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Cell phones have been taking over classrooms. These Boston-area schools are making a stand.
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The move comes after students struggled to pay attention in class following remote learning during the pandemic.
Schools across the state reported that following the pandemic — when kids were often glued to their screens for seven hours a day, if not more — students had issues letting go of their devices when they returned to in-person classes.
Teachers told principals that their students struggled to pay attention in class, were constantly distracted by their phones, and didn’t socially engage with one another in person.
Now, close to five years after the pandemic began, schools are considering what to do about their cellphone policies.
Some are beginning to use magnetic locking pouches to prevent students from accessing cell phones during the day, and others are enforcing stronger punishments if a student is found using a cell phone in class, or are even awarding those who voluntarily turn in their phones.
In the Boston Public Schools system, many schools are turning to pouches after the district awarded $842,520 to Yondr, a California-based company that makes cellphone pouches with magnetic locks. The funding covers the cost of the pouches for schools with grades 5-12 that want to use them.
As of September 2024, 31 of Boston’s public schools are either using Yondr or gearing up to implement the pouches. BPS has 125 schools in total.
Each school in the system has the autonomy to create cell phone policies and is not required to participate in the Yondr program.
The Eliot K-8 Innovation School in the North End began using the Yondr pouches in 2021 for grades 5 through 8, with nearly 350 students.
“I think the impact is what we recognized right away,” said Traci Griffith, the school’s executive director, on a call with Boston.com.
“Being a young person in America right now is really challenging with all the social pressures,” Griffith continued. “Let’s, for the seven hours, let’s support them academically, socially and emotionally and make sure families felt engaged.”
Even though parents initially expressed concerns about being unable to communicate with their children, Griffith said they reminded them they could always call the school directly to get a message though. And if an emergency happens, she emphasized the school will contact them.
Plus if something happens, each teacher has a key to open the magnetic locks of the pouches, which the students keep with them.
Griffith said that the pouches give the students the responsibility of bringing them to school and unlocking them at the end of the day. If a student forgets their pouch, they have to turn their phone in for the day.
Griffith, who plans to continue this program, said the pouches have become so ubiquitous that they have become a part of the school’s “fabric.”
“Seeing the result of our children continuing to lean into being joyful learners — that’s what we want,” said Griffith.
What schools across the state are doing
Across the state, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money also provided a one-year program that awarded 77 grants to schools to revise their mobile device policies and purchase equipment such as pouches, lockers, and charging stations.
Some school districts not in the grant program, such as Chicopee and Brockton, are also changing their cellphone policies. The state has 1,751 schools.
Springfield Central High School, which has about 2,000 students, was the first school in the district to use the Yondr pouches beginning in 2022.
“Coming back from COVID, we realized that the students’ dependency exponentially grew,” said Thaddeus Tokarz, principal of Central High School.
To be fair, Tokarz said, it “was the only way to communicate for about two years.”
Before the program, students charged their phones, sent text messages, and had them out on their desks during class.
So the school realized that the cellphone policy had to be addressed, and decided to use pouches to keep students off their phones while at school. Although there are always ways around it, he has found that it generally prevents cell phone use.
“It’s an imperfect science that’s been relatively effective,” Tokarz said.
Tokarz said even the cafeteria has become louder as students returned to having conversations rather than being glued to their phones.
The students “have four years to create a resume to determine the rest of their life,” said Tokarz. If they are “distracted by their phones, their resume wouldn’t be as impressive as it could have been.”
Some opt to not use pouches
Lowell High School decided to go a different direction than the pouches. Michael Fiato, the head of school, said they have elected to use cell phone boxes, where students put their phones at the start of every class period.
The 3,400 students continue to have access to their phones during passing times, advisory periods, and lunch.
“Our main priority was to take away the distraction in the classroom, to try to improve academic outcomes, engagement, improve community building, and take the phone out of the element of the classroom so students and teachers can focus on teaching and learning,” said Fiato.
The program went into effect in January of last year, and after surveying the teachers, Fiato said, “it was an overwhelming feeling” that there was “more engagement, less distractions.”
Fiato said the aim was to find a compromise with the students. Students can still connect with their families or other responsibilities, such as outside-school jobs, by allowing some periods when they use their phones.
Similarly, Sutton High School, which has around 385 students, began considering ways to get students off their phones without investing in pouches.
At one point, the school even tried giving out raffle tickets for a chance to win a gift card for any student — or teacher — who voluntarily turned in their phones at the office.
After a committee was formed with students, teachers and administrators, it was decided that the new policy would allow them to be on their phones during flex periods and lunch, but they were not allowed to be seen during class.
If a teacher sees a student’s cell phone in class, they are asked to turn it in. The first time, they can pick it up at the end of the school day. Subsequent times, their parents have to come pick up the phone. Then, the student must turn in their phone daily for the next month.
“In my view, cell phones are ubiquitous,” said Ted McCarthy, the principal. “Now, everyone has them, and often, you need to have one. But we’ve all been in a meeting with a guy who keeps checking his phone when he should be talking to you, and that’s not a productive skill.”
“But you know what?” McCarthy continued. “You’re expected to have your cell phone on and not be distracted by it.”
