Yondr pouch pilot receives strong support from BCS teachers, according to survey

WINNABOW, NC (WWAY) — When students at Town Creek and Cedar Grove Middle School enter their schools this year, they have to put away their phones in what’s called Yondr pouches.

Phones and other personal electronic devices, like AirPods or smart watches, go into magnetically sealed fabric pouches, and they stay there until the end of the school day.

Earlier this week, Brunswick County school district leaders got an update on how the pilot program is working.

According to a survey, more than 85% of teachers said the program has been very effective.

According to Town Creek Middle School principal Rebecca Heitz, the program has led to an improvement in student interactions.

“The students are socializing at lunch, they’re socializing at recess,” Heitz said. “You know, they’re not bringing their cellphones in bathrooms, we’re not finding kids on their phones in bathrooms. You know, students aren’t posting TikToks from the bathrooms or anything like that. So that’s all, you know, been a really great positive that’s happened.”

While an overwhelming number of teachers support the program, it’s not nearly as popular, as you can imagine, with students.

Around 55% of teachers said their students are only somewhat positive about the program.

However, Town Creek social studies Brooks Wilson said students have come to accept not having their phones during the day.

“Just plummeted the amount of classroom distractions that we have,” Wilson said. “You know, I used to have systems in place for when students were on their phone, how to get them back on track and how to deal with that. I haven’t even had to use them because we don’t have that issue.”

Since this is a pilot program, it’s a bit early to know for sure what impact, if any, it will have on student performance.

In a statement sent to WWAY, Brunswick County Superintendent Dale Cole said:

“Our district policy requires cell phones and other personal communication devices to be turned off and placed away, but we know that the YONDR pouch has let us go a step further in supporting our teachers in the classroom. At the two pilot schools, we hope our students are breaking the compulsion to continually check for communication on their personal devices.  This in turn can ensure more engagement in the classroom, and it is imperative to our vision that students have every opportunity to excel in the classroom.  In the case of an emergency, we have multiple communication methods including a phone in every classroom and our teachers and staff go through extensive training to keep kids safe.  This pilot has been an excellent exercise in protecting instructional time for both teachers and students.”