On September 2nd, Jackson-Reed implemented the district-wide device ban, a DC policy which restricts all DCPS students access to cell phones and personal electronic communication devices during the entire school day.
The policy, introduced by DC Councilmember Brooke Pinto, is referred to as the “Pinto Phone Bill” and has been enacted with intent to reduce device related distractions in classrooms to enhance overall learning experience. It links the District’s recent low levels of test scores in literacy and math to cell phone usage. This policy was initially announced on June 6th, 2025 after being introduced by Pinto earlier in the year.
While this new federal law is enforced in all DCPS schools, it allows each school to choose how to implement the policy to account for the differences in DCPS schools.
At JR, the administration has chosen to enforce the policy with Yondr pouches. While DCPS created this policy as a tool to disconnect students from the online world and improve academic focus, students and teachers appear to have strikingly different responses concerning this ban. Students are concerned with the logistics of attending school without a phone, while teachers are focused on the overall impact of phones on learning.
Many concerns amongst students stem from the process of locking and unlocking pouches, which are described as excessive and not well thought out. Junior Naomi Moreira expresses how difficult it is to leave the school at the end of the day, when 1700+ students are attempting to unlock their pouches, “exiting school is horrible, everyone is so greedy to get their phones back.”
These kinds of difficulties have been felt across the entire school; “Yondr checking lines have caused students to be late,” Freshman Miles Heyman says. Senior Katalina Burris agrees, expressing the difficulties in getting to class because “each individual pouch has to be checked.”
This overwhelmingly negative student response has been furthered by the many safety concerns JR students hold about losing access to phones. It is a widely held student belief that in the event of an emergency, JR does not have the resources to quickly allow students to contact their families. Senior Lily Oshtry comments on the lack of transparency and communication between DCPS staff and the actual student body. Oshtry remembers hearing that, “there are going to be landline phones on each floor,” but hasn’t actually seen any evidence of this.
Oshtry also expresses frustration about this policy as a senior in high school; describing how overcontrolling the policy feels, especially as many seniors are close to – if not already – legal adults. Oshtry argued that, if someone is using their phone irresponsibly, “ that’s their problem, we should be able to manage it ourselves and act responsibly at this point.”
Students like Heyman, Burris, and Arisha Sheikh have all described no increased socializing amongst other students as well. Sophomore Kelsey Werth mentioned that many educational websites on the school provided computers are blocked, which makes learning harder in some ways.
On the other hand, AP Biology teacher Ms. Munoz views the phone ban positively, discussing, “They are socializing with their peers on a regular basis instead of getting lost in their devices,” she continues, “I have even noticed that the number of times students ask to go to the bathroom, and the length of time in which they are gone has dramatically diminished because they can’t go and be on their phones.” She notes the clarity of this policy, stating that “this information has been rolled out to families, starting at the end of last school year, and is a great move by the district to communicate so early on.”
Munoz also discusses the former Yondr policy, which existed for the 2018-2019 school year. During this classrooms were given Yondr pouches for each student to put their phone in at the start and end of class, which quickly failed. She describes how this new policy has done a more efficient job at controlling phone usage as a uniform policy conducted by DCPS. In 2018, this policy was done only by Jackson-Reed, which placed responsibility upon teachers that ended up taking away from teaching. “Teachers were in charge of locking and unlocking pouches, and fighting or arguing with students. This centralized system in which students now put phones away upon entering and leaving is so much easier to manage.”
Reactions from other DCPS schools vary: at Banneker High School, a phone policy has existed for a number of years. Senior Riley Mitchell at Banneker describes how she doesn’t mind the phone policy, since it has become the school standard. Instead of Yondr pouches, Banneker uses designated phone “lockers” where students must place devices before entering school security.
Mitchell has seen benefits in this policy, stating, “It’s hard not to notice the decline of simple human interaction these days: people are unable to have a conversation without at least part of their attention devoted to their phones. There is only so much time in the day, and I believe that the cell phone policy helps me and my peers focus on the things that matter most, which are the people around you.”