Las Vegas District to Use Signal-Blocking Cell Phone Pouches in 2024-25

Student-indulged cellular technology is the kudzu vine that is eating up the learning environment.

It’s a hard fight: Trying to educate generations that are becoming increasingly dependent upon having technology constantly in ears and at fingertips.

Constantly.

Constantly.

According to federal law, use of cell signal jamming devices is against the law in the United States, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports:

The use of a phone jammer, GPS blocker, or other signal jamming device designed to intentionally block, jam, or interfere with authorized radio communications is a violation of federal law.  There are no exemptions for use within a business, classroom, residence, or vehicle.  Local law enforcement agencies do not have independent authority to use jamming equipment; in certain limited exceptions use by Federal law enforcement agencies is authorized in accordance with applicable statutes.

It is also unlawful to advertise, sell, distribute, import, or otherwise market jamming devices to consumers in the United States.

So, how might K12 school officials help combat the invasion of cellular technologies into the classroom learning environment?

Well, this is interesting: One Las Vegas school district is instituting signal-blocking pouches into its school day routine beginning in 2024-25. From the March 21, 2024, WBTV.com:

The Clark County School District said starting in the 2024–2025 school year, it will require students in grades 6-12 to use non-locking, signal-blocking pouches for their phones.

According to a statement from CCSD, the process began in February with a pilot program comprised of approximately 10% of district schools. The remainder will begin using them in August.

“These new devices prevent and reduce distractions in the classroom, allowing for a productive learning environment and increasing student focus on instruction. These non-locking pouches will be placed in classroom areas for student accessibility in emergencies,” CCSD said.

In a letter to parents this week, Green Valley High School Principal Kent Roberts called the rollout “an innovative solution that will significantly contribute to the safety and wellbeing of students in our school.”

Roberts said each student will place their phone in a pouch during class time. They will have access to their phones between classes and at lunch.

The phones will be placed in “a safe location in close proximity to the student within the classroom” and can be used in emergencies.

Roberts also cited specific benefits of the pouches, including “minimizing academic dishonesty, reducing distractions, and encouraging responsible device use and limiting concerns with social media accounts.”

From WBTV.com; pouches by Yondr

As the years pass, generations are becoming less and less accustomed to being comfortable without constant access to electronic devices. About fifteen years ago– when the big draw was still flip-phones and texting during class sans internet– I took a student’s flip phone from her for her habit of texting during class, and she told me that she experienced the anxiety of withdrawal for the mere hours that she was without her phone.

That was in 2008– pre-internet, pre-Snapchat, pre-Tiktok– and already teens were being primed for phone addiction.

The year 2008 was also pre-earbud– the easily-hidden device that exacerbates the challenge of harnessing student attention and focusing said attention on the critical work of teaching and learning.

I wonder what price today’s teens will be paying when they are my age (mid-fifties) for having experienced decades of daily use of those little stereo speakers incessantly plugging their ears, including damaged hearing and even possibly rewiring the brain in ways that make willfully focusing one’s attention more challenging that it would otherwise be.

I haven’t even touched on the use of iPhones for cheating and cyberbullying.

Don’t get me wrong: I appreciate technology, including the computer and wireless enabling me to compose this post with ease and making it instantly available via a single click to readers around the globe. However, as is true for living life in general, balance is key, and that balance necessitates creative solutions for combating the ever-present classroom interruption presented by modern personal, mobile, communication technology.

To this end, the likes of signal-blocking cell phone pouches might just become the norm in school districts nationwide.

We’ll see.

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