Lancashire school makes bold move to go phone-free with new technology

A Lancashire secondary school is rolling out technology aimed at reducing cyber bullying, anxiety and phone addiction.

Tarleton Academy has invested in Yondr pouches, to ensure all students are distraction free throughout the duration of the school day. It's an American technology, currently used at around 250 UK schools; that's less than 1% of the total number of schools in Britain.

What is a Yondr pouch?

The Yondr wallets are fitted with a magnetic locking system to seal devices inside. Students carry them with them for the duration of the school day and phones can only be accessed when they're tapped on specialised unlocking stations. They're similar in style to those which release security tags in shops.

Pupils will release their phones at home time, or in the event of an emergency.

Tarleton Academy head teacher Scott Parker told us it's about protecting our young people:

"I've talked about needing to be brave and bold, in the best interest of our students and I fundamentally believe that mobile phones and social media, whilst they are going to be part of our lives, we have to better train our young people to use the technology that is at their fingertips.

"All students will be issued with a Yondr pouch as part of their standard equipment, they take it home and bring it back to school with them. On arrival to school they will take out their phone and pop it in to the Yondr pouch and it will be clicked closed. Each morning that will be checked by a member of staff. Students won't have access to their phone throughout the day and then, at the end of the day, students tap the phone on the unlocking station and the phone will be released. "

Why is this needed?

Mr Parker continued: "Whilst you won't typically see students walking around our building with phones out, we're seeing a rise in anxiety and mental ill health, and a lot of that comes from students spending a huge amount of time on social media. But also, we see the impact of students who, through the use of social media, can send some really hurtful messages.

"Typically that would be happening in the community, outside of school, but that leaks into school every day. We spend a huge amount of time with our pastoral teams picking up the pieces in school, and making sure that students feel safe, comfortable and confident whilst with us."

The national picture

Recent research by the children's commissioner revealed around 90% of secondary schools have some form of policy in place to restrict phone use, but only 3.5% have introduced a complete ban.

Mr Parker hopes the benefits of a phone-free environment will soon be felt across the whole school:

"The use of the Yondr Pouches means students are hopefully going to be weaned off their phones and become less addicted to social media, doom scrolling and using phones as a standard part of school equipment.

"We have a phones off and away policy currently, but we're not naïve enough to think that students aren't using phones when teachers are out of sight, and it comes back to the idea of addiction. We know as adults that when our phone vibrates, there's that urge to want to look at it - and that's the bigger impact in school. "

How have parents reacted?

The idea was communicated to students in assembly this week, and the academy has been in touch with parents to answer any questions they may have.

The pouches will be handed to each student at the start of the Winter term in 2025, which is when usage will commence. Mr Parker continued:

"Our community has really got behind the project. We've invited parents to presentation evenings and they've been hugely onboard. We've had some really well thought through questions around policy and procedures, like what happens in the case of an emergency? We've thought through all of those scenarios in partnership with the schools that have already implemented Yondr, to make sure that we're on the front foot for all eventualities.

"We know that adults spend, on average, five hours a day on their phones, and research suggests it's seven hours for young people. If you average that out over someone's lifespan; that's 22 years spent on a phone - and for me that's too much.

"We know that our young people have an addiction to their phones and we know that their brains are still developing. We're not just going to do what all other school have done, we're going to stand out and we're going to take a bold decision that's a hard one to take, but is in the best interest fundamentally of our students."

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