At least 160 schools in NSW are using lockable pouches to store students’ phones during school hours, up from 100 schools in 2022. The company that provides the pouches, Yondr, said Wauchope High School in the state’s Mid North Coast was the first school to use the pouches in 2019 and demand has risen quickly.
Other public high schools to start using the pouches last year include Davidson High School, Killarney Heights and Chifley College Senior Campus High School. Schools that use Yondr pouches require students to put phones in a pouch that, once closed, cannot be reopened without breaking a lock.
The Yondr phone wallet in use.Credit:Scott Krueger
Despite many principals warning about students’ increasing dependence on screens, the issue of total phone bans has been the topic of fierce debate for years. The 2018 review into mobiles in schools led to a ban on mobiles in primary schools, but left high schools with the option to decide if students use them during class or in the playground.
Some teachers and principals have argued that students should be taught to use their phones responsibly, and that outright bans should be avoided. There is also a lack of conclusive evidence on the issue.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said a one-size-fits-all approach to mobile phones in high schools is not practical.
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“We cannot ignore the role technology plays in our lives, and it is important that high school students learn how to use devices responsibly,” she said.
A NSW Department of Education survey conducted in 2018 found 70 percent of high schools had implemented full mobile phone restrictions, and 30 percent had implemented either partial or no restrictions.
Head of the Secondary Principals Council Craig Petersen said the choice around phone bans should be left up to principals. “But if a school decides to ban them, the NSW Department of Education should back them in.”
“Yondr pouches are also expensive, so it does depend on the schools’ capacity to spend that money that could be used for other things,” he said.
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The psychologist who led the review into mobile phone use in schools, Michael Carr-Gregg, told the Herald last year a blanket ban was more urgent than ever after years of academic disruption and soaring screen use during the pandemic.
Carr-Gregg said the pandemic fallout has put mounting pressure on governments to do “everything in their power” to increase students’ ability to learn and socialize away from the distraction of technology.
Minns said a blanket policy across the board would be easier to enforce and create a level playing field between students across schools.
“Parents right across the state have told me about the impact devices like smartphones are having on their kids’ learning and mental health. In the classroom, teachers don’t know if students are looking up a Shakespeare quote or watching a video on TikTok,” Minns said.
Parent and vice-president of Randwick Boys High P&C Katja Klikauer said she thought phone bans had huge benefits, mainly around cutting distractions in class.
“Kids used to just stare at their phones before Randwick brought in the ban. With phones away the students said they were playing more, boys are playing basketball during lunch, and just chatting to each other more,” Klikauer said.
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