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NEW BEDFORD — Administrators will take a new approach to cell phones when school resumes later this month. Normandin and Roosevelt middle schools and local charter Global Learning will use pouches and lockboxes to enforce cell phone restrictions. Meanwhile, New Bedford High has eased off its plan to lock away students’ phones.
Many schools in New Bedford already have policies that restrict cell phone usage during the school day. In June, The Light reported that New Bedford High was planning to enforce its cell phone ban by purchasing Yondr pouches — rubbery bags that lock away phones and can only be opened with an administrator’s key.
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Instead, the high school will only use the Yondr pouches for students who violate the cell phone policy — that is, for anyone caught using their phone during the day.
The change comes after students pushed back against using Yondr pouches, telling The Light it “didn’t make sense” or seemed “ridiculous” in New Bedford, where many students work jobs or have responsibilities such as caring for younger siblings.
Elliott Talley, New Bedford High’s student council president, said the proposal doubled down on the school’s strict restrictions on technology, which have included blocking educational websites, restricting external emails, and prohibiting PDFs — the commonplace portable document format.
But limiting phones in school has well-documented benefits. Students’ grades and rates of physical activity improve without smartphones, and tremendous mental health benefits follow reduced time on social media. And this year, eight states have passed legislation or adopted rules that prohibit cell phones and other personal tech in schools.
Already, New Bedford’s alternative district school, Whaling City, does not allow students to have cell phones in the building. At the school’s June 5 graduation, students told The Light it greatly helped the school environment. “It’s not a big deal; you get used to it,” said Anderson Lima, one of the graduates. Alma del Mar, another city charter school, also uses lockboxes for students’ cell phones.
At this month’s meeting of the School Committee, district administrators walked back the high school’s plan to use Yondr pouches, but said two of the city’s middle schools now plan to use either Yondr pouches or lockboxes to enforce their cell phone policy.
“We are fortunate to have two middle schools looking at piloting different products to enforce cell phone policy,” said Tammy Morgan, a central office administrator.
Roosevelt Middle School will spend $16,000 to purchase enough Yondr pouches for all of its almost 800 students, according to district financial statements. Students this fall will lock their phones in a pouch, carrying the locked phone with them during the school day.
Normandin Middle School will use lockboxes in students’ homerooms, Morgan said, and students will leave their phones in those boxes until dismissal. The purchase amount has not yet been made public.
At both middle schools, parents are asked to call the main office if they need to get in touch with their student.
Elsewhere in New Bedford, at Global Learning Public Charter School, students will also use Yondr pouches each day when school returns later this month. The school’s executive director, Stephen Furtado Jr., said, “By removing the proverbial ‘elephant in the room,’ we expect to see higher student engagement.”
New Bedford High had already purchased a small number of Yondr pouches, which it tested with students this summer. Rather than expand the purchase, Morgan said the high school will only use the Yondr pouches for students caught using their phone.
These decisions are “geared toward supporting our district-wide cell phone policy that cell phones are turned off and not visible,” Morgan said. She kept open the possibility that the high school will eventually implement lockboxes or pouches for its students too, saying, “Our end goal is to have a consistent system used across our middle schools and eventually in our high school as well.”
Morgan said the district will be tracking the implementation of the new lockboxes and pouches at Normandin and Roosevelt, as well as the much-reduced rollout of Yondr pouches at New Bedford High. She said both behavior and academic data could be part of what the district analyzes.
New Bedford students will find these new policies in place when they return to school — Thursday, Aug. 29, for most of the district, but one day earlier, Wednesday, Aug. 28, for ninth- and 12th-graders at NBHS and all students at Global Learning.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
I don’t agree with this, as a parent that saw their child go through bullying and the school not do anything or even the department. It got to a point where my kid was threatened with a pocket knife, where were the adults nowhere to be found. If my kid did not have his phone on him something terrible could have happened. They want to lock away phones to take away our kids first amendment right away, to stop our children from recording the teachers when they don’t act or protect them as they should, but instead act like bully’s themselves.
I agree with You Concerned Parent, It makes no sense to change things now! It’s important for All students to have Help via phones when needed. Phones actually reach 911 more than going toba teacher to be grilled 50 questions before they act. It’s not like back in the day,It’s Way Worse. Their better be security with Power able to help when needed if they ban phones . I’m sorry for all of you with kids in schools these days. Prayers for you all –
No way is this good. Uvalde? Sometimes a phone can save a life. Especially if an administration is inept with bogged down policies b/c of liabilities. Just sayin’