Graham Dugoni believes that “society needs protected spaces” from cellphones. That’s why in 2014 he founded Yondr, which makes pouches into which phones can be locked away for a certain amount of time—such as during a concert or theater show—allowing their owners to disconnect. His vision was a world away from that of boosterish executives who see technology enabling a hyperconnected world. Today, around 70% of Yondr’s business is from schools, whose leaders are worried about the impact of cellphone use in class. Some even ask Yondr’s hundreds of employees for policy advice alongside pouch orders. While teachers previously had to enforce school phone bans themselves, leading to classroom conflict, Dugoni says Yondr has sparked renewed interest in no-phone schools because it offers a simpler fix. Now, the National Center for Educational Statistics reports that about 76% of public schools in the U.S. prohibit non-academic use of cellphones or smartphones during school hours. Yondr claims millions of users across thousands of schools in 27 countries.
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