The new school year begins at Columbia Public Schools on August 20th and new cell phone policies apply.

In middle schools, phone use is prohibited throughout the day, including in restrooms, hallways, and during lunch breaks.

In secondary schools, the use of telephones is only prohibited in classrooms.

CPS board member John Lyman said the only new part of this policy is uniformity across the district.

“There has been a policy in place for several years,” Lyman said, but now the policy is the focus of administrators’ attention.

Students can keep their phones in their backpack or even their pocket, but if they are seen outside, disciplinary action will be taken.

First, students receive a warning and a conversation. If they are caught using their phone again, parents are contacted. After the third time, their phone is taken away and stored on a secure device until they get it back at the end of the day.

If the phone is used beyond this time, parents must come to the school and pick up the phone.

CPS hopes that students will be able to better connect with their classmates and teachers even without phones.

“We view it as a teaching method that helps us teach and work with kids and teach them hands-on skills,” said Sam Bornhauser, principal of Gentry Middle School.

The administration believes that cell phones are a hindrance to education because they distract students from learning and also encourage cyberbullying.

Most parents agree that phones are a hindrance to learning.

“From what I see at home in terms of this distraction, I’m sure it would be the same in the classroom,” said Mandy Llwellyn, mother of a future sixth-grader.

However, CPS believes that the problem is solvable.

“If there is something we can remove from the environment that will better serve our students,” Lyman said, “we want to do that.”

Lyman believes phone use has become more excessive, but he understands why parents would want to give their children a phone.

“There are certainly always reasons for them to exist,” Lyman said. “We try to dissuade them if they occur during class time.”