Starting this year, Tenafly High School administrators have introduced stricter policies and consequences regarding lanyards for the students. According to Mr. Glenn Peano, Vice Principal of Tenafly High School, not bringing them is a safety hazard, and these stricter policies will further encourage students to bring their lanyards to school.

Last year, if students forgot their lanyard but brought it in before 10 a.m., their detention would be removed. However, now, students will receive an automatic 30-minute detention for not bringing their lanyard, and having someone drop it off at school is strictly prohibited.

Although students believe that these policies are too harsh, Peano believes these changes will help them. 

“There’s a purpose to a consequence like that,” he said. “It’s meant to compel students to hopefully remember and not forget their lanyard. [It] can kind of teach that responsibility.”

He believes that these changes are important for the safety of the school, especially due to the number of students who have forgotten their lanyard so far this year. According to Peano, during the week of September 9, over a five day period, there were 46 detentions handed out to students who forgot to bring their lanyard to school. During the week of September 16, there were 11 detentions handed out on Monday and 13 on Tuesday.

“Knowing who’s in the school, who’s supposed to be in the school, is really important,” Peano said. “You know your teachers know you. Some administrators know individual students, but not every staff member here knows every student. So student identification is really important in this day and age.”

Some students, though, don’t approve of the new policy. Tyler Boston (’27), for example, dislikes it. 

“It’s another thing to deal with if you forget your lanyard,” he said. “I do think [that, with extracurriculars,] having to spend 30 minutes after school because you forgot your lanyard is extreme. Especially if it’s your first time forgetting it.”

Some may feel that the new rules are too harsh, but just like there are consequences for not bringing your lanyard, there are also extra benefits for bringing it to school this year. With it, students can enter through the side and front doors, but they now also have the ability to print in the school library with it. According to Peano, there is a new printing driver on students’ Chromebooks called PaperCut, which allows students to print directly from their Chromebook by scanning their lanyard at the copier machine to print their paper out. Ms. Sharon Gaughan, the school librarian, confirmed that the library printers are up and running. 

At the end of the day, though many students may dislike wearing their lanyards, administrators believe it is crucial for students to wear them.