RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Educators across the state of Arkansas are adjusting to the generational shift of cell phones and their effects on the youth.
This is their attempt to bring back the concentration and work on saying goodbye to the notifications. The spark to take action all started with a push from Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders during the summer.
Gov. Sanders launched the pilot program as a way to deal with what she referred to as a youth mental health crisis.
Through the initiative, schools across Arkansas can receive grant money to buy pouches for students to put their phones up when class is in session.
The Russellville School District is one of the schools that is already a few months into implementing this policy.
"We've always technically been a phone-free campus, but this year the pouches gave us another layer of support there," said Matt Kords Meier, the principal of Russellville Junior High School.
Nick Mounts who is the principal at Russellville High School and Kords Meier both say that they have already seen a difference in students.
Mounts also understands that though it is a difficult transition, it is one that is much needed.
"We're an information-driven, social media-driven, phone-driven, society, and a lot of people can handle that and for a lot of adolescents, especially the junior high and the high school level, it's too much," he described.
There are nearly 1300 sophomore through senior students attending Russellville High School and Mounts said they have a pouch for every one of them.
The state pays for the pouches but it's the schools that come up with how to implement them. However, with every policy, comes consequences for not following it.
In Russellville, students will have to pay $30 to replace a pouch if it is damaged or lost and repeated offenses could even land them in in-school suspension.
While there are some parents who feel that the policy is too strict, Kords Meier said that there are also many who understand.
"It does cost money. It's like their computers, if they destroy their computer, they lose a computer, and others we've got to have some sort of reimbursement for that," he described.
At the high school, they already experienced their first damaged pouch, and school officials say the parents handled the situation well.
"We notified the parent, and the parent was very receptive to that and understood that it is school property at this point. Their student has been charged with taking care of that," Mounts said.
Mounts and Kords Meier both know it's been an adjustment for everyone involved and they will continue to look at the program throughout the year.
"We'll talk about the pros and the cons of what [has] worked and what hasn't worked. We'll make changes going forward based on that data" Mounts said.
Both say the challenges are worth it knowing how students have already been responding to the change.
"As a whole, our number of referrals has gone down already, and so I see more engagement in our classroom going on as well," Mounts added.