At least one Kansas district is projecting $150,000 to $180,000 just to equip secondary students with individual phone lockers, according to the Wichita Eagle. The state provided zero dedicated funding. Every dollar comes from local budgets.
Districts choosing fabric locking pouches — think Yondr, the magnetic-lock system concert venues use to keep audiences present — face an estimated $30 per unit. Statewide, the Kansas Division of the Budget put that figure at roughly $13.4 million if every student received one, according to the Lawrence KS Times. Lockers require a steeper upfront investment. Neither option came with a state check attached.
Legislators passed the policy. The price tag was someone else’s problem.
That’s what my son’s school does.
We’ve had a mobile phones ban for students in the Netherlands for a few years now. Our kids have been scared away from social media by my wife’s ingestion of fear-based mainstream news and by my anticapitalist ranting, so it doesn’t really impact them. 🙈
Good on you for protecting them from social media. My 12 year old son has no access to any social media. I got parental control everywhere. Google’s family link even has this “school time” function where it minimizes distractions. I honestly wouldn’t even mind if schools said “no phones in class”.