Do elementary students have student cards or is that a high school and middle school thing?
Posted by LandOfGrace2023@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 233 comments
Beautiful-Divide-660@reddit
As in an ID card?
Answer for this is the same as every school related question in the US. "It depends". My school had no ID system at any level of education.
CuppaJoe11@reddit
Wow really? We were required to carry our school ID here in Los Angeles. You could get sent home if they searched you and didn’t find it on ya.
SWAGGIN_OUT_420@reddit
Yeah i mean i graduated HS in 2011. Never any searching of anyone any time and our middle/high school IDs were almost never used for anything. I'm not even sure why we had them.
Beautiful-Divide-660@reddit
Yeah never had anything of the sort. No ID, no searching, nothing.
gonyere@reddit
I don't think my kids had/have id cards in highschool. They have id numbers. But, I don't think they've ever had cards.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
Exactly.
I graduated from HS in the mid-eighties. I’m not sure we ever had a student ID, and if we did it wasn’t ever used for anything.
I think there was something in the school photo package a few years of the twelve but it didn’t mean anything.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
Yep-- I'm also a mid-80s HS grad and by contrast we had ID cards from 7th-12th grade. They were required to get into athletic events, evening things like dances, and the like. Not for regular/daily access to the school, but anything after hours or anything that had an admission fee attached. So another contrasting datapoint.
MyUsername2459@reddit
The idea of restricting school athletic events to card-carrying students only is utterly bizarre to me.
When I was in High School, the football games were THE local social event of the week. All the local politicians & elected officials would be there being seen and shaking hands, all the local lawyers would be there for people to go to if they wanted to talk to them about legal matters they might want to hire them for, local businessmen and entrepreneurs would be there promoting their stores and businesses, and generally it was just the social hub of the county. Various civic groups and clubs in the county would volunteer to staff the concession stand, and in exchange they got to split the proceeds of the concession stand with the school, which was seen as a very lucrative fundraiser so all the various clubs & lodges would rotate running the concessions every Friday night.
. . .non-students probably outnumbered students 4 to 1 or 5 to 1 there, I can't imagine why they'd restrict things to students-only.
Fun-Dragonfly-4166@reddit
I dont go to high school events. My kids are in elementary school but my understanding is that attendance is highly policed for security reasons.
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
It was the same for me, but it was to get in for free. Anyone could go to the games if they bought a ticket.
SingleDadSurviving@reddit
It's probably to get in free. We had cards that got students in free but everyone in town came out to Friday night football. We had decent basketball and baseball teams also so they usually use good crowds. Our softball team was amazing and had better turnout than the baseball usually.
Fun-Dragonfly-4166@reddit
I graduated high school in the 90s. I did not have a card but the class behind me did.
Now i have kids. My oldest is going to middle school next year. Elementary school does not have cards but he will get one next year.
I believe he will get one but i doubt he will use it much. Are they really going to turn away students who forgot their cards?
InsertNovelAnswer@reddit
I graduated in 2001, and we had to scan IDs to get into the high school building. The school.I work at now no one has ID cards , even staff. Staff just has a lanyard with keys on it.
So yeah... varied.
MyUsername2459@reddit
I graduated in the mid 90's, and we definitely didn't have any kind of ID card at the time.
I honestly don't know when student ID cards for K-12 students became a thing. It probably was a post-Columbine thing for increasing security in schools.
TruCat87@reddit
I graduated high-school in 2005 we started using student ID when I was in middle school so around 98.
mockity@reddit
I graduated in 1996 in North Texas, and we had ID cards in high school. I don’t think we had them in middle (7-8) but we did have library cards with our names but no photo. In HS, the ID cards doubled as our library card. In elementary, no cards of any kind.
TruCat87@reddit
I graduated high school in 2005 and started using a school id in middle school for checking out library books and getting lunch that was about it. My oldest just graduated, and my younger 2 just finished 6th grade. They all had to wear their student ID on a lanyard around their neck so its visible everyday if they don't have it they get in trouble, detention, and a fine. They say its about safety and being able to quickly identify that they're students of the school and that they belong there. They're also used as library cards and lunch account cards
Turdulator@reddit
Late 90s here, I never had a card… well, except for the fake one me and my friend made to buy cigarettes with.
My kid now in elementary school doesn’t have one either
not_salad@reddit
My daughter receives them sometimes with her school pictures, but the school doesn't use them for anything.
Merkuri22@reddit
Same, I didn't have a student ID until I went to college, where it was used for things like your meal plan and getting into the dorms.
My daughter (she's 10) didn't have one in elementary school. She probably would've lost it, if she did.
Ms-Metal@reddit
Never had an ID card in any school I ever went to and I moved a lot so I've been to schools all over the US. However, I graduated in the mid 80s, so that might be different now.
adrianlovesyou@reddit
My kid didn’t get one until middle school (6th grade)
Sugah-Mama@reddit
Just had #3 kiddo graduate HS and no clue what you're talking about.
brak-0666@reddit
Never go one until high school. Even then I don't know why. I was never asked to present it ever.
