Lanyard Dress Code Policy Provides Opportunities for Self-Expression
Love them or hate them, the new security policies are definitely not empty promises. Not all of them are in operation yet—the PA system has yet to be installed—but students’ daily lives have already been impacted by the new rules, most notably and controversially the addition of lanyards to the school dress code. There is no alternative but hiking down to subschool every day to pick up a temporary badge or dodging every teacher who might card you, which will ultimately prove more difficult than just wearing the badge in the first place.
As some students have already discovered, IDs don’t have to ruin a good outfit or be distasteful. Lanyards provide lots of opportunities for creative expression.
Custom Lanyards
The lanyards given out to the student body are functional and cheap enough to be distributed for free to a student body of such size, but the plain, black string leaves much to be desired in the long-term. While other suggestions on this list are accessories, getting a custom lanyard with a thicker cord and interesting designs is the simplest and cheapest way to make dress code custom-fit for you. Some students have lanyards with designs of their favorite movie, book or TV show franchises and others are full of future-college spirit. If you have a specific style, you can hand pick your lanyard to match your color scheme.
Buttons and Pins
There is no shortage of complaints about bad ID photos. Bedazzling your lanyard with buttons and pins is not only a good way to personalize it, but it distracts from the ID itself. The first thing people look at won’t be your ID anymore, it’ll be the flashy pictures and clever phrases they see pinned around it. Not to mention, they weigh the lanyard down so it’s less likely to fly around when you run and harder to lose. Hot Topic, Michael’s and countless online stores sell a variety of pins and buttons, some inspired by movies, bands or even political statements, while others are non-specific.
Pockets
I’m immediately green with envy whenever I see a student who has a lanyard with a pocket instead of a clip to carry their ID. Not only are these lanyards usually very fashionable, but behind the ID, students can carry their wallet, phone or anything else small they might need. However, they can be a bit more expensive. If you lose your lanyard, there’s a lot more at stake than just going down to subschool. On the other hand, it also gives you a greater incentive to not lose your lanyard.
Rather than complaining about these new policies, it is more beneficial to us as a student body to make the most out what may be an undesirable situation. Whatever our stances might be on these new measures, we still have to follow them. So as long as lanyards are required we might as well use them as a means for creativity and self-expression.
