AKRON, Ohio — It looks like more Akron students will need to bag their phones before classes this fall. We told you the Akron Public School district was testing Yondr bags, requiring their phones to be locked away in a specialized bag that can only be opened with a magnet when school is over. The program was tested in three schools this spring. Now the district is hoping to expand.
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A survey of teachers and parents found overwhelming support for bringing the bags to more APS schools. 194 teachers responded to the survey and 95.9% said students were more productive when their phones were locked inside a Yondr Pouch. More than 91% of teachers said the Yondr program reduced student distractions and led to increased learning opportunities. And more than 88% said the program led to fewer classroom disruptions.
APS Communications Director Mark Williamson told us there were benefits outside the classroom as well. More students were talking to each other, face to face, instead of staring at their phones in the halls and lunch tables.
“What was very obvious was that the mobile phone use was out of control and students were being distracted walking down the halls and not talking, socializing, not doing the things that kids really need to do and to learn how to socialize and make friends,” Williamson said.
Before the bags were tested, we reported on a series of violent fights inside some Akron schools. Williamson said the Yondr bags helped reduce incidents like that as well, revealing that the district learned “many” of those fights had been staged.
“They look real but the kids will get on their phones and they’ll decide at 2:00 we’re going to meet here,” he said. After testing the Yondr bags Williamson said the district noted a sharp decrease in violence at one of the test schools.
“One of the schools was having fairly regular conflicts, kids fighting, altercations. And once we introduced this field test for the last three and a half months of the year they had one, one fight in total in the last three and a half months at the same school,” he said.
The district is aiming to bring Yondr bags to 10 more schools, bringing the total to 13 buildings. The school board will meet to vote on the proposal Monday. If approved the expansion would happen with the new school year this fall.
