By Emily Weaver
Daily Record of Dunn
HARNETT COUNTY – Harnett County Schools officials are looking to nix the use of cellphones in classrooms districtwide with lockable pouches that will make their screens inaccessible during the school day. Students will still be able to bring their cellphones and maintain possession of them at school, but they won’t be able to use them during the school day under the new program.
A pilot to test the new pouch program is set to be fully implemented at Western Harnett High, Star Academy and Highland Middle Feb. 3.
“… So many school districts have begun to use pouches like these in their environments as it promotes focus, engagement and a distraction-free environment helping our students to connect more meaningfully with their surroundings and their peers,” Assistant Superintendent Jermaine White told the school board in December.
Western Harnett High School Principal Ryan McNeill told his staff about the program and “they all started clapping,” White said.
“We will be making our school a phone-free space to improve teaching and learning using a program called Yondr,” a letter to parents from Highland Middle stated Jan. 9. “The Yondr Program utilizes a simple, secure pouch that stores a phone. Every student will be issued a Yondr pouch to secure their phone during the school day. Students will place their phone on airplane mode or turn them off as they arrive at school.
”Students will then have to secure the phones and any other potentially connected Bluetooth devices in the pouch. The pouch won’t block signals or Bluetooth connections, but is locked with a magnet that will keep the phone’s screen inaccessible.
Students will be able to unlock the pouches at demagnetizing unlocking stations as they exit the building at the end of the school day. Students, who forget their pouches, must surrender their phones to the principal’s office during the day, according to the Highland letter to parents.
“Students will maintain possession of their phones and will not use them until their pouches are opened at the end of the school day,” the letter states. “Use of the Yondr pouch is non-negotiable.”
Students aren’t so sure of the new program.
“Innovation doesn’t happen by hiding away the tools that drive it,” said Mauricio Gomez, a junior at Triton High School.
Triton sophomore Christia Carter feels the “pouches are unnecessary.”
“Yes, kids have problems with having their phone out, but it’s not every single person in the schools with that problem. If this does go through, then there will be more problems with the students and their behavior and a problem with the time it will take to have this process done every morning,” Carter said.
“Pros may be the kids will be more focused and on tasks, but kids will try anything to get their phone out of that pouch which will just cause more issues among the staff. What will happen if something goes wrong in the schools and the children have no way to get ahold of their guardians because of those pouches being locked up for the whole school day? In total, if you really think about it, we should lay more rules on phones, but let’s not lock them up for a whole school day with no way of getting it if something ever does happen.”
In case of emergency
School board member Joey Powell asked Yondr sales representative Izaak Castren if teachers would have a way to unlock the pouches in case of an emergency.
Castren said his company can provide handheld unlocking devices in addition to a school’s anchored unlocking stations.
The Highland Middle School letter reminds parents to call the school’s receptionist to reach a student during the school day in the event of an emergency.
“All our students have access to use the student phone in our front office to contact parents/guardians as needed during the school day,” the letter states.
Districts can always ask for more unlocking stations, but the base number of keys at each school will be contingent on the number of pouches each campus receives.
“So for a school of 800, you would receive approximately 17 total (unlocking) bases mounted and handheld,” said HCS Public Information Officer Natalie Ferrell, citing district leaders.
Students, who forget to unlock their pouches at the end of the school day, will have to arrange access to an unlocking station through a parent and school official.
“Students are required to bring their Yondr pouch to and from school each day and are responsible for their pouch at all times,” states the letter from Highland Middle. “Damage or loss of their pouch will result in a replacement fee of $35. Students who forget their pouch will store their phones in the office during the school day. Use of the Yondr pouch is non-negotiable.”
Mental health
But are the pouches and the phone-free zones really necessary?
A recent Pew Research Center study noted that 95% of teens had regular access to smartphones in 2022, up from 73% in 2015.
In 2022, 46% of those teens admitted to using the internet almost constantly, up from about a quarter (24%) who admitted the same in a 2014-15 study, according to the Pew Research Center.
During that same seven-year span, overall test scores dropped in Harnett County Schools while the number of teens battling “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” rose nationwide.
In its 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that “four in 10 students had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” and “two in 10 students seriously considered attempting suicide.”
Pouch proponents say limited cellphone use won’t just help students focus in class; it could also improve their mental health.
“Students are in the midst of a social, psychological and academic crisis,” Castren told the school board at a meeting Dec. 13. “And I think this becomes fairly obvious when you spend a lot of time in schools. I’m thinking about things like lunchrooms where individuals are not talking as much, not making as much eye contact, or seeing test scores across the country drop. Anxiety is reported at a much-higher rate from students. So just reading the headlines it becomes clear there is a problem when it comes to students in schools right now. But can we identify the cause of it?”
Castren mentioned recent action by the U.S. surgeon general “homing in on cellphones and social media being a primary cause of these issues we are seeing.”
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy called for a warning label on social media platforms, “stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents” in a guest column for the New York Times in June.
“Schools should ensure that classroom learning and social time are phone-free experiences,” he wrote. “Parents, too, should create phone-free zones around bedtime, meals and social gatherings to safeguard their kids’ sleep and real-life connections — both of which have direct effects on mental health.”
Combatting phone use
Harnett County Schools used a grant to purchase 2,500 Yondr pouches at a cost of $26.05, each, to pilot the program at three schools this semester. Leaders plan to roll it out districtwide in the fall if the pilot program goes well and funds are available.
“We haven’t discussed the cost with Yondr regarding full district implementation. We are going to monitor the pilot at the three schools before a permanent solution is determined,” said HCS Public Information Officer Natalie Ferrell, citing district leaders.
Yondr claims to lower anxiety, depression, social alienation, behavioral issues, cyber bullying and poor academic performance. The company also claims its product will help improve student behavior, social connection, academic success, mental health, student engagement and college and career readiness for those using their pouches. Castren said that even after a few months of the program, teachers will be able to maximize their instruction time, focus students on learning, reduce behavioral issues, improve academic outcomes and build community and social interaction.
“… What we present is our most effective solution to the problem that we’re seeing,” the Yondr representative said.
The pouches and phone-free zones are just the first two steps in the process of getting students back on track. White said the district will also have to look at “strengthening our discipline methods around students who are not compliant.”
What a joke!
This is great! Now to teach them how to use an encyclopedia and a dictionary instead of their phones.
This is what’s wrong with NC schools. This is the last thing you need to be worrying about!
How about teaching, stop closing for rain, stop the gender bulls**t, and all the propaganda BS infesting our NC schools that use to be the best but no more. Oh I rather my kid be on a phone instead of vaping all day at school… and don’t even get me started on those stupid a** metal detectors…what a waste of taxpayer $ that was
The real issue with restricting phones in the classroom is that 95% of parents won’t support a restriction because they need the phones to raise their children. People who allow phones to raise their children often say things like, “How about teaching, stop closing for rain, stop the gender bulls**t, and all the propaganda BS infesting our NC schools that use to be the best but no more. Oh I rather my kid be on a phone instead of vaping all day at school… and don’t even get me started on those stupid a** metal detectors…what a waste of taxpayer $ that was”
thank god i graduated because wtf is this bulls**t? with all the kids getting high everyday in school, this is the last thing they should be focused on.