From burner phones to decks of cards: NYC teens adjusting to the smartphone ban

hello, i’m usually a lurker on this website, but i decided to make an account and comment since this is somewhat relevant to me.

i’m a senior in high school in one of those states with new laws about cell phones and electronics. i’m not particularly in favor of these new laws since i’m affected by them firsthand, but i can understand why they were implemented.

a few of my habits have had to change because of these new rules: - i now write my to-do lists on sticky notes instead of on my phone. - i write notes in a small a6 size notebook instead of using a notes app. - i now carry a book and my ipod nano to lunch.

because of these new rules, i do spend more time on my school-provided ipad, however. the school blocks a lot of the websites i typically visit. there are bypasses though — i can easily find instances of redlib if i want to scroll reddit, use a “cookie free youtube watcher” and paste a youtube link if i want to watch a video, and github isn’t blocked, but github pages are. most llm websites are blocked (claude, deepseek, mistral, gemini), but chatgpt isn’t for some reason.

if i want to look at a blocked website that isn’t one of those above, i can use startpage.com’s anonymous view.

i think the days feel longer now without my phone.

It has always been a cat and mouse game. To an extent, some expect the net to not be 100% proof ( though I will admit that the holes you pointed out are a little odd -- buddy is an IT admin at a school so while there is obviously a lot of variation, I would think most are pretty locked down ). Anyway, first rule of bypass is not to mention it:D

you’re right… maybe i shouldn’t have mentioned them.

oh well, only a few months left anyway.

or maybe you could tell the methods i mentioned to your school it admin friend, just a thought. :3

Chatgpt isn’t blocked because the staff is probably using it.

I honestly don't know enough to share. And the stuff I do know or could share would only get me in trouble in this context. That said, none of this information is really hidden. But if you only have few months left, I would just try to enjoy it. It is highly unlikely you will get that kind of quiet time after school is over.

Fwiw, the article does actually list viable ways of bypassing some of the restrictions

For many people (especially on this site), figuring out how to bypass the blocks is what led to an interest and understanding of technology. At some point you realize that it’s more fun to figure out these puzzles than it is to play silly games that have no real point to them.

You mentioned only having a few months left. Really just enjoy them, and try to talk to as many people as possible or hangout with as many as people as possible.

Also keep hacking. Very cool to hear that you found some workable bypasses. Loved beating school IT in my day.