Quantoskord@reddit
For my peers and I it was used to borrow books from the library
Bluesnow2222@reddit
Same.
I had an id card and kept it in my backpack. I think it could be used to check out books in Library if the scanned the barcode, but not much if anything else.
PotatoMaster21@reddit
We had to scan ours to get inside buildings.
brak-0666@reddit
I started high school in 1992. Our ID card was literally a laminated piece of paper.
jamiesugah@reddit
Ours wasn't even laminated!
bobrob2004@reddit
Some museums/exhibits will let you in for free or at a discount if you had a student ID. I had one every year from 6th-12th grade but this was 20-25 years ago. One of the only times I used it was going to a science museum/planetarium with my family and I got a student discount.
I also got a library card and had to show ID and all I had was my student ID.
Houseofmonkeys5@reddit
Our kids have an ID number starting in kindergarten that they use if they buy lunch. They don't get physical cards till middle school
SimpleAd1604@reddit
In the 70’s, I remember getting one in 6th grade. I don’t remember ever getting another one or ever needing to use one. Small town in the midwest.
mmaalex@reddit
We had em in middle and high school. I dont remember that we ever did anything useful with them, but maybe checking out books from the school library? (Memory is a bit fuzzy). In college we used them for door access, meal plan, and library checkouts.
FondleGanoosh438@reddit
I had one in jr high and high school. It was more or less a library card and a way to show you were old enough to go off campus on lunch.
PossumJenkinsSoles@reddit
We had a lunch card that our name on it and a number that corresponded to our lunch money account, but you could also just say the number when you bought lunch. Mine was 275. Nobody steal it, I’m 37 and my mom probably stopped putting money on it.
DCDHermes@reddit
My kids have student ID cards in Denver Public Schools. They don’t use them for anything, but they have them.
Imaginary-List-4945@reddit
I didn't have one until high school. My daughter had one in middle school, but she went to a 7-12 school that had middle and high school on the same campus.
mustbethedragon@reddit
My middle school students get ID cards every year and promptly lose them. The only student who ever keeps up with it also has printed divider tabs, all bell schedules entered decoratively in their binder, and class folders and notebooks organized by color.
sgtm7@reddit
Never had any type of school ID.
2Geese1Plane@reddit
I never had one and graduated in 2008. It depends on the school. I'm sure there are some schools that have them for elementary.
flamespond@reddit
I did starting in kindergarten but I don’t remember if they were actually used for anything
steathrazor@reddit
I think that heavily depends on your area because some don't get cards at all and others it's only a high school thing and some have it at other levels of education
EmberDragon240@reddit
We didnt have ids in elementary, but we did have lunch cards they’d have out with your name and face on it, you’d find yours, swipe the card and put it back. I think we had ids in middle school that worked as your lunch card, too, its just kind of hard to remember especially since thats when covid hit for me
LunarVolcano@reddit
We got them for middle and high and I never used mine for anything
Fangsong_37@reddit
We didn’t have student ID cards at any point until I went to college. I graduated in 2002 from a small high school (83 in my graduating class).
iboblaw@reddit
Never had an ID card until college.
CrashZ07@reddit
I had a ID in middle school and high school. I don't ever remember using the middle school one for anything and I rarely ever had it on me. In high school they had us wear it on lanyard. They really didn't enforce it until I was in 11th grade and I think it was mostly cause some former alumni that graduated the year before kept coming into the school causing chaos. I was in middle school in the early 2000s and in high school in the mid 2000s.
SoftLast243@reddit
If they do, I doubt they do much…
Fatbeard2024@reddit
Had one in high school
rawbface@reddit
I never had a student ID card until I got to college. It wasn't a thing in middle school or high school for me.
Electrical_Iron_1161@reddit
We had one in HS but never used it for anything
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
There are so many school districts with so many rules. I personally haven’t seen an elementary school kid with an ID, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
As for why schools give out IDs: some places let students with IDs ride city buses for free, and at our public library kids can check out books using their school ID instead of a library card. (They just can’t check out as many books.) Also, if you’re taking the SAT school IDs are an acceptable form of ID if you don’t have a license or passport.
CraftFamiliar5243@reddit
I'd hate to think of 3rd graders keeping track of a card. Some of them lose their shoes.
leeroypowerslam@reddit
I didn’t get a student ID card until I went to high school. They were required for school events such as prom and allowed free entry for school athletic matches. Middle school and elementary school students don’t have as much freedom and autonomy as high schoolers so there’s no need to waste money on IDs when you can tell they’re children.
manokpsa@reddit
My middle and high school had them. It was a fairly small-ish town, but very touristy, and a lot of businesses had discounts for students of local schools. Also our school dances were free, but you had to present school ID at the door. If you brought a date from another school you had to sign them in. And our athletic games were free for our school's students.
