Russia's State Duma Bans Cellphones in School Classrooms

News about ban of mobile phone for children in Russia

 
School children hand in their cell phones before an exam.

The ban on mobile phones in classes in Russian schools is established by law today in the Russian Parliament - State Duma. The ban was established for the first time in the mandatory Sanitary Regulations from January 2021. Now the ban on the use of mobile phones in school lessons has been included in the Education Law. This is the result of work we began together with colleagues from the team of Prof. V. Kuchma in the summer of 2020 - reducing the risk to children’s health from a complex of harmful factors of information and communication technologies, among the sources of risk in the first place is a cell phone or smartphone.

Dr. Oleg A. GRIGORIEV
Dr. Sc. (radiobiology), Ph.D. (radiobiology & hygiene of non-ionizing radiation)
Chairman, Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection
Chairman of the Non-ionizing Radiation Departments, Scientific Council for Radiobiology of the Russian Academy of Science and Radiobiology Scientific Society of the Russian Academy of Science
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Russia's State Duma Bans Cellphones in School Classrooms
Moscow Times, Dec 6, 2023

Russian lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of banning the use of cellphones in school classrooms, a move they argue will help improve the learning process for students.

The speaker of Russia's lower-house State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said cellphones would no longer be permitted in classrooms except for “emergencies.”

“Parents and teachers asked us to back this rule. The adopted decision will improve the quality of our children’s education,” Volodin wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

The amendments to Russia’s law on education are expected to be approved by senators in the upper-chamber Federation Council and President Vladimir Putin.

The changes also include the return of Soviet-era workshop classes as part of the compulsory curriculum.

“We need to prepare both boys and girls for adult life: teach them how to cook borscht because they have to take care of their husbands, learn how to hold a hammer or some new technologies,” Volodin said.

The changes are expected to go into effect as early as January, according to the pro-Kremlin tabloid Izvestia.

Observers say one side effect of the cellphone ban may be students’ inability to film cases of teachers using violence or verbal abuse against children.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/12/06/russias-state-duma-bans-cell-phones-in-school-classrooms-a83333