Schools in surrounding areas have taken extreme measures to enforce cell phone policies.

Being one of the most debated topics in schools, schools around the country have taken cell

phone policies to the extreme with Yondr Pouches. Yondr Pouches are a secure bag that uses a

magnetic locking device, similar to a clothing security tag, that stores a student's cell phone or earbuds.

Once a cell phone is in the pouch, the pouch is locked. To unlock the pouch, one must tap the pouch

onto the unlocking base.

Surrounding schools, like Unity Christian, have implemented Yondr Pouches for all students.

According to Unity Christian’s Student Handbook, when students arrive to school they will turn their

phone off, place their phone and all other non-school wearable technology inside their Pouch and secure

it in front of school staff, and then store their Pouch in their backpack for the day.

According to Principal Jordan Beel, he said that cost was an issue because of the size of the

school and the time it would take to unlock the cases would not be efficient. A big reason for schools

wanting to use these pouches was to make sure students were fully engaged in class. Beel said that as

long as class time stays uninterrupted, the phone policy that is currently in place will not be changed.

While staff at the school are aware that students still use phones during passing time or at lunch, this is

not as big of a deal as phones being used in class.

Beel also mentioned how it is hard to get parents on board to support these measures. In cases

of emergency, students would not have access to their phones and would not be able to text their

parents. Even for everyday occurrences, like a change of rides after school, parents or guardians could

not contact students to keep them updated.

Despite the fact that there are pros and cons to administering stricter phone policies, the school

has decided to stay with the current phone policy that is in place. If more issues arise with cell phones,

the school may change the way they handle phones in coming years.