In classrooms across the US, a product meant to enforce phone-free learning is being undone by low-tech ingenuity. The $25 phone-lock pouch, marketed by Yondr, was designed to keep smartphones physically inaccessible during school hours while allowing students to keep the device on them. But within weeks of rollout in some districts, students began sharing workarounds. A sharp knock on a desk, a strong magnet ordered online, or even a carefully chosen rock slipped inside the pouch has been enough to defeat the lock. What schools saw as a streamlined solution, many students now treat as a puzzle to be solved.
