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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

THE ZONE OF CHILDHOOD ALIENATION The development of children living within 30 kilometers of Chornobyl is in danger

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Experts conducted an experiment among six-year old children from Moscow oblast that never even heard of a disaster in Chornobyl. Employee of the Psychological Institute with Russian Academy of Science Abramenkova suggested them to draw an atomic power station using pencils of various colors. Children were not told how to draw it, but the results turned out astonishing.

A five year old girl sees the atomic power plant as a black and gray building under the absolutely black sky, gray fleshless people comments, "everybody died".

Almost all children used dark colors to draw the station; there was nothing alive around the plant, which seemed to exist all by itself. Researchers were surprised by not only similarity of children's drawings, but also the special features of the symbols they used — crosses, steel bars, posts with barbed wire, scull and crossbones, signs that read: Danger, Nuclear Waste, Gas. As it turned out it was the words combination "atomic power plant" that called forth such hidden alarm. But the experiment was conducted four years after the disaster among six-year-olds, who practically knew nothing about it. "How strong the tragedy is inside of those who live close to Chornobyl?" asks Svetlana Tyshchenko, supervisory research associate of the Kostiuk Institute of Psychology with Ukrainian Pedagogical Academy. "Our children continue undergoing a terrible natural experiment. They are affected daily by factors that cause incurable traumas in their consciousness." During the last three years psychologists from a work group formed in the Kostiuk Institute of Psychology and chaired by academician Oleksandr Kyrychuk examined 6000 children between five and seventeen years old, who live in the contaminated area (The Day has already partially informed its readers on the preliminary results of this large scale research). According to test results, 80% of the children have or low and average development; influence of various stresses damaged the most fragile structure of child's personality — their emotional attitude toward the world and psychological defense mechanisms. This damage provokes over-protectiveness, lack of self-confidence, aggressiveness, and other signs of destruction.

CHORNOBYL — MALIGNANT SWELLING OF CHILDREN'S AGGRESSION

"Under the influence of low dozes of radiation on a child and his parents in the absence of genetic pathologies, we are dealing a the factor that causes pathology in psycho-physiological systems," says general psychology laboratory head Chepa. Experimental facts proved that the part of the brain that controls the nervous system according to environment changes and regulates attention functions is the most liable to the influence of radiation." This is probably why 75% of examined six-year-old children displayed a low level of memorizing ability. 68% have trouble concentrating and a short attention span. 62% have a low level of mental operations.

PERSONALITY ENDANGERED

According to the head of the working group, Academician Oleksandr Kyrychuk, all spheres of children's development have been considerably deformed. From the viewpoint of physical development norms the children examined displayed a low adaptation ability to psychological, intellectual, and emotional pressure. They tired very quickly and have trouble orienting themselves and in focusing attention. The children are practically unconscious of their organism and feel no need for a healthy lifestyle. "In the social development sphere these children are strangely compliant to the external influence. They have no position of their own, which is a good ground for alcoholism, drug dependency, and juvenile delinquency. Their indices of social communicativeness is much lower compared to children who live in clean areas. However, their aggression index is four times higher than that of children living in Poltava." Among important aggression factors there is a victim complex, formed by the special status of living in the zone. "But a child will only develop if he believes in himself," says Oleksandr Vasyliovych excitedly. While state officials investigate who was the first to use their Chornobyl privileges, a whole generation is growing up affected by the Chornobyl disease of disappointment and unable to realize themselves. Adults still have chance to help these children, or we may lose them forever.

 

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