Taming of the shrews: naughty students want to be sent to special schools
Public figures and experts in the field of education have proposed a new measure to influence bullies who disrupt the educational process and are not amenable to re-education. They want to give schools the authority to send such children to specialized educational institutions (SUVs) of an open type, where pedagogical supervision of children will be more serious. Similar institutions already exist, but there are few of them, and it is difficult to send a difficult teenager there. The experts interviewed by Izvestia did not support the initiative, although they acknowledged that schools do have problems with bullies that need to be addressed. Izvestia found out what to do with violators of discipline.
What is the essence of the proposal of the social activists
The draft law envisaging the creation of the SUVA was prepared by the expert council on educational policy and the development of the education system, which includes mathematician and founder of the Native School movement Alexei Savvateev, Doctor of Law Anatoly Bethlehemsky, expert of the Federation Council Council on family law Anna Schwabauer, history teacher Innokenty Kresik, member of the Public Council under the Presidential Commissioner for the rights of the child Oksana Padalko and others.
In a published statement, Alexei Savvateev writes that so far the school does not have the authority to transfer students to open-type specialized institutions, so "bullies feel and realize their impunity." The Expert Council proposed to give such powers, noting that transfer to a special school would be possible with the consent of the Commission on juvenile Affairs.
The draft law, which the expert council sent to the State Duma, states that such measures will affect a small group of students, but will have a "great educational impact on other students." In fact, it is proposed to "return the practice when the school could remove the notorious bully from the classroom in order, on the one hand, to protect the rest of the students from him and protect his victims, and on the other hand, to give him a chance to correct himself by teaching him in a special school." It is understood that in a special institution such children will receive "adequate pedagogical assistance" and will be able to enter life as decent people.
The explanatory note indicates that schools currently do not have effective tools to influence students under the age of 15: expulsion is prohibited, and other measures do not work. As a result, even when it comes to actions with signs of criminal offenses, students remain in the classroom, and the school cannot protect either teachers or other children.
An example is a situation that got into the media. In the Sverdlovsk region, a teenager hit a classmate and injured her ribs, but he could not be expelled from school because his parents refused to transfer to another institution. The court sentenced the child to one year and eight months of probation. As a result, he continued his studies with the girl he attacked.
According to the school's decision, children from 11 to 18 years old are invited to be sent to special institutions if they systematically violate discipline or if they have already been criminally prosecuted. The transfer decision can be challenged both within the educational system and in court.
The authors of the bill acknowledge that steps will be needed to increase the number of such special schools, but they believe that they can be opened without additional budget costs on the basis of 12 flagship schools — this is a project of the Ministry of Education, according to which a network of institutions with the most advanced technologies in infrastructure and education should appear by 2030.
They want to make changes to the laws "On Education in the Russian Federation" and "On the basics of the system of prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency."
How SUVs work in Russia
In fact, this initiative provides for additional responsibility for schools, warned Boris Ilyukhin, senior researcher at the Center for Economics of Continuing Education at the Presidential Academy.
— Special educational institutions of an open type still exist, but the right to send children to them has been granted to commissions for juvenile affairs - that is, in fact, to law enforcement agencies. Unlike closed—type institutions, where only the court can send," the source told Izvestia. — And they are sent there with the consent of the parents and the child himself (if he is 14 years old). So there is a mechanism, but whether it is worth changing is a big question.
According to Boris Ilyukhin, possible lawsuits from parents against the school's decisions will lead to the measure "ceasing to be applied at all": it will become "more expensive" for the principal to use it.
The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation confirmed to Izvestia that there is already a mechanism for sending students to open-type institutions, and we are talking about schoolchildren aged 8 to 18 years. Students with "persistent illegal behavior" who refuse to attend schools and have difficulties in social adaptation can get there. The decision is made by the resolution of the Commission on Juvenile Affairs and Protection of their rights.
