COLUMBIA, S.C. — As the state-wide cell phone ban is set to be fully in swing by January, many parents may be concerned about reaching their children in an emergency.
According to Education Week, there have been 23 school shootings this year that have resulted in injuries or deaths, with the latest yesterday in Georgia killing four people.
The South Carolina Board of Education recently finalized a model cell phone policy for districts to adopt across Palmetto State to keep their state funding. The new policy requires students to store away phones from the start of the school day but does not require schools to institute a campus-wide ban, says Jason Raven, a spokesperson for the Department of Education.
"The policy that the state board of education adopted does not outright ban cell phones on school campuses," said Raven. "This is for instructional day to day. Obviously in an emergency situation, the focus of everyone changes and students need to listen to the adult in the room and, when it is safe to do so, connect with the various communication modes that are possible."
Some local parents said they don't want their children to have access to their phones in an emergency, as it distracts them from what's going on in the room.
"If I need to get in touch with them I can call the office or go by the school, talk to an administrator or someone that can get in touch with my child," said Carl Gulledge, a Columbia parent.
Another local dad, Nicholas Nesbit, agrees.
"Schools have phones. {When} we came up, we always had an emergency and we could go to the office and make a phone call to our parents. So we don’t need phones," he said.
According to Raven, the Department of Education will work with law enforcement to guide schools on navigating this phone policy in emergencies.