I worked at a drive-in near the football stadium and we gave a free soft serve cone to high school students on game nights.
Ok_Depth_6476@reddit
I never had a school ID until college, and i graduated high school in the early 90s.
AnInfiniteArc@reddit
I went to a mix of public and private schools growing up but my first student ID was in college.
Derplord4000@reddit
My elementary schools did, though we would only use them to get lunch and check out library books.
Dry-Potential-7945@reddit
Like a student id? It depends on the school, I went to 3 different elementary schools and only one of them gave us student id cards. Then middle school they didn't give us anything, I did have one in higschool but my highschool was on a college campus and we took college classes, the higschool on it's own didn't give us one, we got a college student id and used it for both.
mhoner@reddit
From my experience, yes. Can’t speak for every school system but I have found that to be true.
Enough_Roof_1141@reddit
My kid had a lanyard.
To pick them up I needed a card with a number that matched hers and anyone picking her up had to be on the list to do so.
Weightmonster@reddit
Do they have to keep track of them and wear them?
Enough_Roof_1141@reddit
Not really.
smv18@reddit
I didn't have a student ID card until middle school
Ok_Orchid1004@reddit
I never had anything called a “student card” or a student ID at any school I attended from first grade through twelfth.
ChickenFriedRiceee@reddit
My high school had ASB cards that you could purchase to get into all the events for free (sport games, concerts, etc). They were like a college ID but not required.
lbug02@reddit
My elementary school didn’t give us cards but we had id numbers
Worldly-Kitchen-9749@reddit
Way back in the day we had ID's in middle school and hs. They got you into dances and other school functions.
Dalton387@reddit
Not that I know of. It’s hard enough to keep middle schoolers from losing them.
Fast-Efficiency-8014@reddit
I had one starting in middle school so 6th grade. Moved to a different town in 7th grade and wasn't required to have one there but they still provided them. In high school we had one. It let us into the building starting in my sophomore year (10th grade) and if we were caught not wearing it we would get dress coded. In my freshman year it didn't let us in the building but that was when Virginia Tech happened and a really major bomb threat at our school happened so they installed scanners. My son is now going into second grade. He doesn't go to a public school. However he was given one starting in kindergarten. It controls his library books and his school lunch account too. When us parents asked why they got them so young, they said it was to make sure that in the event of emergency they can be identified and quickly. Don't ask what that “emergency” is but I live about 2 hours away from Sandy Hook.
Perdendosi@reddit
My 9 year old daughter has a student number she uses to log in to stuff and charge school lunch but no id.
MamaMidgePidge@reddit
I never had an ID card until college.
My own kids didn't have one in elementary or middle school.
They attend a high school affiliated with a local college and get college IDs so they can access the college facilities, like the library, and ride the busses.
clearly_not_an_alt@reddit
My kids had a badge with their name and picture attached to a lanyard, like a work ID.
cdb03b@reddit
I did not get one until High School back in the 90s.
But specifics will vary by district.
WatermelonMachete43@reddit
Just our high schoolers have ID cards
CleverGirlRawr@reddit
High school only. My kids need to scan their id to enter campus every morning.
desperica@reddit
I definitely had them in high school and I THINK I had them in middle school, but damned if I can remember what we used them for. I think maybe to check out library books? Or access the computer lab? In high school some students had off-campus privileges to go to a nearby community college for certain classes, so their IDs had a sticker for that.
We could also show them around town for discounts at local businesses.
ebvm@reddit
I had an id from my college, that’s it. No elementary id and none of my public school peers had middle or high school ids
USAF_Retired2017@reddit
I live in the Southern US and my kids have two school IDs. One for school and one for their lunch card.
Tomato_Basil57@reddit
went to a couple different districts in illinois. we didn’t have IDs in elementary, but we did have an id number we memorized and told the lunch ladies to bill our accounts.
we had actually IDs in middle and highschool, as a lunch card and library card. was actually pretty useful in highschool before i got my drivers liscence, as some places would accept it as proof of ID/residence.
my highschool tried to get everybody to wear their ID around their neck as a campus security thing, but with little success and enforcement
TruCat87@reddit
It depends on the school but my kids did have school ID cards in elementary school in both the school they went to in North Carolina and the school they went to in Nevada. The difference between the ID they had in elementary school and then one they got in middle school was that the elementary school ID stayed in the classroom and now in middle school they are responsible for it bringing it home and remembering to wear it everyday
HoidsApprentice1121@reddit
I depends on the district, but I didn’t get one until I started college. We had a ‘WVEIS’ number k-12, but no ID card (virtual or physical) until college
abmbulldogs@reddit
My high schooler doesn’t even have an ID card that I know of. I teach elementary and only the teachers have them.
Limberpuppy@reddit
In my son’s district all students wear an id badge throughout the day. They also use it to pay for lunch, it links to their account.
meganskegan@reddit
My kid is in high school in California now - in elementary school, they got cards that were sent home for the parents to keep in their wallet as like a "hey, if your kid goes missing, you have a recent photo of them to give to the cops/mall security". He's had a real student ID since middle school - works as his library card, lunch card, etc. For discounts to sporting events and dances, he'd need to pay to join ASB (associated student body) and use that membership card to buy the tickets, but since he only ever goes to the winter semi-formal dance, he just pays full price for that ticket instead because the cost of ASB membership works out to something like 5 events before you come out ahead.
sunny_6305@reddit
My elementary school got them after the Columbine massacre. A boy in my class pointed out that the shooters at Columbine were students and would have had ID cards and supposed to be at school.
The_Ninja_Manatee@reddit
Never had one even in high school. My kids both had them in high school but not before then.
shebringsthesun@reddit
Where I live, all public school students of all ages have an ID that they wear daily.
allaboutmojitos@reddit
My kids never got them until college. My oldest wanted my youngest to visit her at college for a weekend. The youngest needed to present an ID to stay in the dorm. There was no way around it, and few 12 year olds have ID, so I did what any good mom would do, and made her a fake
beatbybaseballs@reddit
when i was in elementary school (i started in 2009) we had little paper cards that the teachers would hold on to and give us if we were getting school lunch, but they weren't proper student ids. in middle and high school we had proper id cards though.
bazilbt@reddit
Sort of. A library card sometimes.
D3moknight@reddit
I didn't have a student ID in elementary school, but I did for middle and high school.
Ohiostatehack@reddit
Never got one till college
BreakfastBeerz@reddit
My kids all had student ID cards since kindergarten.
DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit
I think I did have one, but it has been a long time so I am not sure
Macropixi@reddit
I didn’t have a student ID until college. My high school was too small to bother with that.
sharpshooter999@reddit
Same, those things are non existent out here at the rural schools. The closest thing we had was a sports pass with our name on it so we could get into all the home games for free, which was also redundant because literally everyone was on the team anyways. I guess it got us guys into the volleyball games for free lol
lilkatykins@reddit
I was a freshman when Columbine happened. Everyone used to have open campus lunch, and the buildings were unlocked all day. After Columbine, only the Juniors and Seniors got open campus, all the doors were locked, and they checked your ID to let you into the building.
Some of it was to catch any underclassmen who left for lunch, some of it was so that if you skipped a class you'd have to go through the main office, but mostly it was for security ☹️
RedStateKitty@reddit
I worked in a central PA district a few years ago. Middle and ha, photo id, used in library and lunch. They were planning to gradually institute for elementary students. Same uses.
Last-Radish-9684@reddit
When I was in high school in Winslow, AZ (fall '67 to spring '71) we had a laminated school ID with a photo (taken at registration). It was not as important as an "Activity Card". For $20, you got basically the same card, but it was valid for free admission to all home sporting events and after event dances, instead of having to pay a dollar for admission every time. $20 was expensive (my class ring from Josten was $34 and was 19k gold), but it was good for everything from fall football games, dances, basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball, gymnastics and very frequent dances (sock hops so we didn't ruin the finish on the gym floor) (not prom!) to the end of the school year baccalaureate and graduation.
Junior high had a lesser version, but elementary no ID, nothing.
My grandkids attended the same schools with the same setup, except with accompanying price increases.
AardvarkIll6079@reddit
I never had an ID in any grade until college.
Interesting-Prior397@reddit
I went to high school in the inner city in the South in the mid 2000s. We got student IDs and they were used to pay for lunch and after some bad incidents of people trying to come into school buildings they tried to make all students wear them on lanyards around their necks.
JenniferJuniper6@reddit
I never had them at all. Not until university.
Appropriate-Let-283@reddit
I remember having an id since Kindergarten.
teslaactual@reddit
Depends on the school if they do have one usually its tied to their lunch accounts
AtheneSchmidt@reddit
I obviously can't speak for every school, and my experience is a little out of date, but in 2010 I worked for Lifetouch, the local company that takes school photos, and makes student IDs. We never made IDs at any of the Elementary schools we worked, we made them at all the high schools, and most of the middle schools.
yo_itsjo@reddit
I went to a private school and always had them. Parents put money on them for school lunch.
splorp_evilbastard@reddit
High school class of 1989, never had an ID card.
Responsible_Side8131@reddit
In our district, only high school students and all staff members have ID cards
Usagi_Shinobi@reddit
It's a thing in certain densely populated and relatively wealthy cities, not a thing at all in most of the country.
