Since policies about phones in school have been passed, school officials and teachers alike

have been trying to find a way to keep students from using their phones during class times.

Most of the time though, efforts are in vain, and students will continue using their devices as

they were before. But lately there has been talk of a fix for this issue: Yondr Bags.

Yondr bags are small magnetic lockable pouches designed with the purpose of being a place to

put students’ phones so they can continue working with more focus while minimizing distraction.

The use of these bags are disputed however as there are a gamut of issues that could come

from them, such as students missing important notifications, or simply just being upset by the

fact that their devices were taken away and put in a locked bag.

Another issue with these bags is the cost, with each bag costing $30, and with the average

number of students in any high school being over 750, the cost would come out to somewhere

north of $22,000, while the budget could be used for other more important things. It does also

make students feel as if they don’t have a voice in their own issues, as taking their things,

locking them away and just telling them to work would probably aggravate anyone.

Even with the addition of phone bans and the use of these pouches, some believe that they

don’t work at all, with some teachers saying that they haven’t noticed any kind of academic or

behavioral improvement. Many think that just blaming all of the modern youths issues on

phones would be ignorant to other issues, and that maybe instead of just banning phones, we

should look into other things for students that may actually help their behavior and academic

performance

Regardless of whether or not the bans work, school districts all across the U.S., such as Grand

Prairie ISD, Duncanville ISD, and Richardson ISD have been implementing the use of these

pouches, and those are just a few districts in Texas. Putnam City schools are considering the

use of the pouches to enforce the policy more strictly, but the use of them has not been

guaranteed.