An alarming new trend teaching kids how to tamper with taxpayer-funded phone pouches, designed to keep them off their devices, has emerged in South Australia.
Videos showing teens how to get around the the lock-up Yondr pouches, which the South Australian government is spending tens of thousands of dollars on to stop students using their phones at school, are the the latest trend sweeping social media.
Students are sharing content using #Yondr to mock the new mobile phone ban.
Opposition education spokesman John Gardner said the videos confronted schools with a new challenge.
“What these TikToks show is that there are kids who are working out how to get around (the pouches),” he said.
The videos circulating online encourage students to damage their pouches by banging or cutting them.
Some even use magnets to unlock them.
One Adelaide student’s video has gone viral with 4.1 million views.
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“Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty,” the video says.
It has received more than 8000 comments revealing more tips and tricks.
Parent Angela Patane told 9News her daughter said students used magnets or slammed the pouches against a wall.
“I mean that’s not a great idea, if the phone’s inside it, what if they break the phone?” she said.
The state government said it hadn’t received any reports of damage to pouches, insisting while students might be frustrated, the phone ban was working well.
“If kids are found to be damaging the pouches or tampering with the device, that can culminate in suspension,” Education Minister Blair Boyer warned.
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