STUDENTS REDISCOVER OLD TECH AT SCHOOL

ENTERPRISING STUDENTS HAVE BEEN BRINGING THE CONTRABAND OF YESTERYEAR TO SCHOOL TO EXPLOIT A ‘LOOPHOLE’ IN CELLPHONE BANS

- STORY: CALLIE HOLTERMANN / NYT

When Sebastien Wall found out that cellphones were about to be banned from his New Hampshire high school, he began making preparations.

Sebastien, 17, said he thought the policy was a good idea to keep students focused during class. But what about his lunchtime soundtrack? So, over the summer, he bought a used fifth-generation iPod for US$80 (2,539 baht) and loaded it with songs by Pink Floyd and Rage Against the Machine.

Upon returning to school last week, he realised he was not the only teenager to greet the new phone ban with technology that is — by Gen Z’s standards, at least — Palaeolithic.

“T’ve seen people walking around with CD players, and someone also has a Walkman,’ Sebastien said. But an old device is now more than a nostalgia trip, he said. “It’s our last resort.”

Young people's appreciation for flip phones, digital cameras and other gadgets of the recent past is well documented, but it seems to have taken on new urgency in response to a wave of smartphone restrictions in schools that has reached more than a dozen states.

Last week, New York City became the largest school district in the country to introduce a bell-to-bell ban on phones and other internet-enabled devices. In response to new policies, enterprising students have shown up with MP3 players obtained online or from family members.