Diya Singh, Charles Sweeney (Juniors)

Over one month ago, Obama instituted the use of Yondr pouches, an apparatus designed to securely lock phones away. While students were surprised by the initiative the school took to implement this policy, it is undeniable that the 2021-22 school year was a mess in terms of phone use. 

One month in, and the initial stringency appears to have worn off; students are more brazen in their flouting of the phone policy. To gauge this, The Eagle Times conducted a survey amongst 38 high school students, asking, “Do you think Yondr pouches are effective in decreasing phone distractions?” 

Our survey found that only 13.2% of students feel that it is effective. We also asked students whether or not they personally use the pouch on a day to day basis, and found that only 15.8% of students said that they do use their pouch. This tells us a lot about the worth of the pouches.

When speaking with teachers, we heard a completely different story. 8 of 10 teachers surveyed thought that Yondr pouches were beneficial to their classroom environment, 1 teachers said they were not beneficial, and 1 teacher said they were unsure. “It’s flawed, but it has produced the result we want,” said Mr. Roa, who is also on the School Culture Committee. “It’s not working the way it should have… but there are far less people on their phones in class.” Going forward, The Eagle Times wonders about the future of Yondr, and if the efforts to mandate the pouch will ever be fruitful.

When discussing the student perspective on Yondr pouches, Roa said, “I think they haven’t even participated in it enough to know whether it is working.”