(AHN) -- Parents blasted a New York Public School policy banning cell phones citing safety issues. One parent said with terrorism a risk, she wants to have easy access to her child.

She wrote, "She and I both feel a little less crazy knowing that if something major happens - an accident, a crisis - that she can be in touch with me. If your child went to school blocks from ground zero, you'd know what I'm talking about."

Parents sent hundreds of e-mails to the city's public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, calling the rule irresponsible and "hint at thoughtless fascism."

The ban on cell phones in the public schools have been in place for years but last spring security guards began snatching them during random security checks. Hundreds of phone have been confiscated.

Some parents said their child's cell phone is a matter of safety when they leave school as well. Some of them walk several blocks in the city and ride the bus and subway.

One parent's daughter travels from Brooklyn to Manhattan to attend school. They wrote, "She has already been mugged once and a cell phone is paramount."

But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the phones are disruptive and can be used by students to cheat. Cell phones are also banned from city meetings, parents meetings and rallies.

He said the schools offer many convenient ways for parents to reach their child while in school. He said the only way to ensure that cell phones are not abused in school is to ban them.

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