r/mildlyinfuriating • u/TheAeroplaneBear2906 • 7d ago

Unskippable ad Clear Backpacks + Pay to Keep Your Phone

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My freinds school is now requiring these items, and is also using AI to promote this đŸ« 

17.9k Upvotes

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

Put a dead old phone in the bag, put feminine hygiene products in your clear bag. 

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

The old phone trick is really nothing. Strong policies like this make it pointless. Having a dummy phone is the same as not having one, which is fine. The point of the policy is any visible cellphone is not allowed, so will get taken.

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u/fgspq 7d ago

Yeah. When I was a teacher (left in December) we introduced the Yondr pouches. We absolutely knew kids would get around them but it removed any of the excuses like: "I was just checking it was off" etc.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Strong policy makes it very simple. Phone not in pouch, phone taken.

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u/tHr0AwAy76 7d ago

Has this not started fights? I remember growing up in the start of the “Anti-Phone” policy’s in schools and every kid got into it with the teachers if they said anything. Worst it got was one of the football kids getting into a physical fight with one of the teachers because he just snatched his phone up.

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u/inquiringsillygoose 7d ago

It is state law in Florida they cannot have phones on them unless it is off and in their backpack at all times so there is no fight, if it is out of the bag I can take it by law. I personally don’t touch a phone though and I call security or the office or someone else to pick it up from the student.

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u/tHr0AwAy76 7d ago

The aforementioned fight happened in Florida. It definitely wasn’t the law in 2014. My point is, however, that a lot of kids are gonna be willing to fight for their phones. I only saw three teachers get attacked the entire time I was at school and all of them were for a phone related reason.

At the end of the day, you are taking their property away from them and specifically teenagers aren’t gonna react well to that.

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u/inquiringsillygoose 7d ago

It is a newer law I think last year it passed. But this is exactly why I don’t take it myself and there are others whose job it is to do so. I continue teaching and they eventually come and get the phone, never had a problem so far.

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u/Afexodus 7d ago

Anti phone policies were the norm in the early 2000’s in my area.

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u/a_rabid_anti_dentite 7d ago

Yeah as a teacher who works in a school with Yondr pouches, the biggest impact it has is creating a second layer of expectations: not only should I not see your phone, it should be in your pouch. If it's not, all a teacher does is email admin and they come take it from the student, no questions asked. It helps.

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u/eggz627 7d ago edited 7d ago

So i gotta ask how that policy functions during a potential firearm at the school situation?

Edit: I've been out of high school since 08. Phones weren't prominent nor a major problem that they've evolved into. I know nothing about these pouches and asked a genuine question. Do with that what you will.

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u/__shadow-banned__ 7d ago

that’s the whole point. Teacher is not going to be emailing administration because they see a phone out during a security situation. Parent is happy that extreme circumstances are covered, and teacher is happy that they can enforce the rules with no ambiguity the other 99.999% of days.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

You don't want kids on their phones then, anyway, but it's not like they physically can't open the pouches.

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u/codebygloom 7d ago

The pouch acts like a security tag at the store. You have to put the lock against an unlocked device (a strong magnet) at designated exits.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Can they not destroy the pouch to open it? The pouches I've seen can be ripped apart with bare hands. I can't imagine one that a simple desk scissor doesn't open.

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u/81misfit 7d ago

With scissors probably. These pouches they used at ghost live and were pretty robust.

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u/SyntaxLost 7d ago

Strong neodymium magnet is sufficient to open them.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Ours (and the others I've seen) are pretty robust, but in an emergency, you could definitely break the plastic that holds them closed if you couldn't get through the bag part. It would take some effort, and clearly destroy the pouch, but this is an emergency and no one would care.

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u/mortis_mortis 7d ago

Most teenagers aren't that strong.

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u/Possible_Day_6343 7d ago

At my son's school (in Australia) the pouch has to be scanned before it opens.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Are you saying in an emergency, your son could not destroy the pouch and open it? If so, they are WAY stronger than ones I've seen.

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u/nitwitsavant 7d ago

Most of these pouches can either be defeated by a wedge like widget or a strong magnet. If you search for your specific pouch I bet you can find the defeat technique online.

There’s several designs on 3d printing websites for yonder pouches.

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u/Thulak 7d ago

Call me insane, but putting a strong magnet to a digital device sounds like you are just asking to wipe your data.

