- 36 minutes ago
Russia’s weekly “Conversations About What Matters” lessons are presented as harmless classroom discussions—but what are children actually being taught? Drawing on her memories of Soviet schooling, Elvira Bary examines how patriotism, group pressure and state-approved lessons can shape young people’s views of loyalty, war and dissent.
This video essay traces echoes of Soviet education in modern Russian schools, from scripted lessons and patriotic rituals to quiet resistance by teachers and families. It also explores how propaganda reaches children differently across wealthy cities, poorer neighborhoods and rural communities. For viewers interested in Russia, Putin, political propaganda, education, Soviet history and the psychology of authoritarianism, this is an analysis of how classroom messaging can influence a generation. A useful watch for anyone exploring media literacy, indoctrination and the politics of children’s education.
This video essay traces echoes of Soviet education in modern Russian schools, from scripted lessons and patriotic rituals to quiet resistance by teachers and families. It also explores how propaganda reaches children differently across wealthy cities, poorer neighborhoods and rural communities. For viewers interested in Russia, Putin, political propaganda, education, Soviet history and the psychology of authoritarianism, this is an analysis of how classroom messaging can influence a generation. A useful watch for anyone exploring media literacy, indoctrination and the politics of children’s education.
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00:00The Russian authorities don't call it propaganda.
00:03They call it conversations about what matters.
00:06It sounds harmless, even wholesome.
00:10Every Monday morning, across Russia, children file into classrooms,
00:14open their notebooks and prepare for a new subject
00:18that didn't exist just a few years ago.
00:20No tests, no homework.
00:23Just a teacher reading from a government-approved script
00:26accompanied by sleekly produced videos.
00:30My name is Elvira Barry.
00:31I was born in the Soviet Union and I remember exactly how it feels
00:36when the government starts shaping your worldview
00:40before you are old enough to understand what's happening.
00:44Back then, we had communist rituals, patriotic songs and essays praising the motherland.
00:52The goal was to build loyalty before conscience.
00:57Today, history repeats itself.
00:59Russia is once again raising children not to think, but to obey.
01:04In the process, they are creating something much darker.
01:08Future imperialists, nationalists and executioners.
01:13People who will follow any order, no matter how senseless or cruel.
01:19This is how Putin's Russia brainwashes its children.
01:23And it's happening right now.
01:29It's happening right now.
01:30Conversations about what matters launched in 2022 are now mandatory weekly classes in
01:36every Russian school, from first grade through graduation.
01:40At first, they were introduced quietly.
01:44Then came a grand patriotic campaign.
01:48The core message is drilled in early.
01:50Russia is always right, Russia is strong, and Russia must be defended.
01:55Even if that means dying for it.
01:59But let's be clear.
02:00When they say Russia, they don't mean the people.
02:03They mean the state, the elite, the small circle of men determined to hold power for as long as possible.
02:10Men who need bodies for their wars, fists for their police, voices for propaganda, and loyal bureaucrats to keep the
02:19system running.
02:20Of course, none of this is said out loud.
02:23Russian propaganda operates at a very high level.
02:26Perfected over generations, thanks to Soviet legacies and even older traditions rooted in
02:32Orthodox religious schooling dating back to the birth of Russian Christianity.
02:38It taps into instincts older than any ideology.
02:41First, it exploits humanity's most basic division – us versus them.
02:49Children learn to be vigilant, always watching for spies, traitors, and anyone deviating from the approved path.
02:57Second, it creates sacred symbols and abstract ideas – things children cannot touch, question, or verify.
03:05They quickly learn – loyalty to these symbols earns praise.
03:11Failure means rejection and social exclusion.
03:14That fear of rejection kicks in long before children understand it.
03:19In prehistoric times, being cast out from the tribe meant death.
03:24That instinct lives inside us.
03:27Children comply not because they believe, but because something deep whispers – stay safe, stay accepted.
03:36Finally, there is peer pressure.
03:38When everyone repeats the same message, quiet disagreement makes you feel small and powerless.
03:46You can't organize or resist.
03:49Group pressure is another ancient survival instinct.
03:52In the Stone Age, unity meant life, disagreement meant death.
03:58Being the black sheep feels dangerous, even if you are physically safe.
04:03Constant stress forces you to fight yourself rather than the system.
04:08Those running these propaganda lessons aren't evolutionary psychologists.
04:13Most don't know why their approach works.
04:16They are simply following a formula passed down through generations.
04:21Because those in power have always known this is how you control your subjects.
04:33If this feels familiar, it should.
04:37Russia has done it before.
