It is proposed to amend the education law to ban phones in school lessons

The State Duma introduced amendments to the federal law “On Education”, designed, according to the authors’ plans, to increase the “authority of the teaching profession.” For this purpose, in particular, it has been proposed to limit the use of mobile phones by students during classes, except in situations where it is necessary for study and in emergencies. Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov suggested that the initiative would spark a “constructive discussion.” Indeed, social activists warmly supported the ban on gadgets that “limit the ability to think outside the box and lead to debilitation” of children. And participants in the educational process interviewed by Kommersant claim that legislators are ten years late, and instead of fixing restrictions, they propose “teaching teachers to integrate phones into the educational process in the most effective way.”

On Friday, the State Duma introduced amendments to the Federal Law “On Education”, aimed, as stated in the explanatory note, “to increase the authority of the teaching profession.” “The bill strengthens the leading role of the teacher in the process of training and education,” explain the authors of the bill (an interfactional group of deputies and senators). The main point was the restriction of the use of “communication means during training sessions in the implementation of basic general education programs.”

In 2021, we recall that Rospotrebnadzor has already adjusted the sanitary rules for Russian schools, according to which it was prohibited to use personal mobile phones for teaching. Then the department clarified that children can carry smartphones to school to contact their parents or communicate, but computers, tablets, all-in-one computers or interactive whiteboards must be used for learning. The head of the Ministry of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, also spoke about the ban on the use of mobile phones during lessons, introduced from September 1, 2022.

Nevertheless, the authors of the amendments considered it necessary to fix this in federal law. The head of the Duma Committee on Education, Olga Kazakova, noted that the majority of parents support the idea, and those who are against it “most likely assume that gadgets need to be used for some educational purposes.” “But in this case, we just prescribe the possibility of using the telephone, no one takes the situation to the point of absurdity, to the point of prohibition,” Mrs. Kazakova assured.

The ability to use a telephone, according to the amendments, remains in cases “provided for by the educational program, or in the event of a threat to the life or health of students, employees of an organization carrying out educational activities, or other emergency cases.”

The authors of the initiative explain that the mechanisms for implementing the “new norm” will be determined by parents and the school, and should not be spelled out in the law itself, so that “the teacher can lead the process.”

“I think that the proposed initiative will cause a constructive discussion, and its discussion will continue at various platforms, including with the participation of the Ministry of Education,” commented Sergei Kravtsov.

The first deputy chairman of the commission on demography, protection of family, children and traditional family values ​​of the OP RF, father of eight children Pavel Pozhigailo supported the initiative, noting in a conversation with Kommersant that this is “first of all necessary for children.”

“The phone distracts from the lesson, and besides, it’s a universal cheat sheet,” says the social activist. “Moreover, it limits the ability to think outside the box and leads to debilitation, which, by the way, is what tests and the Unified State Exam surrogate are aimed at.”

Separately, Mr. Pozhigailo notes that it is necessary to limit not only the use of phones itself, but also “what the child watches on it”: “Destructive movements suck children into the funnel of personality decay or even pose physical danger – the content available to the child must be monitored very carefully.” .

“If a teacher teaches his subject in an uninteresting way, no ban on phones will help the child concentrate,” notes the director of Moscow school No. 109, Evgeniy Yamburg. He believes that “instead of fixing restrictions, we should take steps to teach teachers how to integrate phones into the classroom in the most effective way.” Mr. Yamburg also noted that the issue of using telephones has been resolved in each school independently for a long time, “and quite successfully.”

Vsevolod Lukhovitsky, a member of the council of the Teacher trade union, is confident that “legislators were ten years late with telephone control,” and the bill will not achieve its goal: “All these formulations will not give teachers any guarantees or authority – these are just wishes for all the best, not requiring any real changes.” The expert added that “any other disciplinary measure that attracts attention could have been used with equal success, and all points about supporting teachers are left to the discretion of regions and municipalities, which usually do not see the need for this.”

Polina Yachmennikova