By Razeile Joyce P. Aban
The Yondr Pouch, according to their website, is a “patented system to create phone-free spaces for artists, educators, organizations and individuals.” Many schools and artists use Yondr Pouches throughout the day. But is it effective? Many schools have Yondr Pouches for students to put in their phones for the whole school day to help students disconnect from their phones and focus on their classes more.
Some pros for having the Yondr Pouch is that when people are off from their phones, it encourages them to be mindful of their surroundings and the environment. This is a good thing because many people, not just students, never looked around to appreciate the smaller things in life. Plus, students may have better time management and increase productivity. Another thing is that it is impossible to cheat on exams or tests. Personally, Benicia High School does not use Yondr Pouches and I hope that it will stay like that.
In my point of view, I believe it will be bad for schools to be investing in Yondr Pouches. Their website also stated that each Yondr Pouches cost about $15-30 per person which is expensive. Schools should use their money to invest more on their environment and to support and improve classes, programmes, clubs, etc. Although some teachers believe that phones are a distraction, which is somewhat true, it’s an important device. Many students use phones to keep on track of emails, classes, and for communication and entertainment. Another thing to add is that many students use their phones for their health like diabetes, timers to take medicine, etc. If teachers take away students’ phones, emergencies may happen. In addition, when you look online about students using Yondr phones, it is mostly about students complaining about it and destroying it to get their phones.
One thing to consider is the relationship between the teachers’ and students’ trust. Zainab Kuta’s article “Should Schools Adopt ‘Cellphone Jails’?,” gives readers point of views of students who use the Yondr Pouches and their opinions. One student said that it wasn’t that deep and students are mature enough to know when to use it and when not to use it. The author also included big questions like “Is the Yondr phone policy discounting student maturity? How is the policy affecting student-teacher relationships? Even if Yondr accomplishes its main goal — keeping students off their phones during class — should schools just continue to apply the policy with zero regard for its opposition?” (Zainab Kuta). The Yondr Pouch has many pros but there are many cons more than pros.
Two solutions I could think of is to use the Yondr Pouch for tests and exams. This will be an efficient way for Yondr Pouches to be used because locking students’ phones for an exam or tests will reduce the chances of cheating and it will show how students are doing in classes accurately. Another solution is to teach students responsibility to know when to use their phones and when not to, if they don’t listen then teachers could use the Yondr Pouch until the end of their class or when break comes.
beniciapaw.com 