As schools move to lock up cell phones, what do students think?

CATHY WURZER: Last month, we had a conversation with the superintendent of United South Central schools in Wells, Minnesota. Their district had decided this year to spend thousands of dollars on phone pouches that lock students' phones all day, no access. The pouches were put into place Tuesday of this week. Minnesota Now senior producer Aleesa Kuznetsov spoke to two students at the school on the first day of the pouches to get their perspectives on the new policy.

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EMMA JOHNSON: My name is Emma Johnson, and this year, I'm a senior.

EZRA EDWARDS: My name is Ezra Edwards, and I am a junior.

ALEESA KUZNETSOV: What was your first reaction when you first heard about this plan to have no access to phones?

EMMA JOHNSON: I really wasn't a fan of the idea because I was running all the situations through my head. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if I forget an appointment and my mom needs to get a hold of me? I kind of assumed the negatives before I looked at the positives.

EZRA EDWARDS: There was a lot of people that were freaking out about it, but I actually legitimately did not care. I was like, you know what? It might be a good time to get off my phone for a while And get a little break. So that's what I was thinking.

ALEESA KUZNETSOV: So this morning, you guys, for the first time, I understand, had to put your phone in a pouch to be locked up for the rest of the day. What was your first thought as soon as that pouch closed?

EMMA JOHNSON: I really thought about, what if I needed it during the day? What if we have an emergency? Will I not be able to do research on my Chromebook? What if I need to text my mom?

EZRA EDWARDS: Yeah, the only thing that went through my mind is, where did my music go? I was just kind of sad that my music was gone.

ALEESA KUZNETSOV: So what was the day like? Did you find yourself kind of reaching for the pouch, kind of wanting to use your phone at any moments?

EMMA JOHNSON: I kept tissues in my pocket today and I kept thinking it was my phone. So I would reach down to grab my phone or to text my mom and be like, oh, wait, I don't have it.

EZRA EDWARDS: Yeah, I put my pouch in my locker, but I went to lunch and I reached in my pocket. And I had almost-- was like, what the heck. Where did my phone go? But then I realized. So that was kind of fun.

EMMA JOHNSON: Day one, there was a lot of complaining. I think I heard it in every single class. A lot of them were like, I need to text my mom or I need to call my mom, or what if my manager calls me? What if they text me? What if they need me?

EZRA EDWARDS: Yeah, there was a lot of, everyone was going through every single possible scenario and thinking about it. They were like, what if I throw up and I need to call my mom? And I'm like, but there's phones everywhere.

EMMA JOHNSON: What if a meteor falls out of the sky?

EZRA EDWARDS: Right, yeah, I'm like, what? But I think some differences would just definitely be study hall. People were really loud. There was not a lot of studying because everyone was worrying.

ALEESA KUZNETSOV: Are any of your friends also yet talking about ways to try and get around the pouch?

EMMA JOHNSON: Oh, of course. I've seen five people today attempt to get it open. They didn't really succeed, but, you know, everybody's like, how do I get this open without breaking it or having to enter detention?

EZRA EDWARDS: There was a lot of people today banging it on the floor, trying to get it open. And that was just really funny to see. Because I'm like, you're going to get a detention because it's going to break.

ALEESA KUZNETSOV: What do you think that signals, that people were anxious to get their phones out? What were you thinking about that?

EMMA JOHNSON: Everybody is so addicted to technology. But I can't blame them because we use Chromebooks every single day for all of our research. We're chronically online. It's just kind of how we are, I guess, as a society, rather than just a school.

ALEESA KUZNETSOV: What do you guys see as the possible positives that could come out of this?

EMMA JOHNSON: I think attentiveness will certainly boost. I saw just a significant difference today as more people were, I guess, paying attention. Maybe it was the subject matter, but I did notice that.

EZRA EDWARDS: Yeah, there was just a lot more like talking at lunch and I enjoyed that, just a lot more interaction with people and kind of everyone wasn't on their phones interacting. It was like we were actually having conversation. And I enjoyed that.

I am a very sociable guy. And I love people. So I think that when other people were finally talking and I wasn't the first one starting conversations, I was just-- I kind of like could step back and I was like, wow, I like this. I think that social media definitely has impacted how we communicate with each other.

Because we're like, oh, I'll just Snap you and then we'll be fine, right? And like, people can hold things from you. But now I feel like it's going to be easier to actually get things off of our chest and stuff.

EMMA JOHNSON: My friends and I, we're pretty talkative. We talk about everything and anything under the sun. But what I noticed last year is, say, if we had-- I don't know, we were angry at each other for some reason, they would just-- two people would text back and forth the whole lunch. And it started to be really silent towards the last two months of school. But now that we don't have our phones, we can just talk face-to-face and include everybody in the conversation instead of just, here's a group chat with the three people that I'm best friends with.

ALEESA KUZNETSOV: What do you guys hope in the long-run is kind of, by the end of the school year, how do you see this impacting school and social life? If you could look into the future, how do you hope that this will maybe impact you?

EMMA JOHNSON: I hope by the end of the school year, we can figure out some of the flaws that are with the system. Because we have a lot of kids who do have disabilities and they need to have their phone to check their insulin or blood sugar or something like that. And I hope we can really work around the, what if this, what if that, and put everybody at ease. Because right now, it's kind of havoc.

EZRA EDWARDS: Yeah, I really think that in the future that, eventually, I think we're just going to all accept it. And then it'll start to be fun a little bit and start-- we'll all communicating with each other. And I think eventually, it'll just take a little while.

CATHY WURZER: Huh, interesting. That was Minnesota Now's senior producer Aleesa Kuznetsov, talking to Emma Johnson and Ezra Edwards, students at United South Central High School in wells, Minnesota.