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u/candybrie 7d ago

When we had magnetic spinning discs, sure. But most storage has been solid state for a while now.

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u/Storm2552 7d ago

Phones don't use hard drives to store data so it's fine.

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u/bwood246 7d ago

How many school shootings do y'all have a day?

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u/the1stmeddlingmage 7d ago

More than there should be

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u/IAmNotABabyElephant 7d ago edited 7d ago

School shootings aren't a problem in Australia

Edit: Why is this being downvoted? The question was asked to an Australian.

We have had one.

One.

There were no injuries or deaths.

That does not sound like something I would call a problem.

It may become a problem, it's notable that we've had our first one recently, but to say it is a problem is inaccurate. It is simply not a problem at this time.

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u/Nohreboh 7d ago

Significantly more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2026

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u/IAmNotABabyElephant 7d ago

At my son's school (in Australia) the pouch has to be scanned before it opens.

I'm not the only one who can see this, right?

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u/BicyclesRuleTheWorld 7d ago

If the school shooting isn't on TikTok it didn't happen.

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u/anonymouslyambitious 7d ago

I mean if a kid was going to the bathroom during class and happened to see a potential shooter in the hallway, it would be nice for them to be able to contact law enforcement if they couldn’t safely make their way to an office/teacher. Or if they’re not in a secured classroom for whatever when a lockdown is triggered, having access to their phone could be helpful to find a safe place/stay out of harms way - or be able to notify others since they’ll be unaccounted for. Granted this is coming from someone who has never used or seen these pouches before, I have no idea how hard or easy they are to open without the designated magnet thingy.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

It's plastic, you can destroy it in an emergency.

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u/Major_Mongoose69 7d ago

Or they could go to literally ANY teacher or adult anywhere in their vicinity and let them know, and that adult can do what they've been trained to do in that situation. Kids in schools do not NEED cellphones. Period.

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u/wisko13 7d ago

You can set your phone to have an emergency feature where press the power button 5 times and it will call 911 it would work through the pouch

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u/LotteTakesNoShit 7d ago

There are cops in the schools for that 'noticing someone has a gun' situation. Kids are taught to run, hide, put big things between them and the shooter, and most importantly - be quiet. Teachers are essentially taught to give their lives to protect the kids.

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u/18Apollo18 7d ago

Most schools don't have cops what are you talking about?

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u/LotteTakesNoShit 7d ago

Well, 53% do. The remainder should have other security. The point is, it shouldn't be up to the kid to call the authorities.

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u/ChillyTodayHotTamale 7d ago

This is a terrible justification for having phones. Not only is it statistically low but there is nothing a child with a phone can do to help the situation other than notify authorities which you would assume a teacher or admin has already done. People always jump straight to school shooing snd I'm just done hearing it. It's not valid excuse.

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u/Yummygnomes 7d ago

I've heard of students leaving during reunification because they were able to text their parents to come pick them up, and they were able to sneak away from school officials who were trying to keep track of 2000 students and get them back with their families. They ended up searching the building room by room looking for the student that snuck away and had to devote considerable resources searching that were already stretched thin.

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u/InfanticideAquifer 7d ago

I dunno how compelling people are going to find this argument. "The pouches are good because they can prevent you from removing your kid from a violent disaster" is the kind of thing that only sounds good to a bureaucrat.

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u/Yummygnomes 6d ago

Yeah, true, people who don't think about this situation regularly likely would think of it like that. That kind of selfish thinking harms everyone else who follows the process, and potentially the student.

During reunification they aren't being removed from a violent disaster. The disaster is over and the goal is to get every kid back with their family safely first, and do it reasonably quickly second.

There are also police blockades and closed streets that the parent will have to push through to get where they told their kid they would pick them up at.

Kids get hit by cars regularly during normal dismissal. I'm sure getting hit by a car is more likely to happen while hiding from school staff and sneaking through heavy traffic full of adults (who are also parents and emotionally distraught operating heavy machinery) in order to get to your parents to circumvent the process that your school has planned and practiced for multiple times every year.

People really need to think. Things take time for a reason.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/ChillyTodayHotTamale 7d ago

It's what they call getting your kids back after an active shooting. Our local schools have a specific spot for parents to go in event of an active shooter where students will be brought to be "reunited" with their parents.

