A manual on working with children of migrants prone to crime has been distributed to Russian regions.
Vedomosti discovered a document recommending teachers strengthen their monitoring of such children. It was developed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and is posted on several regional education ministry websites.
The recommendations raise the question of the balance between supporting children who have difficulty adapting and the risk of their separate “labeling” based on their nationality—which is especially relevant in light of the tightening of immigration legislation.
NotMoscow I studied the manual. On the one hand, it was written professionally, gently, without propaganda, and taking into account the psychological characteristics of children who have changed their familiar environment and home environment. The document examines the phenomenon of maladjustment from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, pedagogy, medicine, and criminology.
On the other hand, experts point out the inappropriateness of the title. "Why should we deliberately prepare teachers in advance for the possibility that children of foreign citizens will engage in illegal conversations?" asks the co-chair of the "Teacher" trade union. Vsevolod Lukhovitsky.
The authors of the manual offer various options for assisting with socialization and delinquency prevention, advising the analysis of student work and statements, recording instances of "extreme judgments" and "intolerance." Particular attention in integration is suggested to be given to "Conversations about Important Things." "historical memory, traditional Russian values, and state symbols of the Russian Federation."
Family psychologist Anastasia Kotelnikova notes that individual events are not able to influence children's behavior: “We need to make ‘values’ not a lecture, but an environment.”
The guidelines are not a regulatory document—schools will decide for themselves whether to use them or not.
