Brockton High is now a cellphone-free environment. How did Yondr policy go on day one?

Brockton High School launched its Yondr pouch cellphone policy Wednesday, kicking off the new school year as a “cellphone free” environment. School officials said the program seemed to go according to plan.

“We really want to see how it goes the next 179 days,” said Kevin McCaskill, principal of Brockton High School.

Roughly 3,700 BHS students started school this week, all of whom had to lock their cellphones away in a Yondr bag as they entered the building. The program aims to remove distractions and improve communication and interaction among students.

"I was very happy with what I saw at the high school today," said Tony Rodrigues, vice chair of the Brockton School Committee, about the first day of school.

Rodrigues visited the high school on Wednesday and only saw two students using their phones, while the majority of students had their phones secured and were interacting with each other.

'A huge difference': BPS administrators optimistic following first day of school

Students staying in building

The Yondr bags may be helping another issue that has plagued Brockton High School in the past - students leaving the building in the middle of the school day to visit the restaurants across the street from BHS. School Police Officer Jason Mosley said that wasn't an issue on the first day.

"The Yondr bags seem to be working," said Mosley. "We didn't see a lot of kids leaving school today, so that's a good thing. Of course, because they couldn't unlock them so they couldn't leave."

Mosley said he saw almost no students at the local businesses during the school day.

"Today was a good start," he said.

What is the Yondr bag program?

In March, School Committee members approved a new cellphone policy that requires all BHS students to lock their phones in a Yondr pouch during the school day, which they would store in their lockers or backpacks.

After several months of delays and complications, the district received roughly 4,000 cellphone pouches to account for all students at Brockton High in what has been the first and most restrictive of its kind within BPS.

McCaskill said Wednesday the priority for the start of school is "making sure the students know this is not a punitive measure but to bring focus back on education." He added that he already is seeing students communicating more with their peers.

"We're hoping that really catches some momentum," he said.

Other school districts use Yondr

Schools across the nation are grappling with how to address student cellphone use during school, and many are implementing similar Yondr bag policies to Brockton High. Schools in Fall River,Northbridge, Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke and more districts across the state have started using Yondr bags to keep students off their phones in school.

"They've always had access to a cellphone," said Sharon Wolder, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning for BPS, at a school committee meeting on Aug. 18. "They're a different generation than adults who grew up and learned to use it or got one later in life. They've always had it. And it's part of who they are in some ways and so helping them adjust to the idea that they still have it, they're just not using it during the school day, is a huge adjustment."

"How we support that in this school will determine whether or not they're successful in moving this forward," Wolder said."

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton High students lock cellphones in Yondr bags on first day 2024