Dunkirk’s secondary schools principal said recently a pouch-locking policy for cell phones is improving instruction and socialization — even though hundreds of kids aren’t using the pouches.

Josh Tedone told the Dunkirk Board of Education during a discussion about the policy, adopted in September, “On any given day there’s a few hundred students that don’t turn in a phone because we chart that. …I think we really need to just stick with the course and also be open to changing ideas to make this work throughout the school year.”

He said vandalism of the Yondr pouches, a problem early on, has “died down.” However, “some of the students (still) don’t want to put their phones in their pouches. It is a struggle every day.”

Tedone acknowledged that some students hide their cell phones in their lockers. “If it’s out of sight, and out of mind, at this point I’m OK with that, because we’re winning what the objective is, which is not having the phones out during instruction.”

Responding to a question on the setup of the pouch system, Tedone said, “Every homeroom has a clear bin with the amount of pouches they would need if every student was present, and then students are putting their phones in the pouch.” The pouches are unlocked during the final period of the school day so the students can retrieve their phones.

Tedone and Superintendent Michael Mansfield both touted positive effects of the pouch system.

“I can watch the halls here with kids walking and talking in the halls again,” Mansfield said. He said he overheard someone, who did recognize the superintendent, claiming their granddaughter was happy with the cell phone policy.

“You see the communication and the laughter, even the mischief with students that wasn’t always there,” Tedone said. “It is challenging to watch, as a parent and as an educator, that device right in the kids’ hands at all times.”

He later added, “Overall, you’re getting, in my opinion, a building where there’s a higher emphasis on the phones being put away, a higher emphasis on socialization, and I think most importantly, an emphasis on phones away during instruction. Phones have no place in a classroom during instruction.”

Tedone noted, “You can’t go to a (Bills) game without your phone, you can’t walk in the door without your phone. I buy gas with my phone now… it’s a way of life, but at the same time, I think there’s a responsibility and a maturity that come from knowing when to put that away. I don’t want students to leave here and be surprised when their employers don’t want them on their phone.”

“We’ve had good feedback from employers in the area,” Mansfield asserted. “They say, ‘Thank you for doing this because that carries on when they do work.'”

At one point during the discussion, Board President Kenneth Kozlowski whined a bit about the OBSERVER’s coverage, complaining that Dunkirk’s pouch system is brought up in every article about another school district’s cell phone policies. “It’s very frustrating,” he said.

Tedone said, “This is not a knock on any other district… but I think it’s easy to not try it. It’s a lot of work to try it.”

“Oh, it’ll be in the paper,” Kozlowski responded. “That’s fine. I’m frustrated with them using us as the whipping boys for everyone else. I’m just tired of it.”