Currently, there are 19 such institutions in 17 regions of the Russian Federation (including two professional educational organizations), with 2,167 children studying there. All special schools are under the jurisdiction of the regions.
They deal with "overcoming the consequences of school and social maladaptation of minors with deviant behavior", forming their conscious need for education and profession. Children are taught self-control, comprehension of their own capabilities and prospects. Personal work on individual development programs is possible. Measures are also being taken to restore child-parent relations if they have been lost.
— The Government Commission on Juvenile Affairs and Protection of Their Rights has instructed the subjects of the Russian Federation to work out the issue of using the resources of such organizations. The Ministry of Education of Russia, at meetings with regional ministers, has set the task of resolving this issue in each region," the ministry said.
However, experts urge not to rush to expand this practice. Irina Abankina, a professor at the HSE Institute of Education, notes the possible negative consequences of transferring children with bad behavior to one environment: the concentration of such children can increase the mutual negative impact. The expert is sure that the problem should be solved in those places where children are already studying.
In turn, Dmitry Kazakov, chairman of the Uchitel trade union, a teacher of history and social studies, calls the proposed mechanism "repressive." He believes that this approach does not cure the causes of the disease, but only works with its consequences.
— This measure will further embitter children. Why are they behaving like this? Probably because of problems at home, in their environment, because of someone's bad influence. And then the school, instead of psychological support and help, takes repressive measures against you. The bill, in my opinion, is inhumane," the Izvestia interlocutor emphasizes, expressing categorical disagreement with the initiative.
How to solve the problem of bullies
The Ministry of Education claims that schools already have a "set of tools" for dealing with school bullies: both pedagogical methods and administrative measures. First, violators can be registered within the school in order to provide support for the student and his family. Not only teachers can be involved in this process, but also juvenile affairs units, additional education organizations, the Movement of the First, other children's and volunteer organizations, and health workers. If necessary, the issue is considered at meetings of the commissions on juvenile affairs and protection of their rights.
There are also penalties against students for non-compliance with discipline: remark, reprimand, expulsion. And from September 1, the authorities plan to officially introduce a behavior assessment, which the Ministry of Education calls an "additional tool of influence" on students.
However, in reality, tools for working with difficult teenagers often turn out to be ineffective, says Igor Murog, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture.
"Parents don't always get in touch, psychologists at schools are overloaded, and strict measures only temporarily muffle the problem, but don't root it out," he says. — Today, there are not enough good psychologists in small towns, there are no working programs to correct behavior, and teachers are sometimes afraid to take at least some measures in case they complain. As a result, many people just try to hush up the conflict.
The parliamentarian proposes to strengthen the cooperation of schools with psychological assistance centers and, if necessary, send difficult teenagers to specialists outside educational institutions.
In turn, Boris Ilyukhin sees a solution to the problem in strengthening the responsibility of parents for raising children, imposing fines for child discipline violations and improving the accounting of minor offenses.
The school has now become a place where a large number of conflicts occur, Dmitry Kazakov draws attention. And to solve the problem, first of all, it is necessary to create conditions so that children can study in a normal environment, and teachers can teach and educate.
— When the teacher and the homeroom teacher are overloaded, there is simply no time to deal with the problems of relationships between students and parenting in general, — he reminds.
The situation is also affected by the fact that the relationship between teachers and students has changed today, says Irina Abankina. According to her, the teacher is no longer perceived as an unquestioning authority. Assessment for behavior, according to the expert, will also have no effect on the situation, because it does not allow further measures to be taken against children.
— Now school administrations often act through pressure on the family, demanding to take the child to family education. This is quite a massive phenomenon," adds the interlocutor of Izvestia.
However, she notes, behavior is often associated with family problems, regardless of her income and status. Therefore, Irina Abankina sees a solution in the appearance of "liberated" workers in schools who would pay special attention to children who do not cope with discipline. And preferably men, in order to even out the gender imbalance in schools. Such specialists could also supervise families. She acknowledges that this approach will require additional budget expenditures, but considers this measure necessary.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