ManateeFlamingo@reddit
My kids do/did in elementary school. They use it for library book checkout, lunch in the cafeteria mainly. They don't have to wear them at the elementary level.
jane-generic@reddit
I moved A LOT as a kid. Some schools just half the year. K-8 I never attended the same school more than 2 years, 3 different states. Some of those had IDs some didn't.
coronarybee@reddit
Middle and high school in my district
JoeCensored@reddit
My 1st grader got a school ID. This wasn't a thing when I was in elementary school.
Round_Skill8057@reddit
Nah. Elementary school kids can't be relied upon to wear shoes. They'd lose an ID card immediately.
Sowf_Paw@reddit
I got my first student ID in middle school. It wasn't used for anything. In high school I needed my student ID to check out books from the library and starting fall 2001 (sophomore year for me) we had to wear them all the time.
Life_Smartly@reddit
Only ID cards I recall in school were library cards.
Guardian-Boy@reddit
My kids do for their elementary school. They have to wear it whenever they are outside the classroom.
PotentialCoyote4921@reddit
My area yes- even elementary have a land yard with an id card they are required to wear
Coconut-bird@reddit
Mine are now 19 & 20. They both had student IDs in elementary. They were worn on lanyards while they were at school. This was also their library card and their lunch card.
They also had IDs in middle and high school but did not have to wear them all times.
Rude_Document@reddit
I graduated back in '96 and we didn't have any type of ID card until high school.
petg16@reddit
Had one in high school, graduated 2001, my daughter in 6th doesn’t have one but it’s a very small private school and the staff knows the kids and they have strict uniforms.
DangerousBlacksmith7@reddit
Didn't have a student id in elementary school or jr high. I went to a private school and didn't have them. In high school we had them but it was mainly used for the library or computer labs. And for certain activities like buying tickets for sporting events
Ryebread095@reddit
I didn't get a student ID until University. I had a student number that I had to know in gradeschool/highschool though.
tragicsandwichblogs@reddit
I don’t remember them, but my daughter has had them through school.
Slight_Literature_67@reddit
Post-9/11, my high school had ID cards. I never had them in elementary and middle school (90s). Last time I subbed at the elementary schools (April 2025), one school had IDs, the other two didn't. This was the same for middle school: One had them, the other didn't. It really depends on the school system.
Odd-Concept-8677@reddit
In California, yes.
Student meals are completely paid for by the state, but in order to get the meal kids have to swipe their ID card. It’s also used for the library system. They stay at school and at the end of the year they come home with that years card.
ImaginaryProposal211@reddit
We had specific ID numbers, not cards. They developed over the years. Elementary was a 3 digit number, it expanded in Junior high to a 7 digit number that still had the original number, then high school it changed again to a completely different 6 digit number. But we never had ID cards. I remember all of them
mountednoble99@reddit
I didn’t have one until middle school. That was in the early 90’s, though.
therealbamspeedy@reddit
Never had one until college.
Athletic events here, typically have two prices, 'adults' and 'students' (or it's anyone under x age is free). If you are not an adult, it's assumed your a student (regardless if you attend the school hosting the event or not). The school hosting the event, if a student ID was required, can't guarantee other schools even issue ID cards and charging them more just feels wrong.
Groundbreaking_Bus90@reddit
I had a student card as an elementary student, but they would never let us carry it around. The teacher would keep them until lunchtime. And then we'd use our id to get lunch. Or they'll give it to us to check out books in the library.
hail_to_the_beef@reddit
We had them in high school - we needed it to check out books in the library, and I remember we also used it often for discounts at our local movie theatre.
PacSan300@reddit
I had ID cards in middle and high school, but not in elementary school. Kind of annoyingly, we needed to have a new card for each grade, so at the beginning of each year, we would go through the same process of getting our picture taken and then get a card with that picture. The picture would usually also go in the yearbook.
ACheetahSpot@reddit
My elementary school kids do. I definitely didn’t at the same age though.
OG-BigMilky@reddit
My kid just finished primary school. No IDs.
Afromolukker_98@reddit
I had a student ID when I was in Middle School. And one for Highschool. One for University.
No student ID for my elementary school.
PotatoMaster21@reddit
I never had one until high school.
MyUsername2459@reddit
There's over 10,000 separate school districts in the US.
Each one has pretty broad autonomy. While a lot of things about American education are unofficially and informally standard by societal expectations, or for the purposes of qualifying for Federal educational funding or complying with Federal laws and court rulings, things like student ID cards are certainly not one of them.
When I was in public schools in the 1980's and 1990's they didn't have any kind of student ID card, the first student ID card I ever got was when I went to college.
I'm sure there are some schools that issue kindergarteners ID cards. . .and there are probably some that don't issue any kind of ID card at all.
SirCharlito44@reddit
If it is a student I.D. I’ve never had one. I have never heard of a student card.
jettech737@reddit
My city school system only had them for high schools. Elementary school aged kids generally dont try to sneak into the school they dont belong in.
