, in which there were actually a serious threat to our school by someone who is not a student at Allen, ID badges would provide no real help in protecting the safety of our school.

So, the only purpose this new regulation seems to hold is one that infringes upon our rights as individuals in choosing our own appearance.

Although many large business offices and corporations use a similar ID system, and as large as Allen is, it is still only a public high school. These precautions are often taken in buildings that contain confidential or private information in order to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. This isn’t necessarily an issue at Allen, where the school’s matters are featured on Twitter on a regular basis.