ATHOL – Athol High School is trying out an innovative strategy for tackling the problem of cellphone use in the classroom. It was decided something needed to be done when the extent of the problem came to light during the last academic year.
“It was a school-wide initiative,” said Principal David King, “that was really communicated as a need from the teachers, from a focus group that the superintendent had with the teachers. From that point…it was decided that was something that the administration was going to solve. It was going to something the school, in general, was going to solve. Obviously, the components of the school are the students, the teachers, and the parents.”
As a result, a committee made of equal numbers from each group was put together to find a solution. Much of the work for coming up with a workable fix was left to the students on the committee, who spent a lot of time speaking with classmates.
The ultimate goal, said King, “was to keep the cellphone away during class time, and it was up to (the student) to put it away, to keep it away, being able to police themselves, with the teacher setting expectations.”
The three students on the committee are Aryah Lee, Colby Soltysik and Sophie Putnam.
“Some of the kids recognize it’s an issue,” said Lee, “but they don’t really want to fix it because they’re attached to their phones.”
One suggestion offered was to have students place their phones in a shoe box at the beginning of class — a shoe box which would then be under control of the teacher – with the devices to be returned at the end of the period.
“They really didn’t like that,” said Lee, “because they didn’t want their phones taken away from them. So, then we introduced idea of Yondr Pouches to them and some thought that was a good idea because they get to still have their phones on their desk with them, they just can’t use it. It didn’t feel like separation anxiety from their phones.”
“Yondr what?” you ask.
Yondr pouches — a device manufactured by San Francisco-based Yondr, which was founded in 2014 with the idea of developing a way of preventing people from using their cellphones at performance venues. Comedian David Chapelle requires them at his appearances, and Madonna recently announced that anyone wanting to get into her concerts will have to use one.
At the beginning of class, each student will place their phone in a Yondr pouch, which is then magnetically locked. When class is over, the pouch lock is run over a device which then unlocks the pouch, returning phone access to the student.
“Some of the students were not too happy with the idea,” said Lee, “but they said they would rather do that than give their phone to the teacher or put their phone in the closet.”
“Every student is going to be issued one of these pouches,” said King, “and given a number that’s assigned to them.”
Representatives from Yondr will be at AHS this week, providing training to educators and students, and helping students deal with the idea their phones won’t be immediately available to them while they’re supposed to be learning.
Business teacher Donna LaJoie, who chaired the study committee, recently told the School Committee that the cost of pouches for the high school run around $6,000. If the project works at AHS, there’s a chance it might be extended to the middle school next year.
“Most of the students aren’t too happy about it,” Lee added, “but they recognize it is a problem, and a lot of students did admit that their phone is a big distraction from class and from engaging with other people. Even at lunch, when there’s a million people around you, kids are on their phones and not talking to anyone there.”