Extension-Dot-4308@reddit
Sometimes the police will have a voluntary elementary ID card where it helps lost children be found faster, but it's more like a baby/informal version of a state ID
blipsman@reddit
No, my kid doesn’t have any school ID card. I can’t remember if we had cards in middle school or not. Definitely did in high school.
Bluemonogi@reddit
When I was in school we did not have school issued id cards at all at any level. I graduated high school in 1992.
I had a school issued id card in college.
MM_in_MN@reddit
Yes- my elementary kids have school cards. They are for school lunches and checking books or printing pages at library.
slilianstrom@reddit
When I was in school, first time I had any form of ID issued was my grade school bus pass. Then middle and high school I got my ID/Library Card/Lunch card
Successful_Tip8148@reddit
If you are asking about ID cards then yes
xxxHAL9000xxx@reddit
When i was in school, a school id only existed for 10-12 grade. And its only purpose in 10-11 grade was to attend school sporting events or school music events without paying admission. it was only a cardboard card with no picture. The only info on it was your full name and homeroom teacher and room number and your grade.
in the 12th grade it doubled as permission to leave the school building whenever not attending class. Seniors had a different color id card.
they were very easy to make fakes. They were not laminated. And they were literally made on a typewriter. A little old lady literally put blank plain white mailing labels into a plain old typewriter and typed your name and homeroom info onto it. Then peeled the mailing label off and stuck it to a blank card and handed the card to you. Anyone could peel the mailing label off their card and replace it with their own. There was an entire black market built around the selling of the senior id cards because they were a different color.
ZetaWMo4@reddit
I graduated in ‘92 and never had a student ID until college. My kids had student IDs in high school.
Rhomega2@reddit
I only had a Student ID in high school. Class of 2004.
Lmaooowit@reddit
Depends on the district. In my district, all students through all grades have a lunch card with an ID code that stays with the lunch ladies in the cafeteria. Then in middle school and high school everybody has an ID that you must wear to and from school everyday, and is used for the bathroom. If you forget it 3 times in a quarter, then you get lunch detention.
Hypnox88@reddit
My elementary and middle school did that was strictly enforced. Which I chewed on mine all the time. Mom got pissed as she always had to buy replacements every month or so.
Highschool had them, but I went to a small school so it wasn't enforced after the 2nd month since literally everyone knew every student by then.
DeathByBamboo@reddit
I had one in middle school in 1991.
LoverlyRails@reddit
In my local school district- yes, all the students have id cards. They cannot get on the buses without them or into the schools (all the schools have secured doors).
Rasmom68@reddit
Pretty sure my kids had a student id in middle school and definitely in high school but not elementary school
why_kitten_why@reddit
Academic Student Body -ASB-cards start in middle school. Typically you only have to have them if you are in sports, less on dance tockets, etc, but I get them for kids anywaynbc it is an "adult" thing to have a picture ID. The school has a digital record only for the younger ones.
yellowrose04@reddit
Middle school and high school here.
Mondonodo@reddit
We got them in middle school (starting in 6th grade), mostly for internal purposes--checking out books from the library, certain equipment at recess, and it had your lunch account number on it.
Subterranean44@reddit
Where i teach the kids had them for the bus. They would scan them as they got on so the kids were accounted for that they got on the bus, or got on the correct bus. It stopped during Covid and never returned and I kinda forgot all About it until Now.
DrFaustPython@reddit
It really depends. My elementary school started giving them out when I was in 2nd grade and we had to wear them on lanyards up until high school, and once we got into high school as long as they were somewhere on our person at all times, we were good (some people stuck with the lanyard, others kept them in wallets or purses, etc). They had barcodes and were needed to do everything from accessing our lunch money accounts, check out books from the library, or even just being allowed into the building when we were late. Every school in the area was doing the same.
None of the schools in the town I live in now have student IDs. It's sort of baffling to me.
EmotionalStar9909@reddit
In my child’s school district, everyone has a badge on a lanyard. All students are required to wear it for safety purposes. They scan it to get on and off the bus. It’s also used in the cafeteria.
machagogo@reddit
They had them in my kids schools because they scan the barcode on the ID for lunch, this way no one has to worry about money, and no one knew how much a kid was paying.
GoodbyeForeverDavid@reddit
Never had one at any level of schooling.
funatical@reddit
My kids have them. I did not.
CommandAlternative10@reddit
My kids get them every year in elementary school, but they aren’t actually used for anything at all and usually end up on the floor somewhere.
SemiOldCRPGs@reddit
Is that even a thing now? I didn't get a student id until I went to college in 73.
wifespissed@reddit
We called them ASB cards and we got them every year from 6-12.
Tha_Kush_Munsta@reddit
Some elementary schools do have id cards, my brother got diagnosed with dyslexia in the third grade and got transferred to a better school they had id cards and better end of the year activities.
