Dummy phones and calculator screens: how students are preparing to bypass the mobile phone ban

A dummy phone to be placed in a metal locker, a cover in the shape of a calculator, and an advertisement that turns a teacher into a warrior with a weapon in the classroom — middle school students, the Ministry of Education, and commercial companies are preparing for the ban on the use of mobile phones in middle schools.

"It is impossible to demand from us, young people who will be 15 during the school year, to be disconnected from our mobile phones. I know students who have already ordered a dummy phone from websites abroad or are taking an old device from relatives, and when the teacher demands that we deposit the smartphone in a locker — they will keep the original device with them — and lock the phone they do not use in the locker," says Alma (a pseudonym), a student who will be entering the ninth grade in the upcoming school year. This is regarding the decision to ban middle school students from using mobile phones and smartwatches within school premises.

"A smartphone has long been not just for social networks — it is a source of information, it is a diary with a schedule, it is a way to contact younger siblings, with parents. It is impossible to disconnect us from our lives for 6-8 hours a day. Students are already thinking of all sorts of tricks to keep the mobile with them, passing around links to covers that allow for hiding or camouflaging the phone."

Various countermeasures for deception

The Ministry of Education has decided that starting from the 2026/27 school year, which begins very soon, middle school students will not be able to use mobile phones or smartwatches during the school day and on school grounds — not even during breaks. Use will be allowed only in classes where teachers approve use for learning purposes. Smartphones will remain turned off in students' bags or stored in special places determined by schools in a kind of "safe." The goal of the Ministry of Education is to restore focus in classrooms and restore human interaction between students. But between the decision on paper and the reality on the ground, the distance seems particularly challenging at the moment.

Recently, Minister of Education Yoav Kisch said: "The resistance among the youth is significant, and yet we believe it is right to promote the matter. It will not be simple and could create quite a few challenges."

Commercial companies were the first to discover the potential for profits, and they are flooding the networks with advertisements encouraging schools to purchase lockers and classroom safes for devices. In one of the prominent advertisements, a teacher is seen inside the classroom dressed in a soldier's uniform, wearing a helmet and holding a weapon, while she tries to "fight" children armed with smartphones. Above the image is the headline: "Until when will you fight phones in the classroom?". Another campaign addresses school principals directly and urges them to "lock the mobile in the closet."

If anyone in the Ministry of Education thought that teenagers would surrender easily, they were wrong. It will not be easy. Students are presenting a variety of creative means to bypass the ban. On Chinese shopping sites (such as AliExpress and Alibaba), they offer solutions including a "dummy phone" — a device that looks exactly like a real smartphone, and which costs a few dozen shekels up to 100 shekels. The student will deposit the dummy in a locker or classroom cabinet, while the real device will remain inside the bag. Anyone who wants to take a risk and use the device during the lesson itself can purchase a special cover in the shape of a calculator. Outwardly, the teacher will think it is a calculator, but in practice, the cover allows access to the screen.

And what about the smartwatches whose use will also be banned? Students have already found a "winter patent": the watch is worn around the leg and completely hidden under long pants, far from the teachers' eyes. To see messages, it is enough to put one leg over the other. "In the end, it is impossible to put a teacher in every classroom during a break, in the restrooms, or behind every building in the yard," explains Alma. "The school will have to earn our trust on this issue and show that teachers also do not use their phones."

"Phones harm students"

In an ORT survey published in "HaYom" in which both high school students (10th-12th grades) and middle school students (7th-9th grades) participated, it emerged that 15% of students have so far been in the habit of using a smartphone when they are in class or during school hours. Every fifth student (18%) testified that they often forget or do not perform tasks because they were busy with a smartphone. The survey highlighted deep psychological and emotional consequences, according to which 22% of students feel a real inner restlessness when the device is not within their reach. 22% of teenagers testified that they use a smartphone while they are spending time with friends or are at social events.

The Ministry of Education's decision led to opposition from the National Student and Youth Council. According to Rotem Getraida, Chairman of the National Student and Youth Council: "You are confused. In a world where the Ministry of Education is trying to integrate artificial intelligence and innovative technologies, it is also banning the use of students' learning tools.

"A sweeping ban is a step that is blind to the problem, not a solution. Taking away mobile phones will only increase the gap between teachers and students and turn teachers into police officers. Instead of turning a blind eye to the challenges that the phone brings, teach us how to use it in a responsible and correct way. Any significant change in the education system must be done through real dialogue within the school community, including students, educational staff, and parents."

Oren Ozan, Chairman of the National Parents' Leadership, addresses the complexity of the decision: "In principle, we are in favor of removing smartphones from schools. Phones harm children's concentration, and it is clear that an orderly learning environment must be created. However, we have criticism of the way the Ministry of Education is managing this — this step was taken unilaterally, without any coordination or dialogue with us, and especially without a work plan for activities during breaks being presented.

"It is impossible to just take the phones away from the children and leave them in a vacuum, without any social response or occupation in the yards. Experience shows that complete inaction during breaks creates boredom, and boredom leads directly to friction and quarrels, and in the end, could lead to an alarming increase in violence within the school walls. Such a move must come together with budgets and structured social alternatives."