THE USE OF cell phones for bullying has become an epidemic (Shutterstock).

Bullying has been with us as long as people have been around. There’s always been somebody with a chip on their shoulder (or a hidden hurt) that wants to intimidate or terrify someone younger or weaker, and it’s not all boys and men by a long shot. Girls and women can be mean, too.

Just about everyone can remember an example of being bullied, harassed or otherwise being mistreated by someone. Some of us remember, ruefully, of either being the bully or standing by and letting someone else be pushed into a corner, literally or figuratively.

It’s difficult to be certain, but it seems as if advances in technology have made possible big advances in selfish boorish behavior.

Kids use cell phones, now, we are told, to bully each other, organize the ostracism of others, arrange fights and to purchase drugs.

Generally, boys and girls do it differently. The male gender tends to emphasize physical bragging and threats, while the female focuses on social aggression by criticizing a girl’s looks, fashion choices, etc. Whether you get punched or humiliated, it still hurts. The individual who coined the “sticks and stones” obviously never went to junior high.

Schools have tried to combat this by posting “no bullying zone” signs and lecturing about it, but that’s what they call in the military a “forlorn hope,” i.e., a well-intentioned effort doomed to failure. It’s just not enough.

In the Ringgold School District in Pennsylvania, the board has just passed a policy banning the use of cellphones at school. Officials hope it will curb the abuses that seem to have multiplied with the advent of the smart phone.

The most common retort (love that word!) is that cell phones are useful in an emergency. While technically true, that’s really a dodge. When those situations arise, a student could seek out a teacher or other staff person.

A policy wouldn’t even have to bar a student from bringing a cell phone to school. They could check their phones in, or put them in a bin, and have them returned at the end of the period or school day, allowing them to call parents for a ride, etc.

Even benign uses of a cell phone on campus can be a negative. They are distractions from learning and annoy teachers who are just doing their jobs.

Distractions are not new. It may or may not be true that I once smuggled a Mad Magazine into school and hid it behind my social studies book. The evidence is murky.

But the tender psyche (or skin) of a 12-year-old kid is much more vulnerable to the damage that a weaponized cell phone can do than the effects of one kid reading about “Spy vs. Spy.”