CobaltSky@reddit
I had them in middle school and high school. Used them to check out school library books. It was also good for student discounts at museums and some stores. In high school you had to pay for a parking permit if you drove. The sticker was on your card. They had someone checking cards at the gate to the parking lot.
mothertuna@reddit
I didn’t have a student ID until I was in high school. Maybe some districts do it differently but for mine you didn’t have a student ID or anything like that as a kid.
AnnicetSnow@reddit
The kids at the elementary school I worked at for a bit had them, but they couldn't be trusted to take care of them so basically the teachers would hold onto them, pass them out at lunch to use with the scanner, then take them back. I'm not sure if they were ever needed for anything else, but they were pretty vital for meals especially for the younger students. Since otherwise the kids would need to memorize their codes or else be tediously looked up in the system by cafeteria staff trying to get 100 shy little kindergarteners in a row to speak up enough to say their name over the background noise, and then guessing at whatever whackily spelled elf name their parents had given them on a whim.
TheGabyDali@reddit
I'm elementary they're more likely to just have an ID number that they might use for buying lunch or checking out library books. Middle school you might get an ID card but I don't think they really use them.
High school you'd definitely get an ID card but they'd be used more for identification purposes. When I was in high school you had to wear them at all times to enter and walk around the school. In my school security would pull you to the side if you didn't have it and you had to either go home and get it or pay money for a replacement.
MaeClementine@reddit
My kids have them in elementary school. They scan them to logon to their computers and if they buy lunch.
nana1960@reddit
Elementary has them here, but they are really only used to buy lunch
terra_technitis@reddit
The school district I work at issues them from pre-K all the way up through 12th grade.
Imaginary_Train_8056@reddit
Our kids have gotten a student ID with their school pictures since approximately 4th grade. They don’t use them in any way.
EloquentRacer92@reddit
Yep, we did as an elementary school.
JosephBlowsephThe3rd@reddit
Only time I had a student ID was when I went to university in the mid 00s. Never had a student ID from K-12 across 7 schools in 4 districts in 2 states.
Birdywoman4@reddit
They have bus cards if they ride the bus. But my grandson didn’t need an ID card when he was in elementary school.
fowmart@reddit
I transferred schools several times and never had this. They're probably a big school thing.
mrggy@reddit
In the 2000s we had cards at my elementary school. They weren't really ID cards because they didn't have our photos on them. They had a barcode and we only used them for paying for school lunch and checking out books at the library. They generally stayed in a special organizer in the classroom and we weren't allowed to carry them home with us so we didn't lose them
FunkySalamander1@reddit
I never had one, but my son did have one at one of his elementary schools.
ThingFuture9079@reddit
The only time I got a student card was in college. My elementary, middle, and high school didn't have that.
TheKiddIncident@reddit
Most elementary schools don't bother. If you give a six year old a card to carry, they'll lose it immediately.
The main reason why student ID's are issued is to ensure that people who aren't supposed to be there don't manage to get into the school. In elementary school, it's pretty obvious if an adult is walking around so you don't need ID cards.
JerkOffTaco@reddit
When I was a kid we had them throughout all years of school. We used them for the library, lunch, bus pass, sporting events and computer labs. I graduated in 2005 and still have all of my cards.
Top-Web3806@reddit
Assuming you are referring to an ID card, I never got one until college. But I went to school decades ago so things may have changed.
dontlookback76@reddit
I graduated in 1994 and we didn't have them. My sons got them in high school, though. It had to be displayed at all times while on school grounds. I can't remember the consequences for not having it on you. They were stiff enough my sons made sure they had it. Both instances were Clark County school district Nevada.
AuggieNorth@reddit
You mean like ID's or report cards on progress?
_jagwaz@reddit
I had an ID card in High School, but i only ever used it to get into sporting events for free. Don't think they had any other purpose.
1979tlaw@reddit
No and a lot of high schools don’t have them either. Heck even my college didn’t have ID cards. Depends on the school.
PurpleLilyEsq@reddit
An ID? Or a report card with grades, feedback, etc.?
lsp2005@reddit
I got an ID in high school back in the 90s. It had my photo on it too. My kids also have one for high school.
Traditional-Ad-8737@reddit
The elementary school in our district doesn’t have IDs for the students, but the middle school does. ( I have both an elementary and middle schooler)
Icy_Split_1843@reddit
Got one in public middle school, private middle school, and private high school. They didn’t serve much purpose in middle school other than discounts on transit, but in high school we needed to scan them to enter our dorms (boarding school).
Rogue-Accountant-69@reddit
I never had one, but I've definitely seen student IDs for elementary schools. It's probably more common now than it was when I was in elementary school in the early 90s. People are much less relaxed about security-type stuff nowadays.
BankManager69420@reddit
My school gave them out in elementary school, but we were a Kx12. I don’t believe most schools in the district did that, that being said, outside of it doubling as a public transit pass, I never had any use for my student ID and rarely carried it.