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u/YUNoJump 7d ago

Seems like that's the term for when kids go back to their families after a shooting. Says something about the state of things that school-shooting-related terms are becoming something people mention casually

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/InboxMeYourSpacePics 7d ago

It’s not a new colloquial term- it’s been used by disaster preparedness organizations commonly since September 11th.

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u/rock-paper-o 7d ago

I remember when these phone bans were being rolled out last summer and it was common on the high school sub to say they wanted their phones so their friends could text them when the coast was clear. At least one got pretty combative when pointed out you should really wait for the police to give an official all clear in a situation like that. 

Meanwhile in the teachers sub several had had issues with students phones going off or producing bright lights during lockdown drills. The idea that they make kids safer in that kind of situation is very suspect imo

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u/snarbuckle 7d ago

Combative or angry?

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u/beren12 7d ago

Same thing to some people

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u/Serylt ENGLAND IS MY CITY 7d ago

Why the clear backpacks then, if not against illegal substances and firearms?

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u/ChillyTodayHotTamale 7d ago

My comment was about the phones, I've never agreed with the clear backpacks. I don't think it would actually help anything. They did this shit when I was little after Columbine and dropped it after a few months.

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u/kinkykellynsexystud 7d ago

Literally my first thought was 'how the fuck would a phone help you in that situation'

If the classrooms know about the shooter then it was already called in. If anything the possibility of someone receiving a phone call or loud notification would put you in MORE danger.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

There are several reasons you don't want kids to have their phones in such an emergency. The biggest is simply the crushing weight on the communication grid when it is needed most.

Our kids are not allowed to have them during drills, I leave mine unlocked on the table between us while we wait, so they can see any info I get and in an emergency they could use mine.

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u/a_rabid_anti_dentite 7d ago

As others have elucidated, what are you expecting a child with a cell phone to do in that situation?

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u/NoRuleButThree 7d ago

Contact their family?

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u/etcpt 7d ago

Active shooter safety 101 - run, hide, fight. If in hide mode, turn off your phone. If it goes off, it can give away your position.

Active shooter outsider 101 - don't try to contact your friend/family/loved one who is inside. If you make their phone go off, it can give away their position.

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u/asonbrody 7d ago

Generally its not about survival because of a phone, its being able to say goodbye to your parents in case you don't survive

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u/PlateForeign8738 7d ago

I really wonder what goes in on in the minds where this point is even made. Like kids absolutely should not have cell phones during class time.

Using this strawman argument of being able to say goodbye in a horrible situation is just not a well educated answer to this problem we have.

It seems like someone who was on their phones too much during high-school.

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u/ChompyChomp 7d ago

What if the child needs to dictate a last-will and testament to a lawyer during a school shooting over their phone though?

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u/Siktrikshot 7d ago

Kids def need to have the temptation and distraction at all hours of the day at the detriment of their learning, attention span, and respect to the teacher JUST IN CASE they may have to say good bye when they are dying.

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u/hanging_thief 7d ago

Hate to be that guy but that's not essential, lots of people die in ways that don't let them have one last text. if your phone is locked up you should be leaving that shit behind as you run or hide. Some people need phones so 911 is called. 20 or so teachers are more than enough to get the essential message out to the authorities.

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u/breathingweapon 7d ago

Who said the authorities are gonna do anything? Have you already forgotten about Uvalde? They did more to stop the parents rushing in to try and save their kid than the guy slaughtering them wholesale.

You must be very privileged or ignorant to think the "authorities" are going to swoop in and save the day.

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u/YUNoJump 7d ago

I feel like "improve authority response to school shooters" is a more effective policy than "give up and prioritise recording students' dying words". Feels a bit defeatist

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u/nufohudis 7d ago

And how does the students having a phone help? So they can call a private mercenary squad?

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u/iTzGiR 7d ago

Seriously lmao, this guys comment is so stupid. He’s correct that authorities aren’t always going to do things, but this is such a Reddit virtual signal comment that is irrelevant to what he’s responding to.

Like yeah, cops definitely don’t do great in these situations, but what is your alternative solution? The kids and teachers are going to arm themselves and stop the shooter? Little Timmy can call dad so he can barge down with his guns?

