<p>If the kiddo is travelling with team & coach, the coach should be able to help smooth things by indicating that these are all kids travelling with the team. Maybe s/he could indicate all of this on school letterhead? Some parents (especially if they don’t fly much) really don’t give much thought to IDs. I had to fight my kiddo to get him to get his driver’s license because I told him he needed a valid ID & his permit was expiring and he wouldn’t be around to renew it. He thought it was odd that it had to be unexpired to remain a valid ID!?!?!? It is fascinating how kids do or don’t think about all of this.</p>
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You would think, but once my brother got no end of grief (maybe from Amtrak?) about whether or not he was an American citizen because it didn’t say so on the cover. Finally he found that inside the passport it said something like “treat this person with the courtesy deserved by a United State Citizen.” I was once unable to persuade Amtrak to let me buy a ticket with my passport as a form of ID for my check. I think they ended up taking my Harvard ID instead. I didn’t have a driver’s license which is what they wanted.</p>
<p>I know this family does not fly much (if at all), and don’t really understand why this kid doesn’t have a driver’s license, even if he doesn’t drive. They really do make convenient, accepted IDs, if nothing else.</p>
<p>When I went off to college 2500 miles from my home in the 70s, I got myself a driver’s license in my home state, primarily for ID, so I could cash checks & whatever else I needed to do because at the time, our state driver’s permit was just a limp, folded piece of paper with no photo. It seemed to me even at the tender age of 18 or 19 that it would be a good idea to have some proof of who I was. </p>
<p>Somehow, this need for a valid ID doesn’t generally occur to my kids, even post-9/11! Ah, they are learning, but they do fly several times/year since they were 6 months old.</p>