What change?

If you haven’t noticed yet, there has been a slight but significant change to our school ID cards here at Morgan. In prior years, our student ID cards consisted of just our pictures and basic information on the front such as grade number, advisory teacher, etc. This year, we can see that not only do we have our picture and information but if you flip the ID card over you can see on the back there is a reference number for the Suicide Hotline. 

What do students think?

While many might think this to be strange, for example, a sophomore who requested to remain anonymous said “I’m not sure that the suicide prevention line should be on the back of the ID cards. For some, suicide may be a sensitive topic, and it being right there on your school ID may be triggering to some people struggling with mental health issues. There should be a balance between raising awareness and ensuring the well-being of students, which is critical for keeping students safe and happy.” This student does not support the new change and sees it as more harmful than helpful.

This is just one opinion, while others believe it is a positive change and a step in the right direction for our school. An opinion shared by sophomore Isabelle West, “I think it’s important for students to have resources like this as an extra safety net in case they don’t feel comfortable reaching out to a friend or family member.” One more opinion from sophomore Austin Borkowski, “I think it’s great that there is now a resource for that, especially with social media and society these days. So many people and students struggle with mental health issues, and it is good to be able to have a resource for people to have.” Mental health is something taken very seriously here at Morgan, and our administrators want to make sure they are doing what they can to help us out. By putting reference numbers on the back of something that all students have and use pretty frequently, it becomes a great resource in times of need.

This is a significant change and will hopefully be very beneficial for students at Morgan. It is comforting to know that our school and teachers care about students by taking the time to make this change to the ID cards. Let’s look at what some students think and have to say about the change.