Grand Prairie ISD is the latest school district to crack down on student cell phone use during class. The North Texas district will provide every student with a lockable pouch and require them to lock their phones inside every day.
CBS News reported that students attending Grand Prairie High School and South Grand Prairie High School will receive a Yondr pouch for the new school year. Students can carry the locked-up phone in their backpacks and unlock the pouch at the end of the school day.
Larry Jones, the principal at South Grand Prairie High School, wants teachers to focus on the lesson in class.
“We want them to focus on the lesson,” he said. “We don’t want them to focus on, does Jonny have his cell phone out?”
According to the news outlet, Grand Prarie ISD was “inspired to enact this pilot program after seeing how well it’s worked in Richardson ISD. Dallas ISD plans to pilot the pouches at three of its campuses this school year as well.” Additionally, “90 percent of GPISD staff support the initiative.”
As Texas Scorecard reported in early July, Killeen ISD also opted for Yondr pouches to limit student cell phone use during the school day. If students need to use their phones, they must get permission first.
While not all parents favor limiting student cell phone use in school, other districts see the phones as an addictive problem disrupting the classroom and seek to create a more productive learning environment.
Data on Yondr’s website from schools using the lockable cell phone pouches explains, “83 percent saw an improvement in student engagement in the classroom, 74 percent saw an improvement in student behavior, and 65 percent saw an improvement in academic performance.”
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