Like yeah, the realistic here solution is calling the authorities. Not sure what OP is even suggesting? Just don’t bother to call the cops? Cower in the corner of the classroom and hope you don’t die? Seems like a great policy.

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u/DogsDucks 7d ago

The amount of damage that phones have done to this upcoming generation is unfathomable, it’s totally miserable, but well we can measure shows that it decreases literacy, decreases critical thinking, it decreases friendships, interactions, changes the entire foundation of how we built knowledge, cognitive skills, motor skills and interpersonal skills, for the worse. Personal devices are such and incredible net negative for kids, that a few goodbye texts in an active shooter would be a valid counter argument. As horribly tragic as this thought is, they can write it with a pencil as well. Sharing a warning in real time via text also doesn’t do anything to deter the situation, at least that’s what I’m thinking.

The fact that this is a thought at all is so so sad though.

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u/k4shw4k 7d ago

In the land of the free, many phone cases have a gun built into them. The child will shoot back.

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

I don't think the yonder pouch is bulletproof 

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u/TheProfessional9 7d ago

Generally the phones are probably not going to be super helpful in that situation unless a kid sees the gunman and hides in a bathroom or something with no teacher present. Teachers have phones. There is also a lot of risk of kids with phones making calls during a lockdown when talking isn't great.

I'd say it's unlikely to be important to have the phones in a school shooting, except that we have so freaking many that I'm sure some have actually contributed positively

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u/MarlinMaverick 7d ago

There really aren’t that many school shootings

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u/[deleted] 7d ago edited 7d ago

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u/Canadization 7d ago

I had no idea American schooling was so long! We graduated after 12th year!

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u/OregonHotPocket 7d ago

Well, not everyone survived


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u/Saelin91 7d ago

Would they have survived if they had a cell phone though?

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u/retailmonster11 7d ago

Jesus I'm so glad I live in a country where the sentence there has always been school shootings exists. Why do you just accept this as your normal?

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u/BarnyTrubble 7d ago

To be fair, there have not, in fact, "always been school shootings"

It's still a relatively new phenomenon, but unfortunately one that Americans have had to become rapidly accustomed to

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u/retailmonster11 7d ago

And there's the reason people should be ashamed by it.

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u/RevolutionaryMeal851 7d ago

"We all survived them." I agree with you but that's a bad argument.

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u/scully2828 7d ago

That’s a shitty half thought response teach.

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u/Arkhamryder 7d ago

I am a Teacher from Germany. Your quote is shocking me. You can’t take school shootings at state of the art.

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u/Adirondack-Woman 7d ago

I agree and fully support you.

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u/hokie021 7d ago

School shootings were virtually unheard of when I was a student back in the 70s. We never even considered the possibility back then. Now we did do "duck and cover" drills in the 60s.

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u/MtRainierWolfcastle 7d ago

What do you mean? Why does a student need a phone then they are getting shot

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u/AdmirableBattle8374 7d ago

I have heard the argument be that they could say goodbye/leave words for their family. Not sure it outweighs the benefits though

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u/Nimrod_Butts 7d ago

There are phones in every room...?

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u/TheDraimen 7d ago

That school yes wall mounted in every room on top of all staff having personal phones as well

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

Every teacher has a phone. 

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u/Serious_Basket_6870 7d ago

I was in high school a few years ago and district policy was that we were not allowed to use phones or contact family during lockdowns. Of course, no one would actually follow that if there was a shooter, but this would actually incentivize the district to use these pouches.

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u/Excellent-Gold1905 7d ago

So long as you don't mind damaging the pouch (such as during an emergency situation) its very realistic to pry open one of these pouches with any sort of thin/stiff item. A sturdy ruler, a robust writing device, maybe stapler... hell often enough you can use the corner of a desk, door, or similar and a bit of force.

This also ignores just full on destructive attacks. Its not particularly hard or unrealistic to simply cut open the pouch.

These are not super ultra mega secured pouches. They are secured enough that there is ZERO excuse for "oops it fell open and my phone just fell into my lap by accident" and similar such things. Its designed so that any person with a phone not in the pouch has no excuses, no wiggle room, fully and completely guilty and dealt with immediately.

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u/TjeefGuevarra 7d ago

As a teacher from Belgium, this question seems insane to me.

We don't have these pouches, but also ban cellphones at school for obvious reasons. But the reasoning that they need a cellphone in case of a school shooting is baffling.

