""I'm a Russian emigrant journalist and former political activist. I gained access to these materials through someone currently enrolled in a Russian school, who was able to send me the textbooks and lesson plans necessary for this analysis. Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, and its implications for our planet's future, deeply alarm me. I'm also concerned for the future of my country's children: I'm witnessing the most ruthless propaganda machine to emerge since Goebbels-and it's unfolding in real time.""
""It's a pro-regime indoctrination session masquerading as education-a systematic attempt by the state to reshape an entire generation's consciousness, using the school system as an instrument of military propaganda. "Conversations About Important Matters" "Conversations about important matters" operates like a well-oiled propaganda system. Every week, thousands of Russian schools receive ready-made guides from the program's official website. Teachers don't need to think up anything-everything is already written in Moscow, including precise question formulations and "correct" answers.""
On Feb. 24, 2022 Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian border. On Sept. 5, 18 million Russian schoolchildren began mandatory weekly lessons called "conversations about important matters," required for grades 1–11 and ages 6–18. Lessons promote serving the motherland, "restoring historical justice" in Crimea, and portray modern soldiers as real heroes while denigrating Western figures. Since 2022 students have attended 102 lessons. The program provides ready-made guides and scripted questions and "correct" answers from the official website, leaving teachers to read Moscow-prepared materials. The program functions as state-directed military propaganda aimed at reshaping a generation's consciousness.
Read at Slate Magazine
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