Reply to Yondr pouch pilot program at some MS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've got 2 kids at one of the MS where this pilot is being run. They get their pouches next week. I don't mind school having a no-cell-phones policy (the school already had one), and frankly would prefer that devices (including laptops) be off and away during instructional time BUT I think the idea that these pouches are going to be the silver bullet is utterly stupid.

We are just suckers paying who-knows-how-much (FCPS is saying $18/kid for replacement but I doubt that is the true price tag) for a system that kids will quickly outsmart. My money is on 1,000 tech-savvy kids versus a few tech-dumb administrators. My kid already read Yondr's patent application out of curiosity (spoiler alert: it is just a strong magnet). Just say cell phones aren't allowed and enforce the policy. Yondr is an expensive version of enforcement that won't be any more effective than the cheap version and will cause knock-on issues.

The big knock-on issue is that a magnet can't use judgment and grant exceptions in real time. I can think of many reasons why there should be exceptions to cell phone bans for particular situations and we won't be able to think of them in advance. Some could be life or death (on another board, someone mentioned a kid had a heart attack and classmates spent 10 minutes trying to find a teacher because cell phones were banned), and some could just be normal parent-kid communication issues ("I'm having a bad day, mom"). You can't reason with a magnet.

I totally get that there are problems with kids and cell phones -- self-esteem, distraction, etc. -- but this is just a foolhardy measure with logical appeal that won't correct any of those problems. In fact, the schools are on the one hand claiming the moral high ground on cell phones and then plopping a distracting computer in front of every kid. If we had stats showing that schools with Yondr pouches have demonstrably higher test scores or demonstrably lower suicide rates post-Yondr, I'd listen and likely think they are worth the trouble. But we don't have those stats. Our administrators instead put up specious support on a Yondr-branded PowerPoint that suggested (and the administrators expressly asserted) that cell phones are solely responsible for increases in suicide and depression rate increases since 2010.

I'm so tired of schools operating like prisons and then wondering why the students act like inmates.[/quote]

You day you want data to see if it's worth it. That's the whole point of this! Some schools are using the pouches and some are trying "away for the day".  Test schools are those with the pouches and control schools are those without. How do expect to gather data on the success if we don't try?[/quote]

Because Yondr's PowerPoint says they have been doing this since 2014, and is selling their product on the notion that cell phones are statistically responsible for the ills of society. They've had 10 years by their count to collect data showing they affect these outcomes. Either we care about data or we don't. We can't use data to demonstrate the problem and then say it would be unfair to use the same data to measure the proposed solution. My hypothesis: Yondr pouches will have zero impact on depression and distraction rates as compared to schools with a non-Yondr "away for the day" policy.[/quote]

Then FCPS will decide not to get pouches for all. And no one will care as long as kids aren’t disrupting class and the school with their phones. [/quote]

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