Yondr Pouches at Deal

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I thought someone else would have posted this by now, but really? They're going to issue each kid a Yondr pouch, require daily use, and CONFISCATE phones for a whole term if not used? I can't even imagine how many kids are going to miss buses because they have to wait to unlock their pouch. This is what DCPS spends money on.

Don’t Deal students take metro/metrobus? If you miss one bus, you just take the next one.

Because transit and schools don't talk to one another, there are two busses for all of the kids at the time when school gets out (to my neighborhood - just one to others). My kid has missed practice because last year she had to hustle from the back of the building to the front to catch the bus in time. If I was at work, she had to walk 40 minutes home. Not the end of the world, but when backpacks are heavy, weather is bad, crime is up... it's definitely not ideal. And if she can't get her technology for 1) Me to track where she is and 2) Her to let us know where she is or what's going on... pretty not okay.

But she will have her phone after school.

No, she'll miss the bus waiting for her package to be opened. Will you give her a ride home?

So you live somewhere where there is one bus per day? Weird, if true.

https://www.wmata.com/schedules/timetables/upload/D31,32,33,34_230317.pdf

There are buses that leave from tenleytown that go to mt p every 20 min.

Great for people going to Mt. Pleasant, I guess.

Sorry you live in Unpleasant Canyon.

Sorry you got caught showing your ignorance. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, be quiet and you may learn something.

NP. Following this thread it becomes clear how entitled your kid must be with a parent like you.

[Anonymous]

Or, maybe, they should bring back lockers? Small ones that kids stick their phone into for the day.

[Anonymous]

At another DC school and I'd love to see this and am happy to see Deal doing it as it will make the argument in favor stronger when we bring it up. Kids needs cell-phone free time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought someone else would have posted this by now, but really? They're going to issue each kid a Yondr pouch, require daily use, and CONFISCATE phones for a whole term if not used? I can't even imagine how many kids are going to miss buses because they have to wait to unlock their pouch. This is what DCPS spends money on.

Don’t Deal students take metro/metrobus? If you miss one bus, you just take the next one.

Because transit and schools don't talk to one another, there are two busses for all of the kids at the time when school gets out (to my neighborhood - just one to others). My kid has missed practice because last year she had to hustle from the back of the building to the front to catch the bus in time. If I was at work, she had to walk 40 minutes home. Not the end of the world, but when backpacks are heavy, weather is bad, crime is up... it's definitely not ideal. And if she can't get her technology for 1) Me to track where she is and 2) Her to let us know where she is or what's going on... pretty not okay.

... That is the point, she will have her technology after school in that scenario where she misses the bus. In the classroom. Teachers have personal phones and/or classroom phones if there are emergencies. The everyday downside to having cell phones in classrooms far outweighs any benefit.
Agree with PP -- somehow kids and families were able to survive without phones in the not to distant past. Our kids also could benefit from learning how to troubleshoot independently before they are off in the collagen real world. Just my two cents.

+1

The objection about kids missing busses/ride pickups/etc. is easily addressed -- you just build it into the school day so that phones can be unlocked within plenty of time for the bus. I'd MUCH rather have the last 10 minutes of the school day focused on getting kids access to their tech to facilitate their commute, than have phones disrupting school all day long.

I feel like people just invent reasons to object to stuff so they have an excuse to complain. If you are old enough to have a middle schooler, you are old enough to remember a time when none of us had smart phones and yet still managed to function and get places. So the idea that we can't possible restrict phone use in schools because waaaaaah how will my child catch the bus... it's just absurd. Do some problem solving. It's not that hard. Phones in schools are a massive problem and bad for everyone.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot parents making up scenarios to get upset over. A phone is a luxury. Your kid doesn’t need a phone at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids do not need cell phones while in school. I cannot believe parents have issues with this new rule. Dependency on cell phones is not healthy.

Kids were not allowed to have their phones in school last year. They kept them in lockers. I have no objection to this.

My objection is to the inevitable extra 20 minutes it will take to dismiss 1500 kids when each one has to swipe a pouch over a magnet before they leave. Do you think the D32 will wait?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids do not need cell phones while in school. I cannot believe parents have issues with this new rule. Dependency on cell phones is not healthy.

Kids were not allowed to have their phones in school last year. They kept them in lockers. I have no objection to this.

My objection is to the inevitable extra 20 minutes it will take to dismiss 1500 kids when each one has to swipe a pouch over a magnet before they leave. Do you think the D32 will wait?

It actually probably will because parents like you will complain about this and Deal admin will help navigate the situation with WMATA. There are APs around the buses every single day. No kid will be left behind. Besides, if this year is like all the others, the Deal WMATA buses will be completely unreliable for the first two weeks of school. If your child is a 6th grader, prepare to have to take them to school for the first couple weeks. The after school buses seemed more reliable from the beginning of the year, but they also wait around for 20 minutes after school ends. I mean, they go through metal detectors in the morning individually so the school must have systems in place to manage that amount of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids do not need cell phones while in school. I cannot believe parents have issues with this new rule. Dependency on cell phones is not healthy.

Kids were not allowed to have their phones in school last year. They kept them in lockers. I have no objection to this.

My objection is to the inevitable extra 20 minutes it will take to dismiss 1500 kids when each one has to swipe a pouch over a magnet before they leave. Do you think the D32 will wait?

If you think the phones were actually in the lockers, there’s a bridge you should know about….

The last ten minutes of the day at Deal this year may be the quietest and most orderly ten minutes ever seen. Tell kids they have to be quiet and get in line or they can’t have their phones? The disruptive kids go to the back and wait for the others to leave with their phones? Could be interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids do not need cell phones while in school. I cannot believe parents have issues with this new rule. Dependency on cell phones is not healthy.

Kids were not allowed to have their phones in school last year. They kept them in lockers. I have no objection to this.

My objection is to the inevitable extra 20 minutes it will take to dismiss 1500 kids when each one has to swipe a pouch over a magnet before they leave. Do you think the D32 will wait?

And they didn’t keep them there given the hundreds of deal tik toks made…

[Anonymous]

Ah, so this new magical solution will make them comply? I see.

[Anonymous]

You all should have attended the orientation yesterday but I get it was not for everyone.

The kids will be fine and no one is missing their bus.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. Parents are the worst.idle schoolers don’t need their phones during the day. Yondr works quickly at concerts. Why would it be any different at Deal? So annoyed with some of you all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all should have attended the orientation yesterday but I get it was not for everyone.

The kids will be fine and no one is missing their bus.

Deal said they have 25 unlock stations and about 140 (?) kids can unlock at each station in 10 mins. And there will be people near the busses that can unlock if there are issues. So assuming g kids use the different exits (I dont know how likely this is since we are starting this year) seems like it should be OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ah, so this new magical solution will make them comply? I see.

Nope. The bad actors, parents and kids, will always find work-arounds, don’t cha know. But points to Deal for trying to address the problem.

[Anonymous]

Does the pouch policy apply to watches?