Many parents are opting to purchase identification cards for their children through programs like Ident-A-Kid.

Friday, representatives from Ident-A-Kid were fingerprinting and photographing students at Clanton Inter-mediate School. The resulting ID cards are meant to benefit parents in case their child ever comes up missing.

Each card includes a child's photograph and vital information on the front, and fingerprint on the back. On the back of each card are several steps for what to do if your child is missing.

"It's really for the parents to carry in their wallet," said Ident-A-Kid Program Director Greg White.

Ident-A-Kid utilizes digital fingerprinting technology. They also measure the height and weight of each child, and include that information along with hair and eye color on the cards.

The information is kept for between 60-90 days and then deleted. The information is always kept confidential, White said.

The cards are available for $7 apiece - a small fee for what White calls an "inexpensive insurance policy."

"Almost nobody has an up-to-date picture of their kid with them," he said. "To have that information with you is crucial."

While identification cards are no cure-all, he added, they do provide parents with a place to start from if anything should happen.

"We wanted to give parents an opportunity to better protect their child," said Clanton Intermediate School Assistant Principal Mark Stephenson. "Parents do their best to protect their children, but when they're away from them, this is just another avenue of somebody being able to identify them if they're taken or kidnapped."

Ident-A-Kid is scheduled to be at Clanton Elementary and Middle schools over the next few days.

Above, Clanton Intermediate fourth grader Rachel Mims gets fingerprinted for an Ident-A-Kid identification card. Also pictured is Ident-A-Kid Program Director Greg White. (By Scott Mims)