WATERTOWN, Mass. — A week away from the start of another school year, Watertown High School and developers of Doorman are working together to implement first-of-its-kind technology across classrooms to reduce phone distractions.
Joel Giacobozzi, principal at Watertown High School, was approached by Doorman this winter.
“We’re implementing an electronic solution to a problem we’ve had for a while,” said Giacobozzi. “We feel it’s the best middle ground between completely taking a student’s phone or locking a student’s phone away.”
The school will roll out Doorman’s pilot program, where students will use their app to “tap in” before walking into class.
Giacobozzi added, “When you tap in, and only when you tap in, all of your web traffic is redirected to a VPN ... what that does is allows us to block kind of high dopamine applications.”
Those applications, Giacobozzi said, include messaging, Instagram, Snapchat and others.
The application will be synced up with the school’s class schedule. Meanwhile, apps like Google Classroom and others that can enhance the learning experience will be up and running.
“Once class is over, it automatically allows the student to unlock,” Giacobozzi told Boston 25.
He said students will be able to use their phones to their full extent until they tap into their next class.
They claim they are the first high school in the country to use this technology.
Giacobozzi said if students choose not to download the app, they will have to leave their phones in the office.
He said the app does not track any data on students’ phones.
Their decision comes as the debate over a statewide cell phone ban rages on Beacon Hill.
He finished, “Students like their phones. Adults like their phones. Everyone loves their phones... They understand the option is locked in a pouch... locked in central storage, or the phone is on them but bricked as we say.”
Giacobozzi told Boston 25 Doorman crews would be working on implementing the systems in every classroom this week. It will be reportedly rolled out over the first few weeks of school.that
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