Teach, not knock

The Teacher’s trade union turned to teachers with a reminder that teachers should act primarily in the interests of the child, and not the state

The child draws a picture about the world, writes a pacifist post in social networks, expresses his beliefs at school. The worried teacher informs the director, the director in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from there to the FSB. They come home to the child with a search, parents are interrogated and threatened by deprivation of parental rights, the child is sent to a shelter. Anti -Utopia? No, reality.

One of the last sensational affairs is the story of the candidate of the physical and mathematical sciences of Elena Zholiker and her daughter, a fifth grader in Vari. The director of the "School in Nekrasovka" Maya Bulaeva complained to the police at Varina Avatar in social networks and answers to a survey about the attitude to the President of Russia. The police and the ED center came home to the family, the mother called the minors to the commission, the girl was put on a preventive accounting. Now Elena appeals in court the actions of employees of the guardianship and KDN bodies, demanding to remove the child from the register and save the family from uninvited interference in her affairs.

The second case is very recent: the story of a sixth grader Masha Moskaleva from the city of Efremov, Tula region. The girl painted in the lesson a drawing, expressing his attitude to military operations of Russia. The teacher informed the director Larisa Trofimova, she transferred information to the police. The father of Masha was detained and later released under house arrest, and Masha was transferred to the shelter where she is still. It is reported that social protection authorities insist on restricting the parental rights of Masha’s father Alexei Moskalev. Alexei has already been held twice accountable for the “discredit” of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and the mother does not take part in raising a child. Now Masha is located in the Efremov rehabilitation center for minors, she was taken from her phone and they do not allow her to communicate with either her father or human rights defenders.

In both cases, as in many others , teachers and school principals played a key role in the family drama, who considered it necessary to report to law enforcement agencies about the involuntary form of thoughts of children and their parents.

Could they not do this? Of course. They could simply leave families alone, because it was parents - according to the law - have the full right to raise their children in those political, religious, moral beliefs that are considered necessary. Article 63 of the Family Code claims that "parents have a preemptive right to educate and raise their children to all other persons." If they are so worried about family education of fifth graders and sixth graders (older children are usually not so open and gullible - and do not demonstrate their political position at school) - they can talk to the child and parents that the views that the child publicly expressed contradict the current Russian law.

However, a few years ago, Russian teachers were obliged to identify a tendency to terrorism and extremism among their students. Having identified the tendency, the teacher is obliged to inform the director, he must inform the internal affairs bodies, and those to the ED center.

But teachers may well ignore this indication, as many others ignore: do all of them - you will go crazy, and there will be no time to work. They can, but do not ignore, but carefully knock on their students.

That is why the independent trade union “Teacher” considered it necessary to contact the teacher with a reminder that “teachers should act in the interests of the child”:

“We remind you that humanism is the basis of pedagogy, and we urge our colleagues to be professionals who consciously selected the training and raising children of their life. Our task is to solve difficult situations that always arise in schools, in the interests of children and without involving state bodies, the actions of which, as a rule, are repressive.

Our students should be sure that we will respect their statements, regardless of whether we agree with them. Otherwise, there can be no talk of any education, ”the teacher“ Teacher ”says in the appeal of the Council of the Trade Union.

What is the meaning of this appeal, explains one of the members of the trade union. He asked not to call his name - not out of fear for himself, but not to harm the school: pressure on school directors where active members of the trade union or his cells work is not uncommon.

“This statement is an attempt to contact the pedagogical community, and not“ Urbi et orbi, city and world. ” This is our professional question, ”says our interlocutor. - Indeed, several years ago, in many cities of the country, you appeared manuals and orders of local departments or ministries of education, which obliged teachers to monitor students on social networks, to track which of them is inclined to suicidal behavior, terrorism, extremism, etc. It must be borne in mind that any instructions, recommendations, letters of the regional department of education are optional documents. A teacher is a hired employee who fulfills his duties in accordance with the employment contract. It is not written in any employment contract that the teacher should check the social networks of his students or even more so to knock on the student if he declares his political position. Teachers cannot be fired for refusing to do this. And it is also impossible to oblige all teachers to do this. We were not taught at the institutes. I work as a teacher, which means that I do not work as an investigator in the FSB.

The Teacher’s trade union has repeatedly stated that the teacher’s case is to teach, and not to engage in any other activity. Our work suggests that children trust us that they tell us what they want and as they want. That when they give us an essay, it will not appear in some instances with its signature, it will not be published without its knowledge.

And the point is not in the current situation, military or not military, but in the fact that teachers are forced to do what they should not do. And we want to tell colleagues: you are a teacher, not scammers. If you want to be scammers, go to receive a salary in another department. ”