"Careful What You Say At School"

Original Russian article published in Glasnaya
Text by Rina Alexandrova

As the current school year got underway, so did the “military-patriotic” programming that has become a central feature of Russian education: Conversations on Important Topics, weaving camouflage nets and assembling drones in class, as well as “Letters to a Soldier” drives. Parents who disagree with the official line find that they must choose between holding their tongue and trying to raise a child who can think critically – without putting that child or themselves at risk. Glasnaya published these two monologues of mothers ruminating on their relationships with their children and the schools they attend. They show how life under censorship amounts to violence.

My son Artyom is 12, and he loves Putin. Because Putin is our president.