by Maya McFadden The New Haven independent
Maya McFadden Photo Yondr skeptic Abdellah Aly: Reducing student phone dependency “is solely on the parent, not a school district.”
Starting Thursday, all city public high schools will join middle schools in requiring students to store away their phones in magnetically sealed devices — as New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) rolls out Yondr pouches to upper-grade levels in an effort to reduce distractions in class.
NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón offered that update in an interview with the Independent Monday.
Negrón confirmed that NHPS is on track to deploy Yondr phone cases on the first day of school — which is Thursday — for all city high schools and middle schools to reduce distractions, promote more engagement with class instruction, and make students less likely to fall victim to cyberbullying.
The high school rollout comes after NHPS distributed Yondr pouches for all 5th-8th-grade classrooms in March.
New Haven Academy (NHA) was the city’s first high school to pilot Yonder pouches, starting in February last academic year. Negrón described the NHA pilot as very successful.
Negrón added that in late spring last school year, high school principals engaged families and students in conversations about the introduction of Yondr, gaining feedback about the change.
Negrón said school principals are empowered to come up with specific phone-use regulations for their respective schools under the blanket districtwide policy that Yondr pouches must be used by all students. “They each know their kids and what’s going to work best,” she said about high school principals.
She said that the high school pilot and the 5th-8th grade implementation brought positive differences to schools by encouraging students to engage in more in-person discussions. She said that effect will hopefully be felt in high schools too as last year’s 8th graders, who are now entering 9th grade, bring their experience with Yondr pouches with them.
“Like the younger kids, once the students get over the fear, they’ll realize the positive impacts it has,” she concluded.
NHPS Chief of School Operations (CSO) Paul Whyte added that high schoolers who have jobs or parenting responsibilities outside of school that require them to use a phone during the day can visit their school’s main office to get permission to attend to important situations. He also encouraged parents to call the school’s main office if they need to pass along information to their children.
Additionally, an Aug. 14 NHPS building maintenance and facilities report details that wall-mounted Yondr unlocking devices have been installed at Hillhouse, Career, Metropolitan Business Academy, Co-op, and High School in the Community. That report also noted that installation of those same unlocking devices was in progress at ESUMS, Sound, and Wilbur Cross.
Principal: Bracing For Student “Shock”
In a Tuesday interview with the Independent, High School in the Community Principal Nick Perrone said that his experience implementing Yondr pouches at Edgewood middle school last year will help him in his new role at the high school level.
Even though Edgewood did not have a pervasive problem of students using phones in school, Perrone said, the introduction of Yondr pouches was “really difficult and had its challenges with vandalism” in the start.
He said he expects that this may be the case at the high school level, though he will be more prepared this time around because of his experience at Edgewood.
In the face of Yondr pouch vandalism, Perrone said the most important response was to “hold the kids accountable to the policy.” He plans to do this again this year.
He said he understands the difficulty of the transition and expects “shock” among students, though he has been informing families of the phone-free policy at HSC during orientations.
He plans to continue telling students and parents that “being off of the phones affords us the chance to have human interaction. That will only do good things for teaching and learning and building strong rapport.”
For high school students specifically, Perrone said he plans to make the policy work best by encouraging students to identify a “trusted adult” in the building who they can go to to work out personal needs. “We don’t just want them trying to figure it out alone in a bathroom. If a child and a trusted adult are calling their parent at the same time, they can help work through things,” he said.
In response to parent concerns about students not being able to reach help during a major emergency, Perrone said that law enforcement professionals have informed staff of the problems that come with instant communication by every student with a phone in school. That sometimes leads to 911 dispatchers receiving dozens of the same calls during emergencies.
He concluded that he hopes for the phone-free policy to improve the district’s issue with students fighting. Rather than a student “glorifying” school fights and trying to make the next viral fight video, Perrone said a no-phones policy will make it so students “will be more likely to get themselves to a safe location and report it to someone. It will hopefully help them to take action as opposed to being a bystander.”
Student Rep: Lean On Parents, Not Pouches
In a separate interview Wednesday, meanwhile, Board of Education student representative and rising Career High School junior Abdellah Aly said he does not support the use of Yondr pouches in high schools at all.
“In a psychological sense, I can maybe see it useful for middle and elementary schoolers, but by the time you get to high school, your brain is somewhat developed. It could decrease the dependency, but that role is solely on the PARENT, not a school district,” he said via email.
When it comes to safety, Aly said he believes Yondr pouches will present more of a problem than a benefit. “There are already many restrictions happening around the globe, with many countries adapting to the online safety act. That already is enough to keep phones for the use of safety, and the use of education.”
He concluded, “I am not sure on why restricting these will benefit anything.”
Update: In a follow-up comment sent to the Independent on Wednesday, Aly recognized that the district’s concerns about 911 overload when students have access to their phones in school is correct. “In a real emergency, dozens of students calling at once could make it harder for dispatchers to filter accurate information and send the right response quickly. Limiting immediate phone access could reduce chaos.
“At the same time,” he continued, “it’s fair to note that emergencies are unpredictable, sometimes a student’s quick call or video could also help law enforcement. In addition, what if the student needed to call their parent? In accordance to the yondr law, students are held accountable for the cost if they break it, and that is LITERALLY their only option in an emergency.”
As for the argument that Yondr pouches help reduce distractions in school, Aly also acknowledged that, yes, phones are distracting — from messages to scrolling to gaming. “Students do not set a limit, even I would not. However, students argue that sometimes it needs its usage, whether that be checking their calendar, or a quick research, or playing music (which is harmless if its a downtime or writing an essay.) It is less about distraction, and more about self regulation while still having access.”
He stressed that Yondr pouches can and should be used in elementary, and “a bit” in middle school. But in high school, “your brain is somewhat comprehensive on whether you do right or wrong. Yondr removes choice altogether. Where is the students say in this? None. People complain of NHPS leadership every day, however, where is our complaints going, where is our opinions, where is our amended rights in regards to our personal property? I constantly work to achieve this, but, it is not a one man mission, and it will take a long time before I build a system in which students can in fact have a say in many of these litigations at the board.”
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