The primary idea of using YONDR in schools is to remove the potential for student distraction by locking their phones away from them. That way, students will engage with their teachers and each other, having been liberated form the tyranny of their small screens. Of course, in order for this to be true, their phones would have to be the only distraction that they face. Likewise, this argument presupposes that students are not engaging with each other. Finally, in order for this to be valid it must be the case that forcing a student’s attention is the answer to greater learning in comprehension. Of course, none of these things are true at all!
A good teacher respects their students, and their students respond in kind. A good teacher, one that can engage and teach students, can command the attention of students. They do this in the face of many distractions, not just the phone. Here, we see teachers using phones as scapegoats, because the converse is true. If a teacher can capture and hold the respect and attention of their students, that teacher is performing poorly. It is simply not the fault of students if teachers cannot perform well enough to hold their focus.
