The Randolph County Board of Education (BOE) made changes following the Alabama State BOE’s resolution, encouraging school systems to update cell phone policies. Phones will be banned in seventh to 12th-grade classrooms district-wide.
Superintendent John Jacobs told 1819 News that the policy was meant to decrease distractions in the classroom and encourage students to interact face-to-face with their peers instead of only communicating electronically.
“It’s gotten to the point where kids at school want to stay on their phones all the time,” Jacobs said. There is bullying going on, kids talking about other kids and harassing them. There will be kids who will mass text and say, ‘Let’s go to the bathroom,’ and they will meet in the bathroom and go vape. Communication-wise, it just disrupts everything.”
Jacobs said photo taking has also become an issue in schools. He said students have taken photos of teachers bending down and have sent them around the school.
Randolph County schools will utilize the Yondr pouch system, used in schools and at comedy shows and concerts.
“Kids put their phone, smartwatch and earbuds in the pouch, and it stays locked up all day,” Jacobs explained. “As they exit the building, they hold up a magnet to the wall and it unlocks it. We will also have portable pouches for coaches to use.”
The Yondr pouches cost $30 per pouch. Students will not have to pay for pouches unless they lose or damage them. If a student is caught with a phone on campus, there will be fines of $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second offense and $100 for the third offense.
Jacobs said students can still go to the office to make calls. Parents can contact the office to relay a message to their children.
Teachers will still be allowed to have cell phones, and there are phones in every classroom.
Several school systems nationwide are enacting cell phone bans. Test scores have improved in some school systems where Yondr has been used.
In Alabama, Montgomery County Schools has also banned phones. Some individual schools, such as Fairhope High School, Escambia Middle and High School and Stanhope Elmore High School, have bans on phones.
Randolph County students start school on August 8. The pouch system is expected to be delivered in mid-September.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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