About three quarters of Russians say they support the idea of banning the use of cell phones and other tech gadgets in schools and believe that children would study better were such measures taken.

The data was revealed by the state-run public opinion research agency VTSIOM on Wednesday. A recent poll has shown that 83 percent of the Russian public think that smartphones and other gadgets distract children during their school studies and badly affect their education.

Some 73 percent of Russians say they support the idea of banning the use of cell phones in schools. The proportion was even higher – at 83 percent – among those who said that their children do not own cell phones and also among those who said that they don’t have any children of school age (74 percent).

As many as 69 percent of Russians told researchers that once such restrictions are imposed children would study better. Some 17 percent of respondents said that, in their opinion, the ban would lead to no significant changes in the quality of education.

VTSIOM’s General Director Valery Fedorov said results of the research showed that the use of cell phones among Russians had reached capacity with practically all people of all ages contactable at any time. However, such widespread familiarity with new technologies had already revealed negative side effects, with the public starting to think about the benefit of certain restrictions, he said.

In late August, before the start of the new school year, Russian Education Minister Veronika Skvortsova said that children should not use or even carry cell phones in schools, and instead leave the gadgets in safekeeping before lessons. At the same time, the minister noted that this was her personal opinion on the subject and every school administration was free to develop its own policy.

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