Only one way to control cell phone use in school: ban them all

Schools have been battling cell phones for a long time, and they may have begun winning.

For over a decade, cell phones have made themselves present in the pockets of students, providing a notable distraction within the classroom. A large majority of schools within the United States have a cell phone policy during class time, but it goes without saying that this is probably one of the most violated rules schools need to enforce. 

The battle with cell phones stems from students’ ability to be easily distracted. For many, the temptation of looking at one’s phone is too good, and they are more interested in what’s on the internet than what’s going on in class. 

Why violations of the present cell phone policies are so common is due to two main reasons. The first and foremost is that schools have taken on a very difficult policy to effectively enforce and then left it up to the teachers to do so. Because of this, the level of leniency within the policy varies from classroom to classroom, but also it’s just not a very good way to do it. There is only one teacher and usually 20-30 students in any given period. This turns the cell phone policy from a viable way to limit technology into more of a wish than a rule. 

Because of this, the cell phone policy becomes something that is consistently broken, and not much is done about it. Every year is the year where it’s time to crack down on cell phones, but students don’t listen, and it usually doesn’t change that much. 

So some schools are trying an unexpected approach. One middle school in Manchester Connecticut has become 1 of 2,000 other schools across the United States that has decided to go for an outright ban on the use of cell phones entirely. The way this works is at the start of each day, students place their device inside of a pouch that they carry with them. They click the magnetic lock, which reopens at the end of the day. These pouches are made by a California based company called Yondr, and they are designed to limit the distraction factor of technology within schools. This is a drastic measure taken by the Illing Middle School, but it represents what administrations across the country are willing to do to get a winning edge in the battle of student attention against cell phones. 

In recent years, cell phones have gone from just a presence among students to more of an overwhelming epidemic. Almost every student has one, and they provide an endless amount of content in the form of social media, which is designed to keep people looking at it as much and as often as possible. 

The idea of banning cell phones entirely is massively unpopular with students, as well as with many parents. Backlash toward these policies in many schools was huge. Students especially protested the decision, creating petitions and complaining to educational staff about the decision. 

But Illing Middle School stuck to the policy, and the results have been unexpectedly good. The adjustment period is arduous for students, but the payoff after a couple months can be astonishing. 

Parents as well had their complaints, mainly about communication with students. Many parents wanted to be able to contact their children in an emergency. Some brought up the topic of students who use phones as a way to help with anxiety. Some parents just like the idea of constant contact. The response of Manchester schools was that classrooms all have landline phones, so emergency contact was still an option, and in the event of emergencies, the pouches can always be torn open with something sharp. 

The truth is that there is very little to any use that a cell phone can provide in a classroom that justifies how much of a distraction they are for students. The Yondr pouch is a drastic measure, but it might be the solution that teachers need. Education is important, and the people that decide to work in that field should not have to compete for students’ attention with a phone all the time. The education system isn’t perfect, but phones aren’t doing it any favors either. Holding the attention of every student in the room is already a difficult task. Adding in phones makes it impossible. 

This is why the use of Yondr pouches in schools has skyrocketed as of recent, especially since covid, as a solution was sought for the sudden upshoot of cell phone usage within schools. For many, The use of Yondr’s pouches is an unprecedented move by schools that oversteps boundaries, but for teachers, they prove to be a saving grace for the epidemic of phones in classrooms.