Walla Walla locks down cellphone use in its middle schools

It’s back-to-school season. Which means new classes, new books — and new debates about how to manage students and their phones. 

In Walla Walla, the city’s two middle schools are trying to lock the issue down by distributing cloth phone pouches to every student. 

The pouches, which lock magnetically, are made by a company called Yondr. According to the company, its products are used by more than 3,000 schools in 21 countries. In total, Walla Walla’s school district purchased around 1,100 pouches at a cost of $30 each. 

Now, every morning, the district’s middle schoolers are expected to lock their phones, smartwatches and earbuds into their Yondr pouches. When they leave school in the afternoon, they unlock the pouches with large magnets placed at the exits. The devices look like the ones that remove security tags from clothes.

Though Walla Walla’s middle schools have technically banned cellphones for years, students have long found ways to skirt the rules. And teachers like Kim Spanish-Endres have been managing the blowback. 

“My goodness, by the time they get to eighth grade, it’s just kind of a daily, like, having kids put phones away,” said Endres, who teaches language arts at Garrison Middle School. “Kids go into the restrooms to use the phone. They’re just out of class a lot, and out of class for significant amounts of time.”

Endres knows kids will find ways to hack the pouches, too. But she’s hoping that maybe, just maybe, putting most phones away will start a culture shift at the schools.

Because the buzzes aren’t just distracting. They’re also having an impact on mental health.

“We’re seeing a major increase in anxiety,” said Kris Duncan, the principal of Pioneer Middle School. “We’re seeing a major increase in depression, in suicidal ideation, in harassment, intimidation and bullying. And so much of it happens over the phones.” 

Duncan hopes the pouches will curb a recent uptick in unwanted behaviors, such as students meeting in bathrooms to fight and sharing the videos. Or students taking surreptitious photos of others, then posting them on Instagram accounts like “Pioneer Uglies.” 

“Phones are a safe place to be unkind,” Duncan said. “There’s an anonymity around that, where you can text something that you would never actually say in person.” 

If the schools can reduce cyberbullying and similar behaviors, Duncan is confident that students will not only be happier, but will also have more bandwidth to focus on learning. 

“When a kid does not feel safe, or when they are worried about what’s gonna happen at lunch, or what is this person saying about me, academic growth is not happening,” she said. 

Walla Walla is not alone in its efforts. More than a dozen states have passed laws that restrict phone use in schools or recommend that districts create their own policies. 

Jacqueline Nesi is a clinical psychologist who teaches at Brown University and writes Techno Sapiens, a newsletter about tech and parenting. She said there is some evidence that phone bans may improve academic outcomes. Whether they can help mental health is less clear.  

“We’re looking for sort of what’s the one thing we can change, in an inexpensive, quick way, and hopefully that solves it,” she said. “But really I think any effort to address mental health challenges has to be comprehensive.”

Nesi said phone restrictions are a good first step. But she said administrators must look at their school’s climate and mental health services, too. 

“A policy that bans cellphones without addressing any other factors certainly could make a difference,” she said. “But it’s probably not going to be enough to really move the needle when it comes to mental health.” 

In order for phone bans to work, Nesi said parents must also be on board. And that’s not as easy as you might think. In a recent survey, the National Parents Union found that less than a third of parents support blanket phone bans. 

Keri Rodrigues, the organization’s co-founder, said that’s because parents want to be able to contact their children, especially during lockdowns or other safety incidents. 

Rodrigues thinks schools should be teaching kids to manage their devices — not abstain from them. “I often equate it to sex ed, to be honest with you,” she said. “Is it easier to tell kids just don’t have sex? Sure.” 

But Rodrigues said phone-abstinence policies don’t help students when the bell rings and they get their devices back. “In an evolving society and in a modern context, these are some of the skills that we should actually be looking to impart on kids so that they can better regulate into the future,” she said. 

In Walla Walla, Duncan said the feedback from parents has been “overwhelmingly positive” so far. She hopes it stays that way. 

“Once it becomes the norm, kids will recognize the benefit of it,” she said. “But what’s most important is that they hear the same message from all of the adults in their lives: ‘This matters, you’re going to follow it, it is an expectation.’ As soon as kids get mixed messages, that’s where we start to have problems.” 

The middle schoolers, meanwhile, aren’t on board yet. 

“It’s generally unpopular,” said Jeg Holbrook, an eighth grader. “I’ve heard many people either complain or say that it’s stupid.” 

Holbrook is an exception to the rule: He actually likes the pouches. Holbrook feels like his peers are less anxious about photos being taken and posted without their permission. 

“I’ve seen a bunch of people feeling probably more safe around school,” he said. 

One other consequence of the phone pouches? One aide reported that the lunch room is louder. Because kids are, you know, talking to each other.