(WCIV) — After winter break, all South Carolina public schools will enforce a state-mandated total cell phone ban. It’s led some to raise concerns about limited communication during emergencies like Monday’s school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. More than 100 school shootings in the United States this year have left victims injured or dead, according to the Gun Violence Archive It’s a harsh reality local high school students say they think about often and the new bell-to-bell cell phone ban makes students and parents worried about not being able to communicate in a worst-case scenario. “There were some threats in South Carolina recently, threats at schools that we know people that they go to and it’s just, it worries us,” said Ayla Hollar, a high school student in Charleston County. “It’s something that we shouldn’t have to fear. But unfortunately, we have feared for several years.” Under the new state policy, students like Hollar are required to keep all personal electronic devices off and securely stored for the entire school day. This covers phones, tablets, smartwatches, gaming devices and headphones. South Carolina joins at least six other states that have passed cell phone bans. All public school districts must adopt the new phone policy starting in January to continue receiving state funding. “There is a possibility we could have a school shooting,” Hollar said. “And by taking away the one communication that we have, it’s dangerous, it’s ignorant.” But some Lowcountry school leaders argue that strictly relying on information that comes directly from the district is the safer option, eliminating the possibility of texts and social media spreading misinformation about an emergency. “We have all of those systems in place. We have the call-out features, we have the text features, we have the email features,” said Justin Farnsworth, a board member in Dorchester School District Two (DD2). Most school districts across the state have emergency operations plans, a standard response protocol and family reunification plans. Right now, all DD2 high schools also have weapon detection systems. “There’s some discussion where we’re currently looking at potentially moving some of that down to the middle school level,” Farnsworth added. He said the added safety measure has lowered the number of weapons brought on campuses to nearly zero. Some remaining details of the statewide phone ban are still being worked out. Punishment for students who violate the policy and how phones will be stored is left up to each school district. Locally, most are leaving that in the hands of their school principals. Categories: Local News, News, State Tags: SC schools phone ban, South Carolina