When I tell students that yearbooks are advertisements and history books, they never thought of it before but they’re not too surprised. However, it’s when I tell them that yearbooks are used by law enforcement to solve crimes, I get the most reaction. If you’re one of the schools that didn’t believe me, click here to read about how a yearbook led police to carjacking suspect in New Bedford, MA.

Now, I ask you, “What if that yearbook staff had been too lazy to check names and the wrong name was printed under that guy’s pictures?” Moral of the story: Not checking names can put the wrong people in prison! (okay, the chances of that are slim, but still….)