Yondr pouch pilot program at some MS

[Anonymous]

https://www.fcps.edu/cell-phone-storage

What do we think? It sounds like a pain in the ass to me! For everyone involved. If I had a MS student at those schools I might be telling him to leave his phone at home. Which is probably for the best anyway.

This is the part that gets me. You put the phone in the special pouch and it locks, and then the student puts the phone in pouch into their backpack for storage. To unlock the pouch at the end of the school day, they need to use a “Yondr Base.” If you forget to unlock your pouch before you leave school, tough titty until the next school day.

Also: “ Yondr staff will assist with determining the most appropriate number of unlocking station locations in each school based on the number of students, in order to maintain a safe and timely dismissal process at each school. They will provide training for the unlocking stations. ” This seems like a huge undertaking to me. Probably going to cause a ton of delays and drama.

Any teachers or parents at these schools know anything else about this?

[Anonymous]

Seems easiest to just encourage middle schoolers to leave their phones at home.

[Anonymous]

It's been working in several school districts. I wish we had this in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

YES!!! I wish Carson was one of those schools.

[Anonymous]

The problem is that these systems only work if you assume every kid has a phone. Because if kids can just say they don't have one, then many of them will say that, which defeats the point, because the kids who will admit they have them are the rule followers who would leave them in their backpack in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that these systems only work if you assume every kid has a phone. Because if kids can just say they don't have one, then many of them will say that, which defeats the point, because the kids who will admit they have them are the rule followers who would leave them in their backpack in the first place.

No solution is perfect. Doesn't mean you don't try it.

If the kid says they don't have one, and they are caught with one, it should go to the admin's office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that these systems only work if you assume every kid has a phone. Because if kids can just say they don't have one, then many of them will say that, which defeats the point, because the kids who will admit they have them are the rule followers who would leave them in their backpack in the first place.

No solution is perfect. Doesn't mean you don't try it.

If the kid says they don't have one, and they are caught with one, it should go to the admin's office.

And the rules say that should happen. The pouches are intended to make it clearer that if it’s out and seen you’re in trouble.

[Anonymous]

Long thread here:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/255/1215414.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that these systems only work if you assume every kid has a phone. Because if kids can just say they don't have one, then many of them will say that, which defeats the point, because the kids who will admit they have them are the rule followers who would leave them in their backpack in the first place.

No solution is perfect. Doesn't mean you don't try it.

If the kid says they don't have one, and they are caught with one, it should go to the admin's office.

But that's the policy now. And it doesn't work. Because admin doesn't do anything. And parents pitch a fit that their child's phone was taken. The good kids will follow the rules and the rule breakers will continue to do what they've always done. Literally nothing will change.

Additionally, the cell phones are a significantly bigger problem at the high school level where there was no off and away policy last year. They were allowed to have theirs out and it was a daily battle. The middle schoolers, by and large, responded very well to the off and away policy because it was pushed county wide and there was no time ever the were allowed to have it out, even at lunch. This pilot program should have been rolled out at the high school level where phone use runs rampant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that these systems only work if you assume every kid has a phone. Because if kids can just say they don't have one, then many of them will say that, which defeats the point, because the kids who will admit they have them are the rule followers who would leave them in their backpack in the first place.

No solution is perfect. Doesn't mean you don't try it.

If the kid says they don't have one, and they are caught with one, it should go to the admin's office.

But that's the policy now. And it doesn't work. Because admin doesn't do anything. And parents pitch a fit that their child's phone was taken. The good kids will follow the rules and the rule breakers will continue to do what they've always done. Literally nothing will change.

Additionally, the cell phones are a significantly bigger problem at the high school level where there was no off and away policy last year. They were allowed to have theirs out and it was a daily battle. The middle schoolers, by and large, responded very well to the off and away policy because it was pushed county wide and there was no time ever the were allowed to have it out, even at lunch. This pilot program should have been rolled out at the high school level where phone use runs rampant.

?
I don’t think all MSs had off and away applicable all day long. At ours I think you could use between classes and at lunch.

[Anonymous]

I’m so happy our middle school purchased $3 pencil bags with labels that the kids have to put their phones in. Yes, some kids abuse the policy. It’s overall an incredible improvement. At our school, there is a lot of parent support.

[Anonymous]

I’ll buy my kid a $10 dummy phone to put in the pouch.

[Anonymous]

“ If a student damages or loses their pouch, school staff will collect the phone/pouch and send it to the front office for the remainder of the school day. The student will be assessed an $18 replacement fee.”

There’s the out. Parents have to agree ahead of time, most probably won’t be bothered. If this comes to our school, I’ll decline the technology agreements for all of the programs the school uses to waste time - after all technology distracts from classroom time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll buy my kid a $10 dummy phone to put in the pouch.

I think you are being sarcastic, but please spell this out for me: do you mean to suggest your child will keep their smartphone with them during the school day, but you will provide a dummy phone for the pouch?

[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t it be cheaper and easier to stick a couple pay phones in and tell the kids to keep their phones at home.