Some students are questioning the logistics of Arlington Public Schools’ plan to roll out locked phone pouches in all of its high schools this school year.
When APS high schoolers go back to school, they’ll be required to lock their phones away in a magnetically sealed pouch for the entirety of the school day. The intended purpose is to combat negative impacts of phones on learning and social-emotional health.
However, four rising seniors told ARLnow that they are skeptical of the ultimate impact of the change. They questioned its effectiveness at limiting students’ use of technology, possible drawbacks during emergency scenarios and the value of eliminating something that many view as a necessary tool.
“I think phones can be an asset in many situations, and I think banning phones totally is not the correct approach, especially when you’re trying to manage a school with over 2,000 people,” Washington-Liberty senior Kaitlin Madison said.
The case for the pouches
In July of 2024, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued an executive order giving Virginia public school systems until the end of the year to introduce phone use restrictions. The policy aimed to improve learning and mental health outcomes by removing cellphones and social media from classroom settings.
To comply with state law, all APS schools adopted bans on cellphone use during the day. Additionally, Wakefield High School and three other schools became the testing ground for new pouches that APS purchased from the company Yondr.
“It’s school property, but it’s in possession of the students all year long,” Wakefield Principal Peter Balas told ARLnow. “When they enter the building, they lock the magnetic lock on the top, and they have that pouch all day long until they exit the building, where there are magnetic stations to unlock their pouches.”
Balas said the pilot program appeared to yield positive results, reducing both out-of-school suspensions and physical altercations at school.
In an email to parents last Friday, Yorktown High School said that observational studies show students average less than six minutes on any given task before technology distracts them. Schools using Yondr pouches have seen improved engagement and academic performance, the email claimed.
One other potential reason to implement pouches is that simply having a “no-use” policy wasn’t effective, students said. They said the APS “bell-to-bell” phone ban, adopted in December, was never fully enforced.
“I think the reason it didn’t work is because there was no consistency with it,” Yorktown senior Jenna Sheetz said. “Some teachers were like, you can use your your phone in my class as long as I’m not lecturing. But then there were other teachers like, ‘if I see your phone, I’m gonna call [Yorktown Principal Kevin Clark] up here.'”
Students raise concerns
Still, some students question whether the latest policy will actually have its desired effect, especially since they still have access to school sponsored technology.
“I remember one of my teachers last year was very strict about the phone,” Sheetz said. “And there was this one kid who would come in every single day, sit down, open his laptop, put in his AirPods and watch ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ from bell to bell.”
Sydney Pons, who goes to Yorktown, wonders what might happen in an emergency — if the school was ever in a lockdown, for instance, or if a natural disaster struck.
“If there are any emergencies happening at the school, my mom texts me right away, like, ‘hey, you’re okay?'” Pons said. “Is the school really going to be able to tell her, ‘oh, Sydney Pons, specifically, is okay?'”
Both Pons and Sheetz told ARLnow that phones are being used in class for things besides social media and games, like checking passwords, scanning QR codes and accessing educational YouTube videos blocked by APS on their laptops.
“I know a lot of teachers who — especially ones that have been teaching for a long time — the phones are kind of integrated into their lesson plan, almost, but in a helpful way, not in a ‘let’s go play Block Blast‘ way,” Sheetz said.
Every student interviewed for this story also expressed skepticism about how seriously this policy will be taken. One student told ARLnow that they already know friends who have ordered magnets to attempt to bypass the locking mechanism.
Still, in a CNN television segment this April, four out of six Wakefield students said they supported the pouches at their school.
“I remember the first day, I was sitting in physics. My phone was locked up in my bag, and I kept reaching for it, but I couldn’t, and the only thing I could do was sit on my computer and listen,” then-junior Alex Heaton told CNN.
Madison, Pons, Sheetz and Yorktown senior Eloise Herzfeld all agree that phone addiction is a problem that is hurting classrooms. But none of them were in favor of pouches when asked point blank.
“I do think there is some benefit to limiting phone use, because, me personally, when I do homework, I have to hide my phone because then I’m so much more productive,” Herzfeld said. “But the school having control over our personal property — it just rubs me the wrong way.”
