Yondr pouch pilot program at some MS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Huh? Quite the scenarios.

Seriously? A kid forgetting to go by the scanner and a mixup on who is doing pickup after school is not only plausible, it is the most predictable of mini-emergencies. It happened to me growing up and to my husband and oodles of other kids. He walked three miles home, and I sat in front of the school and cried until someone remembered me. Yeah, we both survived, but it was not a good thing and not something a school should be causing when there is a simple, free alternative that doesn’t create these issues.

Hi...would you send a quick text to my mom who seems to have forgotten of ck up today. My phone is still locked. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Huh? Quite the scenarios.

Seriously? A kid forgetting to go by the scanner and a mixup on who is doing pickup after school is not only plausible, it is the most predictable of mini-emergencies. It happened to me growing up and to my husband and oodles of other kids. He walked three miles home, and I sat in front of the school and cried until someone remembered me. Yeah, we both survived, but it was not a good thing and not something a school should be causing when there is a simple, free alternative that doesn’t create these issues.

1) it’s impossible to forget, they are literally at every exit a student could choose to use. The bus exit, the kiss and ride exit, the main office—no matter how you leave the building, you must walk past multiple unlocking stations

2) there are always staff at school while kids are at school. We legitimately cannot leave a child behind who isn’t picked up from the after school program. If late buses come at 4:30, someone is on campus making sure everyone gets picked up by 5, at which point they go into the main office and start calling emergency contacts from the office phone. If no one has picked up the child after a certain amount of time (I forget—1 or 2 hours?) the police are called.

The scenario you describe can only happen if a kid walks off campus and comes back later that evening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Huh? Quite the scenarios.

Seriously? A kid forgetting to go by the scanner and a mixup on who is doing pickup after school is not only plausible, it is the most predictable of mini-emergencies. It happened to me growing up and to my husband and oodles of other kids. He walked three miles home, and I sat in front of the school and cried until someone remembered me. Yeah, we both survived, but it was not a good thing and not something a school should be causing when there is a simple, free alternative that doesn’t create these issues.

Both have to happen on the same day and not be realized until no one else is at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

How do phones ruin the classroom. Unless they are blasting music or causing a disturbance what is the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Huh? Quite the scenarios.

Seriously? A kid forgetting to go by the scanner and a mixup on who is doing pickup after school is not only plausible, it is the most predictable of mini-emergencies. It happened to me growing up and to my husband and oodles of other kids. He walked three miles home, and I sat in front of the school and cried until someone remembered me. Yeah, we both survived, but it was not a good thing and not something a school should be causing when there is a simple, free alternative that doesn’t create these issues.

Lol, it happened to me too, and was so non-traumatizing that I didn’t even remember it until just now. If kids have so little resourcefulness that they can’t figure out a situation like that without their own cell phone, Yondr pouches should be the least of our worries. We are doomed as a society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has made me realize that while I consider myself an anxious parent/human being, some are waaaaaay beyond that.

Or maybe they’re just angry that they have to play by school rules instead of school following their rules.

Every year I have parented in the public school system, my faith in the school placing the interests of the students over its own interest has dropped. It’s my job to look out for my kid, and sometimes rejecting the school’s rules is the best way to do that.

In another year or two, you'll be a sovereign citizen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Huh? Quite the scenarios.

Seriously? A kid forgetting to go by the scanner and a mixup on who is doing pickup after school is not only plausible, it is the most predictable of mini-emergencies. It happened to me growing up and to my husband and oodles of other kids. He walked three miles home, and I sat in front of the school and cried until someone remembered me. Yeah, we both survived, but it was not a good thing and not something a school should be causing when there is a simple, free alternative that doesn’t create these issues.

Couldn’t the kid just go back in the school and use the scanner if he forgot on the way out?

[Anonymous]

I don’t get why some of the parents on here are so eager to make sure other people’s kids don’t have access to phones. I think they’re handy and want my kids to have them when they’re 13. If they aren’t using them in class, aren’t addicted, and aren’t having mental health issues, I don’t see how that is anyone’s business but mine and my kids. This policy is just overkill. I support the school’s ban on phones during instructional time, but beyond that, this is expensive, problematic overreach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has made me realize that while I consider myself an anxious parent/human being, some are waaaaaay beyond that.

Or maybe they’re just angry that they have to play by school rules instead of school following their rules.

Every year I have parented in the public school system, my faith in the school placing the interests of the students over its own interest has dropped. It’s my job to look out for my kid, and sometimes rejecting the school’s rules is the best way to do that.

