Photo Courtesy of Tiana Arroyo
For the 2023-2024 school year, Hastings Senior High was issued new school IDs. The changes within the IDs are not only because of the company change but also because of the state requirements.
“that was one of the final things (Rick Ripperger, retired assistant principal) did before he retired from Hastings High School,” Brian Laux said.
On the back of the student IDs, you can find the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to help yourself and the Safe 2 Help lifeline to help others.
“ I think it’s very helpful and in a good location because students always have their IDs on them, so it’s very convenient,”, Savannah Born said. “They can just look on their lanyard and see that they can go to the website to the hotline, you know, and I just really think that it’s helpful, so I think it’s beneficial because it’s easy access.”.
When a student pulls out their ID, on the back they can find not only the Suicide Crisis number in English and in Spanish but you can also find the Safe2Help website and their own app. According to the description, The Safe2Help NE app allows you to submit anonymous and secure school safety-related information to a 24/7 staffed crisis center. The crisis center is housed with the Boys Town National Hotline. Tips can be submitted via the Safe2Help NE website, by calling 531-299-7233, or through the mobile app.
“…It’s nice and bold and very simple text, but it’s very eye-catching and like easy to read, a former Hastings High Student said. So I do feel that is very helpful because sometimes it can be overwhelming to read too much in a small space, but it’s got the very basic information.”
From ages 12-18, suicide is the second leading cause of death in the United States. In an average day, in the United States, there are roughly about 3,703 suicide attemps made by middle school and high schoolers.
“I think it definitely benefits students and peers around me because it lets someone know that they have another resource and another option and that they don’t have to open up to anyone around them and worry about being exposed or judged… And not everyone likes to go talk to like their school counselor,” also says Born.
Because students always have to have their IDs on them, having the crisis number(s) on the back of them was very convenient. With the new legislation, they are taking one step further in the right direction to stop suicide among young people and letting them have support when they need it.
“That is part of the state law. There’s a state statute that goes along with those that wear IDs or the handout IDs, which all schools print them, most majority of them print them, that is state requirements we put on the back of them,” Kugel said.
One thing that hasn’t changed within the school system is the color-coated backdrops on the IDs. Freshman IDs are orange, sophomores are black, juniors are gray, and seniors are yellow.
“ So we have staff know that this color right here is 12th grade. And there’s a different color for each class with their grade in the corner,” Kugel said.
In the future, the principals plan to keep the IDs the same, only making changes if they need to.
“My goal is to keep (the IDs) as similar as possible with as few changes as needed to be okay, but my hope is to continue with them. They’re pretty easy to work with,” Kugel said.
