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Join Telegram ChannelFairfax County Public Schools in Virginia (FCPS) is launching a pilot program for several middle schools to ban student access to cell phones during the school day, starting in the 2024-25 school year.
Seven schools will participate in the pilot program: Frost Middle School, Irving Middle School, Jackson Middle School, Poe Middle School, Robinson Middle School, Thoreau Middle School and Twain Middle School.
Schools “will be phone-free during the school day to limit classroom disruptions and improve student engagement and learning,” FCPS said on its website.
During the week of September 2, students attending schools participating in the pilot program will receive a cell phone pouch, called a Yondr Pouch, which is magnetic and prevents students from using their phones for things like social media, texting and phone calls.
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Cell phones are locked in “Yondr” pouches before people enter an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum on November 22, 2019, in New York. (Getty Images)
Students will be responsible for their own Yondr pouch and will bring it with them to school every day.
Upon arrival at school each morning, students will be required to securely lock their phone in their Yondr pouch and carry it in their backpack. AirPods should be secured in the pouch or placed in students’ backpacks while smartwatches should be turned off or put on airplane mode.
In family emergency situations, parents can contact the school office.
“The goal of the pilot program is to create a more engaging learning environment for students, free from the distractions of cell phones and social media,” FCPS said on its website. “Studies show that students who use cell phones during school hours focus less, learn less and earn lower grades.”
Students will be responsible for their own Yondr pouch and will bring it with them to school every day. (Getty Images)
The new cell phone policy will be enforced every day at school.
Students will keep their phones throughout the day, but will not use them until their pouches are opened at the end of the school day at a Yondr unlocking station.
If a student forgets their wallet, they will have to drop off their cell phone at the office for the school day, and it will be returned to them after school.
In the event a student damages or loses their pouch, school staff will collect the phone or pouch and send it to the office for the remainder of the school day, and the student will be charged an $18 replacement fee.
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During the 2024-25 school year, seven schools will participate in the pilot program. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, file)
The move comes after Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order last month directing the Virginia Department of Education “to develop guidance for public school divisions to adopt local policies and procedures establishing cellphone-free education.”
“The need to implement cellphone-free instruction in Virginia’s public schools, both K-12 and high schools, is increasingly evident,” Youngkin wrote in the order. “Parents, public health professionals, educators, and other stakeholders across the Commonwealth are expressing concern about the alarming mental health crisis and chronic health issues affecting adolescents, such as depression and anxiety, due in part to the extensive use of social media and widespread ownership of cell phones among children.”
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“Cellphone-free education will dramatically reduce the amount of time students can be on their phones without parental supervision,” he added.
Other school districts in Virginia and elsewhere, including California, New York, Texas and Georgia, have also begun implementing policies limiting cell phone use during the school day, many of them using Yondr pouches.