A group of clever Kiwi teens have outsmarted the government’s new phone ban in schools by grabbing themselves some old tech to communicate between classes.
The year 12 Auckland crew ditched their usual BYOD (bring your own device) for walkie-talkies.
The unnamed 16-year-old behind the sneaky hack told The Herald: "If the phone ban wasn’t in place then we wouldn’t have had to do this."
He hopes the walkie-talkies catch on with other students using them to communicate between classes and organise their lunchtime plans.
The anonymous student said: “I think the cellphone ban has some merits, however, it also has disadvantages that I hope the introduction of walkie-talkies will fix.”
“It allows us to communicate without using our phones, but because the walkie-talkies are designed purely for communication they can’t be used as a distraction for games or the internet, a problem that the phone ban seems to have been introduced to solve,” he added.
Since the new ban only targets cellphones, the walkie-talkies haven't ruffled too many feathers amongst the teachers.
In fact, The President of the Secondary Principals’ Association, Vaughan Couillault, gave the group big ups for their “innovation”.
While some kids are sneaking in 'burner phones,' others are keeping it real with iPods and speakers - those were the days, eh?
And while social media is banned on the schools’ networks, some students are resorting to emailing their mates at lunch.
According to Grant Pollard, the acting leader of the Ministry of Education’s Operations and Integration Group Te Pae Aronui says: “Most schools have existing BYOD policies around the appropriate use of laptops and tablets.”
“Schools can make decisions about the management of other devices like walkie-talkies in consultation with their community," he said.
**crrsh** Seems like walkie-talkies are here to stay... for now **over**!
