Education - The First Step towards Tolerance

If asked what a first measure would be to combat extremism among the population, many an informed observer would answer "education'. In St. Petersburg, parental meetings were held in April and May to discuss the ways to fight youth extremism.

On July 11, the St. Petersburg district attorney's office reported that 746 parent meetings were held in April and May in the general education establishments, as well as in vocational schools. The discussions were focused on the questions of teaching the young to be tolerant, and on raising awareness on the propagation in the teenage medium of social, national, racial, and religious hostility.

The initiative came from home affairs officers, and from specialists within the division of education, culture and youth policy of the regional administration.

The attention was focused on the status of the teenage criminality - crimes of an extremist nature included - and the prefect acknowledged the responsibility of the administration for the recorded manifestations of extremism. The work of the state administration and of the local governance and law-enforcement agencies for preventive measures against youth extremism was explained.

The parents were advised to monitor :the entourage of their minor children, their leisure activities, and their political and religious views;. Nevertheless, the thin line between countering extremism and infringing the freedom of expression was crossed before in the same way, and it remains to be seen whether the meetings have succeeded in thickening this line.