Louisiana School Uses Locking Pouches To Solve Cellphone Problem
The issue is cell phones or mobile phones or smartphones or miniature computers that you can talk to almost anyone at any place in the world is a growing problem for educators. Kids like having their phones at school. Moms and Dads like their kids having their phones with them. School officials see phones as a hindrance to learning
International High School in New Orleans has adopted a high tech solution to the high tech dilemma of kids constantly checking their phones during school. That solution is a phone pouch that can be locked during the school day.
The pouch made by Yondr allows a student to have his phone at school but puts command and control over when that phone can be used in the hands of school administrators.
The Yondr pouches are being used at over 600 schools across the country. They are also becoming quite common at concerts, theatre performances, and other live entertainment venues. The pouches allow patrons or students to hold their phones at school or other events, yet they can't call or text or surf the web until the device has been extricated from the locked pouch.
As you can see in the video above the pouches work a lot like those security tags on clothes work. The pouch is locked until the device is unlocked by a special piece of equipment.
The idea seems sound to me, however, the logistics of issuing thousands of phone pouches to thousands of students and then facilitating the locking and unlocking of those devices seem to be the biggest issue that I can see.
Plus a school like International High School had to spend about $8,000 for the pouches they are using. I guess we'll find out at the end of the school year if the investment has really paid dividends.