TikTok sellers offer magnets that unlock school phone pouches in seconds

TikTok sellers are advertising small magnets that open the lockable phone pouches many English schools use to enforce the government's mobile phone ban, in a trend one campaigner has described as exploiting children for profit.

Under new government guidance, all state-funded schools in England must be mobile phone-free environments by default. Many schools have brought in lockable pouches that pupils cannot open until home time. Now sellers on TikTok are offering coloured magnets that, they claim, open the pouches within seconds, with some clips carrying step-by-step instructions and pupils in the comments saying they have bought them.

What the sellers claim

One firm, Nova Magnetics, advertises: "Unlock your phone pouch in an instant." A video showing one of the magnets is captioned: "The only thing you'll be bringing to school this year."

Another seller, Unmag, posted alongside money emojis and photographs of £20 notes: "Charge students £5 for opening their pouch using an Unmag. 20 people=£100." Several accounts encourage pupils to buy a magnet and then charge classmates to unlock their phones in the playground. Some also run giveaways to draw students back.

Campaigner's response

Esther Ghey, who is campaigning for a social media ban for under-16s after the murder of her daughter Brianna in February 2023, called the findings extremely irresponsible. She said the sellers were exploiting children for profit and undermining schools' efforts to protect pupils. Many schools tell her pupils are happy to put their phones away, she said, and the pouches are changing the culture, with students themselves criticising attempts to get round the rules.

No one measure would solve everything, she added, and some children would still find ways around protections, which was why education and a wider public health approach were essential. Through the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, the campaign provides schools with free resources on screen time and online harms for teachers to pass on to parents and students, she said. Families and schools need support, and platforms must take responsibility too.

TikTok was approached for comment.

The wider picture

The findings come as the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, has vowed that a ban on social media for under-16s will come into force from March 2027. Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, was killed by two teenagers who had planned the attack in messages on Snapchat.

The story also lands while social media addiction lawsuits against TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Meta and other platforms continue in the United States. The first school-district test case against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube settled before a trial that had been set for June 2026 (agreements later released under a public-records request were reported to total about US$27 million), and further test trials for Tucson Unified and Charleston County school districts are due to start in 2027. A trial of two further personal injury plaintiffs against Meta, YouTube and Snap is set to begin in Los Angeles on 28 October 2026, after TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube settled with the plaintiff in a second case that had been due in July.