Children in military patriotic camps learn about patriotism and violence
The number of military patriotic camps in our country will increase by 3.5 times. It seems that such camps have become very popular during the first year of their existence. But parents should know that children supervised by the police will learn to be patriots together with their kids. This is a different kind of patriotism.
Such a camp may seem to be a dream for every romantic schoolboy: the romance of the training ground, military discipline, excursions to battle fields of the past. And it is very cheap – parents have to pay only 15-19 thousand BRB for 20 days.
At the same time Alyaksandr Shalik, the head of the inspection on minors’ problems of Slutsk District Department of the Interior, confessed to ERB: “Parents are unaware of the situation in military camps”. Otherwise they would have worried about their children.
Alyaksandr Shalіk: “A lot of children whose behavior is antisocial gather there. They need a place to express themselves. Force decides everything among boys. The stronger try to override the weaker. Weak children suffer from pressure. If you investigate it you can even learn about sexual harassment and some other things happening there”.
Some children escape from the camp and get into the category of “complicated children”. Escaping from the camp territory is considered to be an infringement. The head of the preventive measures department of Minsk City Executive Committee Andrei Ambrazhei says that even members of the staff become victims of children in such camps.
Andrei Ambrazhei: “There are not only infringements but crimes too. Last year we registered 42 crimes among which there were thefts of cell phones of other children and of members of the staff”.
There are only boys in military patriotic camps. “Complicated” and regular youngsters are taken to excursions to battlefields of the past (for example to the “Stalin’s line”) while “the special category of children” visit confinement cells. There are no events in the evenings – no discos – just retreat.
“Ideology is the basis of bringing up children”, -says Andrei Shalik. Andrei Ambrazhei explained the meaning of it to the European Radio for Belarus:
Andrei Ambrazhei: “We are making activists of the BRUY responsible for them. They are working with each child individually and prepare reports about their work for the inspection of minors’ problems every 3 months”.
Interestingly, youngsters do not always get to military camps because they want it. Negotiations with parents or tutors of complicated children are organized and they agree to it. Alyaksandr Shalik noted that no special investigation or check-up is performed before accepting such children to camps.
Alyaksandr Shalіk: “They all meet in the camp. Problem families – drunkards, schizophrenics etc. Then it turns out that mental deficients are placed together with healthy children and it makes them feel discomfort. It can make children feel disinclined to go to any camps”.
Violence and other terrible things are not typical of every military patriotic camp. But parents are unlikely to be eager to find it out by leaving their children there.
Such a camp may seem to be a dream for every romantic schoolboy: the romance of the training ground, military discipline, excursions to battle fields of the past. And it is very cheap – parents have to pay only 15-19 thousand BRB for 20 days.
At the same time Alyaksandr Shalik, the head of the inspection on minors’ problems of Slutsk District Department of the Interior, confessed to ERB: “Parents are unaware of the situation in military camps”. Otherwise they would have worried about their children.
Alyaksandr Shalіk: “A lot of children whose behavior is antisocial gather there. They need a place to express themselves. Force decides everything among boys. The stronger try to override the weaker. Weak children suffer from pressure. If you investigate it you can even learn about sexual harassment and some other things happening there”.
Some children escape from the camp and get into the category of “complicated children”. Escaping from the camp territory is considered to be an infringement. The head of the preventive measures department of Minsk City Executive Committee Andrei Ambrazhei says that even members of the staff become victims of children in such camps.
Andrei Ambrazhei: “There are not only infringements but crimes too. Last year we registered 42 crimes among which there were thefts of cell phones of other children and of members of the staff”.
There are only boys in military patriotic camps. “Complicated” and regular youngsters are taken to excursions to battlefields of the past (for example to the “Stalin’s line”) while “the special category of children” visit confinement cells. There are no events in the evenings – no discos – just retreat.
“Ideology is the basis of bringing up children”, -says Andrei Shalik. Andrei Ambrazhei explained the meaning of it to the European Radio for Belarus:
Andrei Ambrazhei: “We are making activists of the BRUY responsible for them. They are working with each child individually and prepare reports about their work for the inspection of minors’ problems every 3 months”.
Interestingly, youngsters do not always get to military camps because they want it. Negotiations with parents or tutors of complicated children are organized and they agree to it. Alyaksandr Shalik noted that no special investigation or check-up is performed before accepting such children to camps.
Alyaksandr Shalіk: “They all meet in the camp. Problem families – drunkards, schizophrenics etc. Then it turns out that mental deficients are placed together with healthy children and it makes them feel discomfort. It can make children feel disinclined to go to any camps”.
Violence and other terrible things are not typical of every military patriotic camp. But parents are unlikely to be eager to find it out by leaving their children there.