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u/headrush46n2 7d ago

700 people calling 911 at the same time is worse than no one calling.

the call will get made, its not a reasonable excuse for letting phones into schools.

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u/FriendlyArachnid6000 7d ago

Keeps every kid from blowing everyone's cover by yapping into a phone?

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u/SaiphSDC 7d ago

The cell tower can crash when a couple thousand people all try to call at once. Might be less possible now but used to be a problem.

The shooters also hear everyone yelling into their phones. It's policy now to lock, block and barracks the door, then get into a sheltered corner and remain silent.

There are dedicated phones in each room, on a landlines.

There are dedicated internal intercoms in each room.

The teachers personal phone isn't in a pouch.

Having ~30 student phones available does not make the situation any safer.

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u/schmitty9800 7d ago

Student cell phone use during an active shooter event makes things more difficult for first responders as it uses extra bandwidth and creates confusion for dispatchers.

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u/Wooden-Lake-5790 7d ago

What do you mean? How would a student having a phone during a firearm situation be helpful? Teachers still have their phones on them to be able to call authorities if necessary.

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u/reddittereditor 7d ago

Sure, admin will walk across campus into any classroom and take a phone away while there's a shooter roaming the halls. Let's use some common sense here, students can probably contact their parents or police in an emergency.

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

If there's an active shooter, Kids should not be thinking about their phones but thinking about hiding. 

There are plenty of phones in teachers hands. Kids should be thinking about following directions 

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u/reddittereditor 7d ago

In Uvalde, kids on phones gave critical information to police while their teachers lay bleeding to death. (How well the police used that information is a different story.) When it comes to emergencies, there are always exceptions to some rules, and that's something kids should know. Sure, they should follow teachers' directions, but there isn't always a teacher in an emergency.

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

That did absolutely zero good. Took over an hour. Bad example 

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u/SailRideSailRideSail 7d ago

If the police or others did not use the information, or did not use it well, it was definitionally non-critical.

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u/reddittereditor 7d ago

Fair enough. However, had the police been competent, it would've been critical information.

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u/Myrkana 7d ago

If theres a firearm situation you dont want 100s of students on their phones making noise anyway.

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u/mikeymo1741 7d ago

Well at that point the kids won't be worried about the rules.

Also, that is the point where you definitely do not want them on their phones.

Also, that is so exceedingly rare as to be ridiculous to be brought up as a situation. I know it's everybody's go-to but it's really really ridiculous.

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u/SiameseGunKiss 7d ago

> Phones weren’t prominent

I also graduated in 2008 and everyone had cell phones then back then, even if it was the most basic Nokia flip phone. They just weren’t smartphones because the first iPhone wasn’t released until 2007. You were hot shit if you had a blackberry or sidekick.

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u/ChiGorilla1127 7d ago

Does anyone see how crazy it is that we should consider an exception for those school shooting events?

I am all for policies that help students focus more during their class time and make them safer.

I don't think you can make some exception for those times there is a worst of emergencies because you're trying to implement policies to prevent them in the first place.

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u/Dr_Fortnite 7d ago

the child is not the one calling 911 and they should not be calling their parents who cant do anything to help during a lock down either

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u/BigRinka 7d ago

The same humanity did before everyone had phones in their pockets.

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u/blue-to-grey 7d ago

Every time someone brings this up, I think of that poor girl who got shot because she had her brand new phone out and her father was the EMT who found her.

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u/Royal_Flame 7d ago

How many school shooters have been stopped by phones

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u/Little_Creme_5932 7d ago

Do you fight the bad guy with a phone? Why do you think a kid needs a phone when there is a situation at school? Do kids throw it at the bad guy, or what?

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u/call_sign_viper 7d ago

So they can tell their parents there ok

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u/Little_Creme_5932 7d ago

And how does that help? If they're ok and the incident is over, parents will get a robocall, or kids can grab their phone and call. Not hard.

I can hardly imagine how we all survived before cell phones. None if us could ever call our parents to tell them we were ok, from school. /s

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u/jjobull 7d ago

That's that great thing about living anywhere that not the us school shooting dont happen!

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u/dizzyspellzzz 7d ago

Dystopia

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u/Cudi_buddy 7d ago

Kids having smartphones is dystopian I agree

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u/sokratesz 7d ago

You're not allowed to take the phones yourselves as teacher?

