Yondr Pouches. 

Everyone’s familiar with the infamous pouches that hold your phone hostage during the school day. The simple gray and green design has definitely imprinted itself into everyone’s mind. 

Mixed reactions have been voiced by students, some positive, some negative, and some somewhere in the middle. No matter how you look at it, Yondr Pouches have had a unique place in the Tenor High School experience. 

Teachers themselves have had their own reactions to these cotton pouches, and have voiced their positive reception towards them.

Positive opinions have been voiced about these pouches, as far between as they have been. The one student that I did manage to track down that did have a positive opinion about the pouches made some good points in a respectful way.

One sophomore, who preferred to stay anonymous had this to say, “To be honest most of the students here are just straight up lazy and just stubborn. The students just want to use their phones because they say school is boring and “what if there is an emergency”? etc. The yondr pouches are there so the students don’t get distracted and focus on their academic life. I don’t have a problem with yondr pouches, it’s an easy rule to follow. One of the reasons the school has been very strict about yondr pouches and backpack checking is because the students couldn’t just follow simple rules. I don’t care if students get their phone taken away. I just don’t like how my backpack has to be searched for exactly that reason.”

Somewhere in the middle, there have been students that have pointed out that Yondr pouches can have a positive and negative effect, and that there are pros and cons to them being implemented. 

One such student, who remained anonymous, a sophomore said, “I don’t really have a problem with Yondr pouches, I don’t really care that they’re used. The only thing I would change about them, is that instead of unlocking your phone on the first floor at the end of the day, you would be able to unlock them in your last class of the day.” 

A sophomore, Christiano Olmedo said, “I don’t think it is required for everyone to use the pouch. I think it could be something for the students that use it as a distraction. Maybe if teachers had some on hand so they can take the phone if it’s becoming distracting.” 

A third source, who preferred to also remain anonymous, a freshman said, “I don’t really care about the Yondr pouches. It’s just a precaution after all and those that do care, if you pay attention, just want to use their phones.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those students who have a negative opinion towards these pouches, and they’ve been vocal about their displeasement of the little pouches. They point the negatives to the Yondr pouches and why they are either ineffective or inconvenient. 

One student, who preferred to say anonymous, J.D, said, “Personally, I don’t like the Yondr pouches because instead of using Yondr pouches, we should use one of those shoe sorting racks, where students can each place their phones in during class, and then students would be allowed to use their phones in lunch and study hall, since lunch isn’t an actual class, and study hall can be boring when students are done with their work.” 

A sophomore, Jose Avilia had this to say about Yondr pouches, “I think that it’s very unnecessary and the school staff will say that phones are distracting when it’s really not. In summer school, students were good at not bringing their phones out during class and teachers didn’t have a problem with them.”

Yondr pouches, whether you hate them or love them, they’re a thing that seems like it’s going to be sticking around for the remainder of your high school experience. 

Yondr pouches were introduced last year as a way for phones to not become a distraction for students while in class. 

Students were vocal about their opinions towards them, and while a lot of the people that I asked had negative things to say about them, there were a few that had something positive to say about them, and voiced their opinion about them, and ways that their usage could be improved upon.