Amid a nationwide reckoning over phone use in the classroom, some schools have decided to take an unusual measure. It comes in the shape of a small gray pouch with green accents, just big enough to comfortably fit in a phone. This is a Yondr pouch—and it’s essentially a phone jail.
What are Yondr pouches? Like its name indicates, a Yondr pouch is basically a pouch to store your phone and other small electronics, such as smartwatches or earbuds. After putting your devices in the Yondr pouch, you close it shut at a special magnetic base station. Once it’s shut, you can only unlock it by tapping it against the same magnetic base.
Yondr pouches have become common staples in schools across the U.S. in recent years, which use them to prevent students from using their phones in class. In general, schools usually require students to lock their phones at a specific access point before entering the classroom and then unlock them at the same place at the end of the day.
In other cases, schools provide teachers with an unlocking base and ask them to lock and unlock students’ phones during each class. The Yondr system allows students keep their phones with them throughout the day but just doesn't let them use it.
The history of Yondr. Yondr was founded by Graham Dugoni, a former college soccer player, after he went through what he thought was a peculiar experience at a concert in 2012. As reported by The Washington Post, Dugoni saw a man, who may have been drunk, dancing and "losing himself in the moment." Nearby, some strangers recorded the man and uploaded the video to YouTube.
The experience bothered Dugoni, who remembered what it used to be like at concerts. In his view, concerts were events where people would come together and participate in the experience. With the advent of smartphones, that had vanished.
“That was a keystone moment for me,” Dugoni told the outlet in 2018. It also made him ask himself an important question, “What degree of privacy can we expect in a public sphere?”
In response, Dugoni founded Yondr in 2014. Today, its pouches are used at concerts, schools, courtrooms, and other places and events where using your phone is discouraged.
How many people use Yondr in the U.S.? The company has been growing steadily in schools since its founding, officials say, though its use in the educational space exploded after the pandemic. The set with the pouch and the magnetic base to unlock it cost schools about $25-$30 per student, Yahoo News reported.
According to GovSpend, a platform that tracks government contracts, public schools in 41 states have spent $2.5 million on Yondr products over the past eight years.
A Yondr official told Yahoo News that the company saw a 150% in schools using Yondr in 2023 and that it expected an even bigger increase in 2024.
Image: Yondr
Yondr pros and cons. Many teachers and school administrators praise the use of Yondr pouches and claim they’ve seen a rise of engagement from students in class. They say the pouches have also led to less bathroom breaks—where kids would likely go to use their phones—and dallying in the hallway. Some have also seen a decrease in cyberbullying.
Not everyone agrees with the use of Yondr in schools, though. Critics point out that there are some students, such as those with two working parents who may be in charge of watching over younger siblings, who need access to their phones throughout the day. There are also emergencies where students need to access their phones.
Students, understandably, are also upset, pointing out that there are already ways to break into the pouches or simply rip them up. They also argue that kids who do pay attention in class shouldn’t have their phones taken away because of the actions the group that does use the devices.
The takeaway. The debate over phones in the classroom is still raging widely today. While there are genuine reasons why students should have their phones, there is also evidence that half of 11- to 14-year-olds get at least 237 notifications per day. About 25% of those notifications pop up during the school day, according to a 2023 report by Common Sense Media.
What is more important: constant connectivity or learning in the real world? Society is still trying to figure it out.
Image | Yondr (edited)
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