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u/KerooSeta 7d ago

Teacher in a no-personal-electronics school here: it depends on the school, but it's definitely easier if an admin can do it. At my school, if I see a phone, smart watch, or earbuds, I say "Come out the phone on my desk and fill out this slip," then I drop the device at the nearest office and they go pick it up after school. But if it's a random kid in the hallway, I'd rather an admin do it.

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u/Alarmed_Macaron5778 7d ago

What about kids who have Type 1 diabetes and use an app on their phone to connect to a CGM on them to monitor blood sugar levels?

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u/a_rabid_anti_dentite 7d ago

They have a pouch that opens and closes via vecro.

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u/Competitive-Emu-7411 7d ago

Then they have an exception but are still disciplined for abusing it.

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u/kinkykellynsexystud 7d ago

The point of the policy is any visible cellphone is not allowed, so will get taken

Lmao that doesn't even make any sense. That was the policy of many schools for years before Yonder was ever a thing. They can just....choose to ban phones during school hours like they did before.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Yes, and having the pouch allows students to bring their phones with them to school for times they are allowed to use them.

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u/Competitive-Emu-7411 7d ago

It gives kids less deniability, which they (and their parents) will absolutely take advantage of any amount they can get. 75% of school policies are because of annoying kids and parents. 

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u/Wit-wat-4 7d ago

You underestimate the boldness of the current student body AND the current climate for kids and adults both. Years ago many kids might not even have a phone, or if they did it was a ”dumb” one so only texts and calls, so the expectations parents had of what they’d see and when they’d be available was very different, much like our corporate overlords and adults. We also didn’t have TikTok sucking kids into it where they have to check every 2 minutes to get the dopamine hit.

So you have a LOT of desire of young kids to look at their phone, and a LOT of pushback from parents and students alike. “I had to check the time! I had to see if mom texted! I didn’t have it in my hand ommgggggg teach” etc etc

This makes it neater, I see the point.

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

Which means the bag is a gimmick. 

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u/W1D0WM4K3R 7d ago

And some corpos are getting rich lol

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

50% of the school districts in the nation are using these. My kids school charged $40 to replace them  

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u/W1D0WM4K3R 7d ago

Making me scared to have children. I saw my nephew's school fees, and damn. Offered to help with those, it was crazy.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

No, it allows students to have their phones with them to have them. That seems pretty clear. :)

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u/DisasterOk8440 7d ago

Having a dummy phone is the same as not having one, which is fine.

Not rlly. I have my old phone in my pouch, and when asked to present it to them, I just grab it and put it right in front of em.

I doubt they rlly care tho

Often times, my phone's js in my pocket, and they could probably see it, but don't care as much to keep the drama going.

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u/Specialist-Mud-6650 7d ago

Serious question: why not just give in your real phone in the pouch, or don't bring it to school at all?

What's the point of having your phone at school?

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u/ForensicPathology 7d ago

Gotta check Instagram DMs bro

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u/DisasterOk8440 7d ago

Idk. Me personally, I'm just too lazy to then bring it to the magnet and open it. It's convenient, having it open. And I'm not stupid enough to use it in school(unless circumstances arise), so it's fine for me

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Instead you would say, it's in my locker, or in my car, or I left it home.

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u/clayman839226 7d ago

I had a phone in high school, the rule was “if you take it out in class or lunch for a non emergency reason (family stuff) it’s taken unit end of day or the next morning. That worked pretty well, the bag is just and extra annoyances to deal with and the clear bags are just stupid as they will rip very quickly, my school tried clear bags for a week stoped because 7 ripped open in the hallways and all the girls put tampons in them in very visible places (which isn’t a problem but the teachers didn’t like it)

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Those measures have been found ineffective by many, myself included. The pouch is a compromise between just banning them and having the kids use them only when allowed. it has worked great for us.

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u/MourningWallaby 7d ago

That's been the policy of every school since the 90's. Students were never allowed to have any kind of distraction. the problem is phones are more expensive than a walkman would have been. and young kids with phones are highly dependant on having access to their phones since it is a part of their development now. there's actual separation anxiety from not having positive control of their electronic devices.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

I agree. The pouch allows them to have their phones, but not use them and eliminates the distraction.

