Author
Andrey Sorokin
We have to talk to the children

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Andrey Sorokin

One day I was invited to an Orthodox gymnasium to tell high school students about the device of the Internet, information security and all kinds of behavior of users on the Network. After learning about the topic, the gymnasium authorities slightly tensed up, and I calmed them down as best I could, the information, in general, is useful for both children and adults. In our reality, not knowing how it works is like traveling through the jungle blindly, taking an awkward step to the side and stepping on a crocodile. Then there will be difficulties. Before the class started, the head teacher and the class teacher sat down decorously at the last desk, and I politely asked them to leave, because I know that under such a watchful eye, no frank conversation with high school students would work, and I needed to talk to the children. After this request of mine, the respected deputy for educational work strained even more, considering me an extremist in advance.

The first question I asked the children (although I knew the answer without it) was "Please raise your hands, who has social media accounts?". And - silence was my answer. The guys who had just been keenly interested in who I was and what an unusual lesson was about to be, suddenly lowered their eyes, and it was clear that everyone wanted to hide somewhere. I was surprised. What is it? Did I really get to another planet? But no, this planet was familiar to me. Without raising his head, the young man from the first desk quietly said: "Everyone has, but we can't talk about it here."

Is it my turn to be surprised? How so? Two worlds, two Shapiro - joked in my Soviet childhood. One world – the blissful atmosphere of the gymnasium, pinafores, bangs, "God save me", "I give the blessing", do not make noise, do not run, decorously, with dignity. And the other is the world of ordinary teenagers: social networks, computer games, tiktok (well, where without it), insta and other joys of modern technology.

The children liked the lesson, they did not want to let go. Unlike the vigilant teachers who listened to my entire lecture under the door in the school corridor. It is clear why I was considered an extremist – in the gymnasium, under the icons, no one (did not want, could not, did not consider it necessary – emphasize your option) did not talk to children about their online life, about their hobbies, about what worries them, what worries them, what scares them. Hence - in general, no one talked to the children about their extra-military life. There is a strict schedule – morning rule, blessing, lessons, do not wear bright, do not talk loudly, do not laugh and do not look in the eyes. Adults play their games in the gymnasium, children - coming out of it.

And all this, I think, is far from brotherhood and sisterhood, from the joy in Christ and the light of Orthodoxy, which we talk about so often. After all, Christ did not call for hypocrisy, which pierced us to the very last paper clip (he almost wrote "paper clips"), but for love, which everyone lacks. And it is even sadder that there is not enough of it in an educational institution called the Orthodox gymnasium.

All these thoughts, of course, about the tragic case in Serpukhov. This is a lesson for us adults. It is necessary to talk to children. About God, about the Internet, about hormones, about politics, about Orthodoxy, about music, about business, about life. Talk. So that they laugh, think, rejoice and look into the eyes. So that they trust us and live the same life with us here and now, and not outside the gates of the gymnasium after lessons.

Today, all the police officers in the city of Kurgan have been making a bonfire of modern pedagogy. Because they were forced to go on heavy duty in all schools of the city. Someone on the Net ann

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