Europe inside us

The findings of a recent study entitled “Ukraine’s Future as Seen by Children” are further proof that adults and children in Ukraine live on different planets. Our children appear to be much more mature than their parents, as well as more critical and more realistic. They are true Europeans.

Children between the ages of 10 and 16, who spent their summer holidays at the Artek International Children’s Center, took part in the survey conducted by Kyiv’s Gorshenin Institute of Management Issues. According to the survey results, our children do not divide Ukrainian society into west, east, north, and south. For them, language is a means of learning about the world and their place in it, as well as an opportunity to find a common language with all people. This is the universal response from children living in every region of Ukraine.

Making money is not an objective but a material dimension of freedom, and, according to the young respondents, Uk­rai­ne is the best country in the world.

The most interesting aspect of the survey was that the sociologists did not offer their young respondents ready answers. In­stead, they had to write a composition. It would be worthwhile listening to their ideas because, as they, “out of the mouths of babes...”

Below, Gorshenin Institute expert Viktoria SEVOSTIANOVA has more to say on these findings.

Can one speak of basic trends based on the survey findings?

The survey included a whole range of questions, including: What should Ukraine be like in 10 years to make its citizens proud? What should Ukraine do to be respected by the international community? How should poverty be overcome in Ukraine? What should be done to boost Ukraine’s birth rate?

There were also a number of so-called demographic questions about where children would like to study (type of institution of higher learning, their choice of profession); how many children they would like to have after getting married; what objectives they set for themselves, their prospects, and so on.

Our findings allowed us to single out several major trends. First, our children are very peaceful. They champion the idea of peace and reject any kind of violence or authoritarian governance. They say that Ukraine must be a peaceful country, no matter what; it must maintain friendly relations with all neighboring countries and the rest of the world. Our young respondents often stress that Ukraine must establish international contacts. Quite often they declare that Ukraine must be a unitary and independent state.

What is remarkable is that the children approach these issues in an adult and pragmatic fashion. They stress that Ukraine must embark on its own path and simply maintain normal friendly relations with all countries. Our children believe that it is not necessary to choose between the West or East, Russia or the Euro­pean Union. Ukraine must follow its own road and become a country capable of maintaining its independence.

Invariably, our children mention Ukraine’s underdeveloped economy, the ecological crisis, and the inadequacy of its socioeconomic policy.

Interestingly, quite of number of our young respondents express a negative attitude to their national political community. Many suggest that it be replaced, no two ways about it.

What are our children saying exactly: are they proposing concrete individuals to replace current politicians, or are they simply making general statements?

At the moment, our children do not see any examples in politics worthy of being emulated. So they are not naming anyone in particular. They say that they don’t like any of our politicians; that they are working in their own interests; that none of them really cares for our country and its people. Therefore, all of them have to be replaced.

How do our children view Ukraine as a member of the international community?

Quite often our children state that Ukraine must become a country worthy of respect. Interestingly, a number of children emphasize that Ukraine must learn to respect itself in order to be respected by other countries. In other words, Ukrainians must, first and foremost, respect themselves and then build appropriate relations with other countries. This is a rather interesting trend, considering the respondents’ age.

Generally speaking, it was difficult to choose the best compositions out of the 1,600 that were submitted (the children filled in the questionnaires in the form of expanded comments; there were general and free topics, so each respondent was free to broach any subject s/he considered important). Therefore, certain similarities in their responses are rather substantial. Five percent of the children said they are proud of Ukraine, no matter what, which is a rather high index considering the poll’s format. Since the children were not offered alternate answers, their statements reflect their own ideas and concerns. This is a very important aspect.

According to your survey, a number of children complain that their teachers are not professionals and don’t know how to act with children. Does this mean that this problem is very important to our children?

