Paul
Goble
Staunton, November 4 – Pupils aged
14 to 16 in 16 Moscow and seven St. Petersburg schools were given open-ended
questions about various social issues. Their answers show that they are
indifferent to civic identity, have only a weak knowledge of cultural values,
and are worried about ethnic and religious problems in their midst and in
Russian society.
In an article on Nazaccent.ru about
this survey, Marina Malafeyeva, a specialist on religion, says that the students’
answers raise some serious issues that she suggests educators and other
officials need to focus on before the attitudes they reflect harden in the
future (nazaccent.ru/content/18216-nedetskaya-ksenofobiya.html).
The first problem the survey identified,
she says, is “an indifferent attitude to issues of civic identity.” Among Moscow pupils, this was expressed in the
lack of seriousness in responding to the questions. Asked to propose a title for a film that
would illustrate “patriotic feelings,” several students suggested “’I am Not a
Patriot.’”
Pupils in St. Petersburg responded
somewhat differently: they in many cases simply didn’t want to answer questions
in this area. Asked if they had taken
part in any social activity several said that they considered this “stupid” and
never had in the past or planned to do so in the future.
The second problem the survey
highlighted, Malofeyeva says, “is the absence of one’s own position on major
social questions.” That was especially true in Moscow where the pupils simply
repeated slogans they had hear. In St.
Petersburg, pupils either ignored the questions or showed they didn’t
understand them.
For example, asked about tolerance,
pupils in the northern capital said that it mean observing the laws of
etiquette or simply not breaking up with a friend if the latter was of a
different religion.
The third problem the survey found
was a confused understanding “about traditional cultural values,” Malofeyeva
continues. Moscow pupils said that
traditional values included “listening to the president on December 31, going
to church on Easter, one-man rule, visiting churches and mosques, and observing
annual fasts.
St. Petersburg pupils offered even
more “absurd” answers, the religious specialist says. Among the Russian
national traditions they identified were alcoholism, drug use, Kurban Bayram,
praying five times a day, love for the opposite sex, and self-expression.
The fourth problem and in Malofeyeva’s
view, “the most dangerous” is “a high level of ethno-religious tension among
the young. This is found in both capitals.
Asked to name no less than three causes of conflict, the Muscovites
pointed to racial differences, religious differences and class differences. The
St. Petersburg answers were similar.
Among the social problems that the
pupils said were agitating them are homophobia, terrorism, nationalism, and
immigration.
One major difference between the two
cities concerns how the pupils think problems should be resolved. The
Muscovites are in favor of getting adults involved; the Petersburgers make now
such recommendation. Instead, they call for compromises, conversations or even
fights to resolve them.
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