TheBimpo@reddit
I think I recall we had one back in the 80s, but we didn't use it for anything. It was just something the photography company gave you with your school picture package.
Sleepygirl57@reddit
Our elementary kids do. It’s kept in a see through slot on their iPad cases.
Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit
See, this kind of thing is what I think is a little bit more common. We call them bag tags because they attach the ID to the students' backpack but other schools wear them on lanyards.
Prestigious-Name-323@reddit
I remember having one in high school and college. I don’t remember ever using my high school one.
AleroRatking@reddit
Our high schoolers don't have IDs...
Popular-Local8354@reddit
Do you mean ID?
I only got them in HS. Never understood the point, never had to use it. I used the lunch pass way more often.
Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit
Yeah, in most places they are the same thing.
But also I've seen them used as bag tags so everyone can help. The students keep track of where their backpack is and whose backpack is who's because there might be three or four kids that all have the same Elsa backpack.
wwhsd@reddit
At my kids’ school their student ID was their lunch pass.
minnick27@reddit
No ID until 6th grade. They made a big deal about never losing it because it was super important. Never once needed it
Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit
They certainly can, but it's less common than for older students.
I bet you it's more common in private schools as well. But I have definitely seen young children walking around after school with a lanyard and a name tag on it. I've also seen students with backpacks that had an ID card attached to them.
ConsiderationFew7599@reddit
I had one in high school in the late 90s. I remember running it through a scanner at lunch. But, the school district I work at doesn't use them for any grades. All students have a student ID number. Kids in grades 3-12 input the number on a keypad at lunch to pay from their accounts. Younger kids give their names and the cafeteria workers can look them up that way. But, it's a small school. So, they learn the names for younger kids quickly.
The ID numbers are also part of things like their passwords for their Google accounts.
Things like this will vary from school to school and there's not a set standard across the US.
manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit
depends on the school
BigBoxOfGooglyEyes@reddit
The local school district here uses student IDs in all grades for lunch payments.
mothwhimsy@reddit
We had them in elementary school and wore them on lanyards because they worked as both identification and a school library card, and our parents could put lunch money on our accounts and we used our cards for that too
this continued into high school, but at that point most of us had had the same ID number for 8-12 years so we just typed it in instead of scanning the card.
MortimerDongle@reddit
I don't remember having a student ID until I got to college.
My daughter does not have an ID from her elementary school
beepbeepboop74656@reddit
I have all mine from prek to senior year, they were our school library cards.
Tinkerfan57912@reddit
Cards for what?
dirty_corks@reddit
Our local school district has ID cards for everyone who's on campus regularly for all schools, from elementary through adult education. Visitors need a visitor ID badge.
sageamericanidiot@reddit
Depends on the school. I never did growing up, but also never had one in Jr High or high school (80/90s).
My oldest had an elementary school ID, but when they returned to school after Covid they phased them out. Likely for budget reasons. They have them at their middle school.
My state allows from age 10 to get a state issued ID card and my oldest has that on top of school ID.
Chimney-Imp@reddit
I had a student number but no card. I actually still remember it lol
myseaentsthrowaway@reddit
You'll generally hear "student ID" rather than "student card," but I think that's what you're referring to.
Growing up in the suburbs, I never had one until high school and even then I never used it for anything. I live in a city now, and the local kids can use their student ID to ride public transport for free.
MetroBS@reddit
I had one starting in middle school (6th grade; 11 years old) and was issued a new one every year by either my middle school or high school.
My college gave you one freshman year and it was good for as long as you were a student there
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
What's a student card?
myseaentsthrowaway@reddit
I'm thinking like a student ID.
xx-rapunzel-xx@reddit
i remember having some type of ID tag on me the first day of kindergarten, but student IDs are common in middle and high school
LoriReneeFye@reddit
Beats me. I never had a student card (I'm guess you're referring to an ID card) the entire time I was in public school, K-12.
I finished public school in 1976, though, so what do I know? (Everything and nothing.)
R_Raider86@reddit
For anyone that's confused- this is what OP is referring to
https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/8i17lq/kids_today_will_never_know_the_fear_of_pulling_a/
Green-good
Yellow-warning
Red-punishment, usually sent to principal's office and/or parents notified
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
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No_Information_8973@reddit
Never had one at all
5432198@reddit
My elementary school had ID cards for the cafeteria.
SOUR_KING@reddit
Didn’t get one until middle school
VaultofSouls@reddit
I had a number to memorize (more commonly known by students as our lunch numbers), but no ID card until high school.
Popular-Local8354@reddit
So did we, the number was our computer username
OceanPoet87@reddit
My son has one from school but other schools don't.
Redbubble89@reddit
No. I think I had one in high school but it really didn't do anything.
whineANDcheese_@reddit
I don’t recall having an ID card in elementary school.
ursulawinchester@reddit
Like a school ID card? I had one as an elementary school student in suburban NJ in the late 90s