To force or not to force? Is it necessary to involve schoolchildren in cleaning floors, windows, and other cleaning on a voluntary basis?
The internet is replete with heartbreaking stories. “My daughter in the camp was forced to wash the toilet without gloves.” “My son was forced to clean the toilet in kindergarten.” “The schoolboy on duty washed the teacher’s toilet and received gratitude” … And here is another work drama: in the sports school of St. Petersburg six 10-year-old gymnasts were removed from training and right in smart suits – the girls were rehearsing a performance number – they were sent to scrub the soiled toilet bowl and floor with toilet paper. According to the parents, the children experienced shock and humiliation, and one girl contracted an intestinal infection. The prosecutor’s office is checking this story. And Woman’s Day understands how useful such labor education is for children.
Article 34 of the “Law on Education” states that children have the right to “respect for human dignity, protection from all forms of physical and mental violence, personal insults, protection of life and health.”
And a little further: “The involvement of students without their consent and underage students without the consent of their parents (legal representatives) to work not provided for by the educational program is prohibited.”
In this situation, the girls were saved by the lawyer of the school, which was passing by. She made them wash their hands thoroughly and sent them to continue their interrupted workout.
On the other hand, if one of the children at home gets dirty on the toilet, mom will probably make him clean up after him and she will be right. Another thing is that this can be done in different ways, softly explaining or roughly scolding.
But what if you have to clean not for yourself, but for others? Is it humiliation or not? Will the child receive psychological trauma, will the others laugh at him?
Mothers of young gymnasts turned to the children’s ombudsman Svetlana Agapitova for protection.
– Difficult situation? I think, yes. Humiliation? Sure. And, of course, there will be a check, – reflects the Ombudsman for the Rights of the Child. – But … Somehow everything is easier at home. If you know for sure that your child has dirty the toilet, then you tell him about it, he cleans up and, as a rule, one such lesson is enough for the rest of his life. At school, everything is more complicated. And if you are not sure who exactly did this, I think it is unacceptable to remove the entire team from training and force them to clean the toilet bowl and mop the floor with their bare hands. Or is it such a collective lesson in correct toilet behavior? And most importantly, how traumatic was it for young athletes? I wonder how other parents would behave if such a restroom story happened to their children?
There will be no psychological trauma if the child is loved. It’s all about the attitude to the situation. You can tell your child: you have made the world cleaner, you are great. Or you can: you fool, you washed the toilet. All adolescents are worried about one thing or another, but if he feels support in the family, then the transitional age will be easier. And if the family is dysfunctional, then any story can hurt him. There are no children with an unhealthy psyche in harmonious, loving families. In Japanese schools, students themselves wash the toilets in the school, there are no cleaners, it is not a shame for them. And nothing, they grow up to be worthy people and know how to respect their own and other people’s work. And in the Soviet Union there was one story. An American millionaire came to a plant in Siberia. I went to the toilet: “Oh, how dirty!” I took a bucket and washed everything myself. It all depends on the perception of the situation.
Interview
Can a child be forced to wash the floors at school?
It is possible and necessary. Upbringing through labor has not hurt anyone yet.
It would be nice. So the child will learn to respect other people’s work.
You cannot force. Only at the request of the child himself.
It is forbidden. At school, the child should learn, not wave a mop.