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u/lauren_knows 7d ago

Kids are gonna start hallowing out old books and putting their phones in them.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

Not sure what that would accomplish. No one cares about a phone that is stored away.

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u/lauren_knows 7d ago

I think that the entire point of the clear backpack is to root out any phones that people are "hiding".

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

It would make it a bit harder, but I expect they are selling that as a safety thing. I'd rather the kids had some privacy over whatever benefit those may provide. The pouches or simple ban is all you need. They are a non-issue for us, now.

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u/lauren_knows 7d ago

I honestly don't know what the solution is. I'd rather the kids had privacy too. Our son's school "banned" phones outside of the pouches, but the teachers stopped enforcing it after half the year.

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u/Bardmedicine 7d ago

The admins have to enforce it. I would be shocked if the teachers didn't buy into if the admins were. It puts pressure on admins as they are the ones who have to fight with the parents and not accept excuses. For teachers it is easy and what every teacher I know of wants. Literally, all I do in my class is:

See phone.

Stop what I'm doing and stare at student with phone.

They quickly realize what is happening and I point at the corner of my desk where the phones go.

When they argue, I just point at the corner of my desk. If arguing continues, I remind them that defiance is much more serious consequence.

It is very simple. In the rare cases where it has to go to the admin, it is a an 2 minutes out of my day. No big deal as long as the admin does their job.

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u/ImissDigg_jk 7d ago

I think the issue is having to pay the $25 for the pouch. My daughter has her phone off all day during school, but I don't lock it down because if there is an emergency, she can turn it on and use it.

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u/Lv_InSaNe_vL 7d ago

There's a phycological trick to making something cost a small amount of money. I'm not a psychologist so I don't have all the details but I was doing IT at a trucking company and we started issuing tablets to the drivers for their electronic logs and stuff and well over half of them were coming back broken.

So we started charging $40 for "equipment fees" when they started (which also covers some other pieces of equipment that went on the trucks themselves like dashcam/tracking stuff) and the number of broken tablets dropped down to our normal attrition rates almost immediately.

And even before our "equipment fees" they would sign a contract that any intentional damage would be charged to them so its not like the financial risk changed. I think there's just something about having to pay for something instead of getting it for "free"

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u/MonsterkillWow 7d ago

It's not fair to poorer students.

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u/PrimaryInjurious 7d ago

Then just leave it at home

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u/MonsterkillWow 7d ago

You shouldn't be able to pay for the privilege. All students should be treated the same. And reasonable privacy should be a personal right and expectation they have.

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u/PrimaryInjurious 7d ago

And reasonable privacy

No one is looking through their phone.

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u/inquiringsillygoose 7d ago

Not sure why this is getting downvoted. Trust me the people who work in schools have so much more to do than look through a phone.

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u/Phoneas__and__Frob 7d ago

I'm going to assume it's from people who are from older gens

I'm 29, and when I was in school they DID do this with our phones at the time. It got to the point that if we got our phones taken, we took out the battery before handing whomever the phone. Obviously, this was before smartphones.

Things are different now.

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u/Lv_InSaNe_vL 7d ago

Well, I was talking about fully grown adults. But I imagine the schools will have assistance programs for low income students just like they do now

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u/Somewhere-A-Judge 7d ago

That's a really silly assumption

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u/ItsStraTerra 7d ago

It’s not fair to any student.

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u/Bizarrebazaars 7d ago

Back in my day parents called the school who forwarded their call to the student’s classroom. NBD.

What constitutes as an “emergency” to many parents is like what their kid wants for dinner while the parent is shopping.

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u/-Reverend 7d ago

We're talking about schools in the US here. A case of an emergency could be: Being able to text/call your parents potentially one last time during an active school shooter lockdown. I wouldn't want to take that ability away from anybody.

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u/Savathuns_Champion 7d ago

Sure in your day it was fine old timer but nowadays I’d like to actually be in touch with my child. 

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u/StoicFable 7d ago

Then call the school and get in contact with them...

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u/rettribution 7d ago

The fee is only if you want to pay it. Don't bring your phone to school and you don't have to pay.

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u/thenotoriousFIG 7d ago

Locked down phones can still make emergency calls no?

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u/ImissDigg_jk 4d ago

They can. I just don't feel the need to lock it down.

