Some Seattle schools to lock up students鈥� cellphones, boost classroom engagement
Aug 30, 2024, 7:06 AM
Yondr pouches, secure bags to lock phones away for the day, on display on top of a school desk. (Photo courtesy of Yondr)
(Photo courtesy of Yondr)
Some Seattle Public Schools are cutting back on screen time as kids return to the classroom.
On Thursday, students at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School picked up new Yondr pouches, which are secure bags for them to lock their phones away for the day.
“When you go in, you have to have it locked up and then when you walk out of the school, you can unlock it,” 8th grader Malcolm explained.
When a student enters school, their phone will be put into an individual canvas bag that requires an unlocking base to reopen. It will then be given back to the student, but they won鈥檛 be able to use their phone until the bag is unlocked at the end of the day.
The cellphone lock bags are meant to create better connections between students without smartphones or smart watches.
“It鈥檒l help me actually stay with my friends more because I鈥檒l actually be able to talk to them and just won鈥檛 be on their phones as much,” Malcolm added.
The school says teachers can no longer compete with phones in the classroom. They said the distractions are nonstop on social media.
“Got to control screen time,” parent Percy Padua said. “Everyone鈥檚 on their screens.”
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Parents that 成人X站 7 spoke to are on board with the new approach to reducing screen time.
“I mean just to focus on school, to focus on the teachers and learning right,” Padua added. “I mean they鈥檙e distracted a lot, so I think it鈥檚 helpful to not have those things.”
Some students felt like this was a rash decision that could鈥檝e used more reinforcement rather than action.
“I don鈥檛 like it,” 8th grader Adriana added. “Especially at lunch. Like, I don鈥檛 know, I just want to be on my phone at lunch.”
Some students believe there wasn鈥檛 an issue with classroom engagement to begin with. They feel like phasing out phones invites other types of distractions.
“It鈥檚 not something distracting us like if we鈥檙e like on a break,” Ariana explained.
“I feel if they like this and people are gonna try to talk to their friends more like even more distracting and during class,” 8th grader Luke said.
Hamilton International Middle School will also be .
According to the company that makes the pouches, Yondr, one million students use the pouches each school day, including one other school in Washington state.
The company said the schools using its pouches report:
- 83% increase in student engagement in the classroom
- 74% improvement in student behavior
- 65% increase in academic performance.
