Mobile phones in schools will be regulated by law: State Duma deputies have prepared a bill

Today in Russia there is an acute problem of mobile phones and other electronic devices used by children. A child, with his mother’s milk, absorbs the skills of using gadgets: first he watches cartoons, then plays games, and then brings a smartphone to school and whiles away lessons in instant messengers. We conducted a social survey of Russians and found out: 85% of respondents consider the use of phones by children in class to be harmful. MK talked with politicians and public figures to find out how to solve the pressing problem.

Today in Russia there is an acute problem of mobile phones and other electronic devices used by children. A child, with his mother’s milk, absorbs the skills of using gadgets: first he watches cartoons, then plays games, and then brings a smartphone to school and whiles away lessons in instant messengers. We conducted a social survey of Russians and found out: 85% of respondents consider the use of phones by children in class to be harmful. MK talked with politicians and public figures to find out how to solve the pressing problem.

Children’s education and health suffer

Gadgets owned by children have become a real pain for both parents and teachers. It is not uncommon for a child to have virtually no contact with mom and dad at home, preferring correspondence or watching videos to live conversations, and at school he does not respond to teachers’ questions, fails tests, and is developmentally delayed.

Executive Secretary of the Coordination Council of the All-Russian public organization “National Parental Association for Social Support of the Family and Protection of Family Values” Alexey Gusev agrees that gadgets seriously harm the health and interfere with the cognitive abilities of schoolchildren.

“It’s a very difficult distraction. It is very important to attract the child’s attention during the lesson and set him up for work, but the phone is a distraction. If the teacher plans, you can use these gadgets, but again in separate lessons. Children already move very little. Having gadgets with them at school, they sit in the corners during breaks, again on their phones. Both vision and psyche suffer, and in fact it has been proven that gaming addiction is very close to drug addiction,” explains the expert.

It is noted that spending too much time on gadgets prevents children from remembering information and even reading. Because of the devices, their eyes become accustomed to a moving picture, when it is not the eye that moves, but the image, which also leads to atrophy of the eye muscles. In addition, children develop an understanding on a subconscious level that any information can be found on the phone in two moments.

A sedentary lifestyle negatively affects the cervical spine and the upper shoulder girdle. Being in a constant static position, the child may face severe consequences as a result, because the blood supply to the brain goes through the upper parts of the body.

Member of the Presidium of the General Council of the United Russia Party, Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Education Olga Kazakova is convinced that the problem must be urgently resolved.

“Of course, we all want our children to be in a safe educational environment. We don’t need to put things into our child’s hands that are harmful to him. Why do parents send their children to school? So that he learns, gains knowledge and does useful things. Of course, phones take up time, distract, reduce the quality of education, and have a bad effect on the perception of the material. We, adults, must create conditions for children to focus at school on acquiring knowledge and useful skills,” said Olga Kazakova.

A law regulating children’s gadgets is ripe in Russia

Against the backdrop of the problems that parents and teachers face every day when communicating with schoolchildren, deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation have prepared a new bill. The document will give parents and school management the right to independently decide whether to allow children to have free access to gadgets in the educational institution or to limit their use.

“We have a bill at a high stage of readiness, which we will introduce this week. It just relates to the survey you are conducting. This is not a ban, but a regulation, a certain set of rules that allows you to use gadgets only in cases where it gives a certain educational effect and works in a positive way. Where it harms children, when they are constantly on social networks, distracted, and make offensive content about teachers and each other, this is unacceptable,” explains Olga Kazakova.

The essence of the new law is not to strictly ban mobile devices, but to use them only when necessary for the topic of the lesson.

“The point of the bill is that the student’s responsibilities will include not using the gadget during the lesson. The exception will be moments related to the actions of the teacher. If he recommends the use of a gadget in the educational process. Or if a moment arises that concerns life and health,” emphasized the chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Education.

You need to study at school

Many high-performing educational institutions actively use this practice. In the class teacher’s office there is a special cabinet in which students’ devices are stored. Parents are informed that their child will be unavailable during the school day. And for emergency communication, a student can always contact a teacher.

“These are the usual simple rules. We come to school and change into spare shoes. We wash our hands before eating. The absence of phones should be a rule of interaction within the educational process at school. When a child is busy studying, he should study, and not mix it with gadgets. This will simply interfere with learning. Several months ago, our Chinese colleagues came up with an initiative to limit a child’s time on the Internet to two hours a day,” summed up Alexey Gusev.

The technological process and new means of information processing should complement existing ones, and not cancel them. We often encounter a situation where a child cannot describe a landscape, retell a story read in a book, or simply talk to his parents without a gadget in his hands. Today, more than ever, it is important not to miss the moment and correct this situation.

Photo: Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation