Wild way Australian kids are outsmarting new school phone bans
Hundreds of schools have introduced a new device to keep kids off their phones – but cheeky Aussie students have found a way to cheat the system.
Australian students have found sneaky ways to skirt around new mobile phone bans that schools have spent thousands of dollars implementing.
A growing number of schools across the country have been using a new system to prevent students from accessing their mobile phones during school.
Schools with this system in place require students to place their phones into a Yondr Pouch, which is a fabric bag that locks shut for the duration of the school day.
Students are only meant to be able to open these bags with powerful magnets located at “unlocking stations” throughout the school.
Yondr pouches are already widely used overseas, such as schools in the US, and have been gaining popularity in Australia in recent years.
However, as more schools introduce these devices, Aussie kids are finding new and creative ways to skirt the system.
A quick search on TikTok will uncover dozens of videos of Aussie students teaching others how to open the pouches without the use of the school’s magnetic unlocking stations.
One video explaining you can hit the magnetic part of the pouch on a hard surface to open it has already amassed more than 333,000 views, despite only being posted last week.
“How to get one of these Yondr’s open,” the caption on the video reads.
Viewers are then shown the magnetic lock on the pouch and instructed to “smack it on this part”.
The poster then repeatedly smacks the pouch on the ground until it pops open.
“Takes a couple of tries but it works,” they wrote.
Schools across the country have been spending tens of thousands of dollars on introducing these devices, with some social media users claiming it cost their schools up to $30,000 to roll out the Yondr pouches.
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A similar video from a teenager explaining the same process has been viewed more than 80,000 times.
“I am going to show you how to open these new Yondr pouches, the one with the button. All you do is bang it on a piece of metal, hardwood, or just bang it on the concrete,” the teenage girl says into the camera.
“You just want to bang it a couple of times really hard. This only works with the new one, the one with the button.”
She then proceeds to bang it on a table just twice before it pops open.
“There you go, it should open it in a few hits but that's how you open it without a magnet.”
One commenter suggested the TikTok user could just cut open the bag, but the teen explained that damaging or losing the pouch would mean having to pay the school $15 for a new one.
The teen also claimed teachers checked their bags so hiding her phone was not an option.
In other videos, children have claimed that using a strong enough magnet, not the one located at the school, will also unlock the pouches.
Others have claimed they have been taking old phones to school to place in the pouch, while keeping their real phone hidden.
One student even went as far as to share a video of them burning their Yondr pouch in their back yard.
“Now I don’t know if other places around Australia has this, my school has. These are called Yondr pouches. You put your phone in and they lock it up until the end of the day,” the teenager explained in the TikTok video.
“I never f***ing put it in, only when the teachers found it and put it in themselves. So I am going to do this.”
They then filmed themselves putting the pouch into a fire pit, dousing it in lighter fluid and setting it on fire.
“That’s what you f***ing get you c**t. F***ing hate that thing. Look at it burn. Burn in hell,” the teen said.
Hundreds of schools across the country are now using these lockable pouches, however, NSW Education and Early Learning Minister Sarah Mitchell noted that a “one-size-fits-all approach” to mobile phones in schools is not practical.
“Mobile phones are already restricted in primary schools,” she said in a statement to news.com.au.
“Under the current policy, high schools are able to put a phone restriction in place in consultation with their school communities.
“However we can’t ignore the role technology plays in our lives, and many schools, teachers and parents also understand that it is important for high school students learn how to use devices responsibly.”
Ms Mitchell said she trusts the state’s high school principals to lead their schools in how best to manage mobile phone use.
She noted there are many schools that are operating successfully without restricting mobile phone use.
“Chris Minns and NSW Labor have recently latched onto Yondr pouches to try to give their policy credit, without recognising that different school communities will have different needs,” she said.
“Just look at Cabramatta High School – a high performing high school in South West Sydney who hasn’t restricted mobile phones and despite this, are excelling. They are one of our top performing state schools.”
Labor Deputy Leader and Shadow Education Minister, Prue Car, hit back at these comments, telling news.com.au that NSW Liberal government “has a very poor legacy when it comes to the education system”.
“Dominic Perrottet’s Education Minister needs to take responsibility, rather than avoiding making the tough decisions needed to improve student outcomes,” Ms Car said.
“Dr Michael Carr-Gregg worked on the Government’s current policy, but even he is stating the need for a blanket ban in all schools is now ‘more urgent than ever’.”
Ms Car said schools will choose the option that bests suits them to implement a ban policy on mobile phones.
“Labor’s plan is the best way forward because a blanket policy across the board is easier to enforce and creates a level playing field between students across different schools,” she said.
A survey conducted by the NSW Department of Education in recent years found that 70 per cent of high schools had implemented full mobile phone restrictions, and 30 had implemented either partial or no restrictions.
A Department spokesperson told news.com.au that high school principals across the state work with their wider school community, including parents, to take the right approach for their school.
“They can use a range of ways to manage the issue, with the majority having full or partial restrictions in place,” the spokesperson said.
“We would encourage any parents who have concerns about their child’s device use to discuss it with their school Principal. It’s important for students, particularly older students, to learn how to use mobile devices responsibly.”
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