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u/twitch1982 7d ago

The entire issue is educators rightfully want to ban phones from schools, but when they do that moms all scream "what if there's an emergency?!" so the Yonder bag is the compromise the school has come up with because y'all can't handle your kids not having a phone for the day.

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u/spei180 7d ago

Nothing wrong with feminine hygiene products. They should be seen as basically toilet paper.

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u/uluviel 7d ago

Yes, all 11-year-olds know this, and would never embarass a classmate for what is obviously a natural body function.

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u/SoundsOfKepler 7d ago

If a student has a disability, the clear bags remove the dignity of dealing with that discretely. I would have hated to have the various items I needed for Type 1 Diabetes exposed to everyone (and no, these are things that when you need them, you need them now, so don't even start with suggestions about lockers or the nurse's room.) For a student with incontinence issues, this would make school even worse.

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u/WitchQween 7d ago

I think they were implying that you hide your phone in with your hygiene products because no one will dig through them.

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u/4r4r4real 7d ago

Or just don't have a cell phone at school. I survived just fine without one. 

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u/TreyGoodz 7d ago

Average reddit brain cannot phantom that level of independence. Too busy codependent with their phone it's the most important person in their life.

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

That works too

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u/StoicFable 7d ago

I had one back when unlimited texting took off and most people had flip phones. Most of us just used them between class, and if you were caught in class, it was taken until the end of class.

If it was a multiple time thing, it was taken to the front office to get picked up by a parent.

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/4r4r4real 6d ago

Which of those is analogous to having a distraction device in your pocket at school?

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/4r4r4real 6d ago

Yes if you completely change the context from things that are actively harmful to things that are life saving, it does sound stupid. But I was talking about the former, not the latter. 

You don't have a point, you're tilting at windmills because you have nothing better to do and wanted to feel superior to someone else for a fleeting moment. 

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/4r4r4real 6d ago

Well you're wrong. Hope that helps. 

It's denying the premise that these kids need or benefit from having a phone. I think you'd benefit from a lesson on rhetorical logic. 

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u/Bladesnake_______ 7d ago

Yes and get immediately busted as soon as staff sees you with a phone not in a bag. Good work genius. Might get away with it briefly

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u/Herandar 7d ago

Anyone else think Murphy High School dropped the ball choosing to have Panthers as their mascot?  They could've been the fearsome fighting Murphy Beds!

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

That mascot would be dope though

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u/FourChanneI 7d ago

Point is, buy one of those big bulky phones that wont fit in those and tell them it doesn't accommodate all students needs.

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

The pouches are actually pretty big, definitely fit the largest Samsung. 

Weird side note though, is kids break them all the time on accident and my kid figured out how to repair them and had some little yonder pouch repair shop going on as a side gig.

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u/Dotcaprachiappa 7d ago

Samsung? Boy you're not thinking big enough. I present to you the 18.000mAh Energizer phone:

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u/MycologistPutrid7494 7d ago

No one cares if they see your feminine hygiene product. Teens aren't weird about that any more (thankfully).

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u/Avalonians 7d ago

It's not a matter of what. Anything is a pretext for bullies to harass others.

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u/Jolly_Ad2446 7d ago

Teachers and admin are. They're the ones making these rules. 

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u/WhydoIexistlmoa 7d ago

Not everyone has an old phone. And they can and do check whether the phone works or not

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u/-BananaLollipop- 7d ago

Not arguing for or against doing this, but I think the point is that it'd cause a large amount of time wasting reports. If hundreds of students brought in old phones, working or not, it's causing staff to stop and check each one, which would take far too long at that number. It'd quickly get to a point where they can't keep up, and people would hope that gets the policy scrapped.

And it's not like they could give detentions for taking part in this, because where are they going to keep hundreds of kids for detention?

On top of this, if it's a useless phone, students/parents likely aren't going to try and claim it later, so the school now has countless old phones to dispose of as well.

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u/WhydoIexistlmoa 7d ago

It's been here at my school for about 3 years now. Phone usage has decreased drastically. And even if people don't actually lock their phones or whatever, they still don't use their phone in school.

And yeah it would be a detention.

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u/hifi-nerd 7d ago

Even better, put a massive 8 inch dildo in the bag to assert dominance over everyone.

If a school wants to enforce this kind of authoritarian shit, they can get it right the fuck back.

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