Russia intensifies surveillance of teenagers, schools monitor social media, and responsibility is shifted to teachers - Foreign Intelligence Service
Kyiv • UNN
The Foreign Intelligence Service reports that the Kremlin is tightening control over teenagers in Russian schools, forcing educators to monitor students' online activity. In Tatarstan, schools require parental consent for social media monitoring, and teachers are obliged to track suspicious activity.
The Kremlin is tightening control over teenagers in Russian schools: educators are forced to monitor students' online activity and enhance physical security, while responsibility for potential incidents is entirely shifted to them. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service, writes UNN.
In Russian regions, control over teenagers is being strengthened under the pretext of "preventing destructive behavior." For example, in Tatarstan, schools have started requiring written consent from parents for monitoring students' social media pages. Parents of children in grades 5-11 are asked to provide teenagers' phone numbers and account names, and the responsibility for monitoring students' online activity has been assigned to homeroom teachers.
Formally, the initiative is explained by the need to "timely detect the influence of destructive communities" and parents' participation is called voluntary. At the same time, educators and parents themselves admit that in practice, teachers had previously monitored the pages of individual students whom they considered "problematic." According to one parent in Kazan, homeroom teachers are asked to record everything that seems suspicious – from subscriptions to reposts and personal posts.
In parallel with digital surveillance, physical security measures are being strengthened in Russian schools. After two high-profile attacks in one week in Ufa – a shooting at a gymnasium and a knife attack on foreigners in a student dormitory – mass inspections began in educational institutions. Criminal cases were opened against the attackers, but at the same time, the investigation also opened proceedings under the article "negligence," effectively placing part of the responsibility on educators.
Teachers are forced to come to schools earlier, patrol entrances, and more thoroughly "monitor students." According to the educators themselves, the requirements appear formal and ineffective: they are not endowed with either the authority or the tools for full-fledged inspections, while dangerous objects can easily be carried in a backpack. Despite this, the school is increasingly seen as the sole party responsible for children's safety.
The Kremlin is tightening total control over teenagers – both online and offline – but in the event of emergencies, it shifts the blame to teachers.