This question is a truly painful topic among our schoolchildren. Practically every second pupil mentions psychological discomfort at school: s/he complains about the schoolteachers’ conduct rather than the school’s material and technical basis. These children also complain that their teachers are frequently unable to explain the material, and cannot continue the lessons. No matter how banal it sounds, some children note that certain teachers don’t like children. One girl submitted an interesting comment: she proposed making teaching a better paid and more prestigious occupation, because a “normal individual” will never accept this type of job, and the only people who do are those who are unable to do better kinds of work.

Do our children like to study or do they want to grow up as fast as possible?

Opinions vary here. Some children are satisfied with school and are eager to learn. Others say that people who want to gain knowledge will do so under any circumstances; those who don’t want to study will act whatever way they please. However, in response to the question, “What must I absolutely achieve in my life?” our children wrote that they want to help their country, that they see many problems and will do something to resolve them. Some three percent of the children want to become diplomats – to help Ukraine develop international relations. A number of children want to take up politics and work in state structures. In other words, our children are seriously looking ahead to their future. They often say, “When I grow up, I want to be remembered by my people as a nice, good person.”

Politics and diplomacy apart, do any of our children dream of becoming schoolteachers?

Very few. Among the top professions listed by our children are lawyers and economists, followed by the technological occupations. Many children prefer creative careers, such as acting, designing, and architecture. A career in medicine is also popular. In addition, the children confidently answered the question about ways to combat poverty: there must be shelters for children and vagrants so that these social strata can be helped. This is how their views on their future occupations are being formed. Proceeding from this position, a child indicates that s/he wants to become a good doctor in order to help people (rich and poor alike), so that patients will be standing in line for their medical appointments.

They say that the political situation has become such a big part of our life that our children know as much about politics as adults. Is the impact of politics on our children noticeable? How often do they discuss the coalition problems, early elections, or other political issues?

Our children talk about this very often. This trend became noticeable during last year’s survey. Today, the level of our children’s politicization is very high. We have discovered that they tell each other political jokes during school recess, which means that they know their way around the political scene. Their attitude to politicians is markedly skeptical; they complain that Ukrainian politicians lack a serious approach to acute problems. They say that money should be spent not on early elections but on developing the economy. Therefore, our children have quite a rational approach to these problems. Reading their compositions, we noticed that our children are not inclined to discuss individual politicians and their traits. Instead, they believe that an individual must be suited to his or her position, otherwise s/he must resign. This is proof of our children’s pragmatic, rational attitude to politics; they are not prepared to be drawn into this chaos.

Are our children mercenary?

Certainly not. Their way of thinking is rational, yet mercenariness, the desire for monetary gain, is alien to them. For example, none of the young respondents wrote that you have to make as much money as you can in life. Instead, they wrote that they want to get well-paid jobs.

Where do our children dream of living-in Ukraine or abroad?

Most our young respondents want to stay in their native land, Ukraine, although some children wrote in their compositions that they want to get an education outside Ukraine or even live there. A girl wrote that she would be happy not to worry about the way she would live in Ukraine after returning from her travels abroad.

How would you sum up the results of the survey? Can we count on the younger generation to bring better prospects for Ukraine?

We have concluded that our children may be our real hope for Ukraine. There is a new generation with new values, without Soviet stereotypes and holdovers – these young people identify themselves as Ukrainian citizens. They form a single nation. The children who took part in our poll are quite frank; they value justice and are keenly sensitive to populism. They have quite a positive attitude to their native country. A number of submitted compositions contain patriotic statements. Interestingly, it was hard to figure out from which part of Ukraine a given child hailed, east or west. It was only after taking a closer look at their signatures that we were able to determine this. In fact, a number of children from eastern Ukraine submitted their compositions in Ukrainian and demanded that their lessons in school be conducted in Ukrainian.

In contrast, children from western Ukraine often expressed an interest in learning Russian. They also wrote that Ukraine must have good relations with Russia. Our children display a rather calm attitude to the so-called problem of the split in Ukraine. Last year they wrote that this problem is a political invention. I would like to stress that our rising generation is creative, clever, and active. When these children grow up, they will truly build a European country.