Promote Equity, Safety, and Phone-Free Schoolwide Proactively
April 20, 2024
“A Middle School in Modesto, CA recently purchased Safe Pouch to foster phone-free for 7th and 8th Grade.”
Disclaimer: We don't mention specific school' names because we respect their privacy.
March 21, 2024
“A District in Virginia begin piloting Safe Pouch in a School.”
Disclaimer: We don't mention specific school' names because we respect their privacy.
March 05, 2024
“An academy in Detroit, Michigan purchased Safe Pouch to create a Phone-free School.”
Disclaimer: We don't mention specific school' names because we respect their privacy.
Demo at Conferences
Unregulated phone use in schools disproportionately affects high-risk students, leading to a significant increase in cyberbullying, fights, sleep deprivation, classroom disruptions, disciplinary issues, depression, anxiety, isolation, substance abuse, self-harm, and many other issues.
It's More Than A Distractions
Limited Time Promotion
ONE-TIME PURCHASE | $12-$15 per Pouch
No Annual Fees | 60-Day Free Unlimited Repair
Unlimited Repair Plan: $1.5 per Pouch per Year
Disclaimer: This book is for reference only. The author neither supports nor endorses Safe Pouch in any way.
Smartphone is Not Just A Distraction
Evident in The Anxious Generation, the pervasive use of phones can lead to lifelong and generational impacts on students' mental and physical health while also contributing to unsafe, inequitable, and ineffective school environments.
Regulating phone use in schools requires more than just having a phone-free policy or law; it needs the right tools and strategies to proactively create a phone-free environment for all students.
Safe Pouch is a low-cost and impactful investment in every student's learning with immediate measurable outcomes.
High School and Middle School Effective Implementation
Organization and Distribution
-
Number and store Tier 1 Blue Safe Pouches in 27-gallon bins.
-
Number and assign all classrooms a Blue Pouch magnet and an Orange Safe Pouch.
-
Give all Campus Supervisors, Administrators, and other Supporting Staff an Orange Pouch.
Maintenance and Repair
-
WASHABLE: Lock the pouch and machine wash it in COLD wash and DETERGENT. AIR DRY OUTSIDE ONLY.
-
Reduce Cost: Encourage parents to purchase their children a pouch, personalize it, and use it for many years.
Should schools check out Blue Pouches for all students to take home and bring to school daily? We Don’t Recommend It. It’s easier to ask a few campus supervisors to collect the pouches from a few collection bins after school than to ask hundreds to thousands of students to bring their pouches daily. Also, students will have many tools at home to damage their pouches. If your school wants to do it, we have added a solution to prevent students from forgetting or damaging their pouches. (If students forget, lose, or damage their pouches, they can borrow the Orange Safe Pouch by exchanging it with their student ID. They can return it after school to get their ID back at the Main Office)
Daily Arrival Process
ARRIVAL: Upon entering the school, students TURN OFF their phones, show them to a staff member, and pouch them up along with their smartwatches.
ALTERNATIVE ARRIVAL TASK: Students pick up a pouch, turn off their phones, and lock it up themselves. (When there is a long line/bad weather)
Proactive Teacher Tier 1 Interventions: First-period teachers double-check their students' pouches through the hole as they greet them at the door or the beginning of class.
Proactive Schoolwide Tier 2 Interventions with Orange Safe Pouch
If a staff member catches any student with their devices out, they lock up the devices in a Tier 2 Orange Safe Pouch. The staff member retains the students’ IDs and hands them to the Office. These students must wait in line at the Main Office and “answer a reflection question” to request a staff member to unlock the pouch so they can retrieve their IDs.
DISMISSAL: After school, teachers unlock the pouches, collect the school pouches, and return them to the bins at the Main Office or nearby designated pick-up areas. They collect any damaged pouches, including students’ personal pouches, and report students who have lost or damaged their pouches, charging parents for repairs ($5) and replacements ($15). Students will get their personal pouches back after they have paid for repair and their pouches are repaired. Meanwhile, they borrow the school pouches daily or buy a new pouch.
“I don’t have a phone": Students either have a parent’s written note or go through a non-contact check of their backpacks and pockets. They lock up earbuds, smartwatches, or other distracting items.
“I refuse to pouch up my phones or go through a non-contact security check.” It’s now a different type of discipline problem
Students bring magnet school: Make it part of your school policy that any magnet brought to school will be confiscated and not returned.
“I forgot or damaged my pouch” (only when you check out all the pouches for students to take home and bring daily): Students turn in their student ID as collateral to borrow an Orange Safe Pouch. They return the pouch after school to get their IDs back.
Teachers abuse the magnets and unlock pouches for students for noneducational or emergency uses: The administrator reviews the school and district’s phone policies with teachers.
Challenges and Solutions
DISMISSAL: After school, teachers unlock the pouches, collect the school pouches, and return them to the bins at the Main Office or nearby designated pick-up areas. They collect any damaged pouches, including students’ personal pouches, and report students who have lost or damaged their pouches, charging parents for repairs ($5) and replacements ($15). Students will get their personal pouches back after they have paid for repair and their pouches are repaired. Meanwhile, they borrow the school pouches daily or buy a new pouch.
Elementary School Effective Implementation
Why? Districts that start early in elementary schools help establish expectations and skills early on to mitigate problems in middle school and high school. Most importantly, the Tier 2 Orange Safe Pouch redefines PBIS to be proactive, immediate, and effective.
Organization and Maintenance: It’s much easier in elementary schools because the students have the same teachers for the entire day. Number and give your teachers a class set of Blue Safe Pouches, 1 Magnet, and 1 Orange Safe Pouch.
ARRIVAL: The teacher locks students’ phones in their assigned pouches, which they keep in their backpacks.
DISMISSAL: After school, teachers unlock the pouches and collect them for tomorrow's use.
Many Benefits of Orange Safe Pouch
By having a Tier 2 Orange Safe Pouch in all classrooms and on every campus supervisor and administrator, all staff members can enforce immediate “positive consequences” to proactively prevent and reduce tardiness, cyberbullying, fights, bullying, defiance, and chronic absences.
Schools can redefine traditional discipline by adding Orange Pouch to counseling, detention, and suspension. They can also provide an alternative “positive consequence” for minor infractions before conflicts escalate among students.
Transform School Discipline and PBIS
Feedback for Educators
“My principal was very supportive of the no phone policy in my classroom and he purchased a class set for my classroom. Since I have implemented the pouches, I have seen a difference in my students’ grades. They are more focused and they are actually paying attention in class. My students know that once they get 80% or better or their assignment, then I will unlock their phones. It gives them a reason to work hard for their phones. Their grades have improved tremendously. I wish that I would have had these phone pouches a long time ago.”
Ms. Silvestrini’s Piloted in Her High School Math Class