In another year or two, you'll be a sovereign citizen.

Had to google it to respond. No, you don't have to be a tax protester or a survivalist in Montana to question the policies of our public school system. And most normal people only half-obey stupid rules: how many people actually go the speed limit, or never jaywalk? This is a stupid rule that lots of families are going to roll their eyes at. My kid will know not to use his phone during instructional time, how to get his phone out of the pouch if he needs it, and will be trusted to use his own judgment on when that is. If you want to pray at the altar of FCPS, go for it, but plenty of us aren't with you on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Huh? Quite the scenarios.

Seriously? A kid forgetting to go by the scanner and a mixup on who is doing pickup after school is not only plausible, it is the most predictable of mini-emergencies. It happened to me growing up and to my husband and oodles of other kids. He walked three miles home, and I sat in front of the school and cried until someone remembered me. Yeah, we both survived, but it was not a good thing and not something a school should be causing when there is a simple, free alternative that doesn’t create these issues.

Maybe, but better yet, let's not have the school creating problems that don't need to exist in the first place.

Couldn’t the kid just go back in the school and use the scanner if he forgot on the way out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since we are sharing updates and anecdotes, my daughter is at a control school without pouches and reports no issues from the first two weeks. Students have cells off and away, just last like year. Teachers in 8th grade are enforcing this just like her 7th grade teachers did and kids are not trying to sneak them out.

I should note that my daughter is AAP. Perhaps the less advanced students have more problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Huh? Quite the scenarios.

Seriously? A kid forgetting to go by the scanner and a mixup on who is doing pickup after school is not only plausible, it is the most predictable of mini-emergencies. It happened to me growing up and to my husband and oodles of other kids. He walked three miles home, and I sat in front of the school and cried until someone remembered me. Yeah, we both survived, but it was not a good thing and not something a school should be causing when there is a simple, free alternative that doesn’t create these issues.

1) it’s impossible to forget, they are literally at every exit a student could choose to use. The bus exit, the kiss and ride exit, the main office—no matter how you leave the building, you must walk past multiple unlocking stations

2) there are always staff at school while kids are at school. We legitimately cannot leave a child behind who isn’t picked up from the after school program. If late buses come at 4:30, someone is on campus making sure everyone gets picked up by 5, at which point they go into the main office and start calling emergency contacts from the office phone. If no one has picked up the child after a certain amount of time (I forget—1 or 2 hours?) the police are called.

The scenario you describe can only happen if a kid walks off campus and comes back later that evening.

My kid sometimes has to go back to school at 5 for an activity. There is no office staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My principal was clear that in a true emergency the pouches can be cut open.

But really, phones ruin classrooms 100% of days and true emergencies are exceedingly rare. Worth the trade off, IMO.

I disagree on it being worth the trade-off but I do think/hope that kids will break out their creativity for cutting/prying/deactivating the pouch in an emergency. I feel confident that $18 won't be charged if the emergency is an active shooter. If the emergency is needing a ride home after the school doors are closed, I don't trust the school not to charge me. And I worry about the kid who walks home in the dark rather than risk getting in trouble for destroying the pouch. Safety is more important than the school's need for fancy enforcement. Just prohibit the use of cell phones during the day without creating new problems.

Is your child incapable of waiting the 20 minutes it might take you to get to school when he calls for a pickup after he gets his phone unlocked at dismissal?

[Anonymous]

As a middle school teacher, to parents who are claiming their kids will not look at phones during instructional time and only use them for GOOD ... (1) Many kids act differently at school than at home. (2) Peer example is powerful. When phones are allowed, many "good" kids see other kids using phones and take them out and get distracted from work. and (3) Kids with phones out take pictures and videos of other kids without their permission. Want your daughter or son to be subject to some other kids picture, video, or TikTok/Insta post or text chain? Want your kid filmed or photographed and edited or uploaded to AI? Kids with access to phones during the school day don't focus as well in school AND if your kid has a phone in school then so does every other kid, many of whom will make bad nad hurtful and creepy decisions, even if your kid doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Have not read all the replies, just came on to say they use them at my kids’ middle school in DC (Alice Deal). It’s a big middle school with 1500 kids and it seems to be going fine. Every kid has their assigned pouch with their name on it, they turn it in in June and get it back at the end of the summer.

Also at parent orientation the principal polled the parents, many 6th graders don’t even have a phone. Putting a phone in a pouch isn’t a requirement if you don’t have one lol!