04:38In the Soviet Union, education was never neutral.
04:42It was a weapon.
04:44Children learned that Stalin was the wisest man of all times.
04:49That the Communist Party was their true family.
04:52And that betraying the state was worse than betraying their own parents.
04:58Loyalty wasn't encouraged.
05:00It was demanded.
05:02Even math problems had military themes.
05:05If one Soviet tank destroys three enemy tanks per hour, how many will it destroy in six hours?
05:12Teachers weren't free to teach.
05:14Their job was to mold Homo Sovieticus, a new kind of human who fought collectively,
05:20obeyed blindly, and trusted the state more than their own eyes.
05:25Deviation was harshly punished.
05:27A teacher criticizing the party could be branded an enemy of the people.
05:32Students were encouraged to report on parents, neighbors, even classmates.
05:37One boy became a national hero for denouncing his father to the secret police.
05:42His name was Pavlik Morozov.
05:45From 1948 to 1991, his monument stood in a Moscow park.
05:50I remember how it was.
05:52From the first day of school, we knew who our heroes were.
05:57Lenin, father of the Soviet state.
06:00Gagarin, the first man in space.
06:02And a long list of child martyrs from wars and revolutions.
06:07But none of them felt real.
06:10Their portraits were everywhere.
06:12Black and white.
06:13Retouched so many times, their faces seemed unnatural.
06:16We didn't see them as people, but as icons.
06:21Every week, we gathered for our version of today's conversations about what matters,
06:27called political information sessions.
06:30Teachers read articles from Pravda o Izveste, celebrating Soviet successes, denouncing the imperialist
06:38West, and praising the party.
06:39It was painfully boring.
06:42Nobody listened.
06:44Even teachers didn't care.
06:46For them, it was just another box to check.
06:49The actual message didn't matter.
06:51We didn't know anyone from America or Israel.
06:54The countries we were told to fear.
06:56Lenin and communist ideologues had no real bearing on our lives.
07:01But for some students, these sessions offered an opportunity.
07:07The top students, hungry for praise, volunteered to prepare materials, often the first step toward
07:14a party career.
07:15In reality, these sessions served two purposes.
07:19Administrators proved their loyalty by reporting they had taken place and identified eager students
07:26to promote into Soviet youth organizations.
07:28The Soviet goal was to reach children early.
07:32If successful, no one needed to fight for their loyalty later.
07:36That's why the early Soviet Union had no shortage of young, ideologically driven people ready to
07:42fight wars or build railroads beyond the Arctic Circle.
07:47And that's exactly what today's conversations about what matters aim to replicate.
07:52Creating a new generation ready to sacrifice for the idea.
07:57And expandable resource.
08:00When the war with Ukraine began, Putin was genuinely surprised.
08:04There was no line at the enlistment offices.
08:08He'd assumed people would eagerly die for his ambitions.
08:12They didn't.
08:14The generation now in their 20s and 30s grew up without this kind of early patriotic indecination.
08:21Putin's only option was to pay enormous sums to persuade people to fight.
08:26But his system doesn't have bottomless pockets.
08:30It's far cheaper and wiser to invest in propaganda now.
08:34In 5 or 10 years, he'll have a fully indecinated generation
08:39ready to fight and die simply because the man at the top tells them to.
08:49The Russian state ordered schools to bring wash children.
08:54But quickly realized it didn't have enough trained people to do it effectively.
09:00So, lesson plans are developed centrally by the Institute for Education Strategy and the Ministry of Education.
09:08All materials come pre-packaged, unloaded to an online platform ready for teachers to download and deliver.
09:16Every week, teachers receive a full script, exact phrases to say, specific images to show, and moral conclusions to emphasize.
09:26A leaked 2023 document outlined the intended outcomes.
09:30Students should understand the moral correctness of Russia's actions in Ukraine,
09:37admire the heroism of its soldiers, and identify threats to traditional values.
09:44One objective even included building greater resistance to destructive Western influences.
09:52But here's the core problem.
09:54There's hardly any real ideology left.
09:58Nothing fresh or inspiring.
10:00Nothing that could define a person or steer genuine passion.
10:05Propaganda works best when the world divides neatly into us versus them.
10:10Suppose Russia claims to defend traditional values.
10:14Fine.
10:15But what exactly are those values?
10:19According to the Ministry, they include life, dignity, human rights, patriotism, strong families,
10:26creativity, humanism, justice, collectivism, historical memory, and unity.
10:32But how is that different from values held in France, America, Britain, or Japan?
10:38Worse yet, reality in Russia directly contradicts nearly every one of these ideals.
10:55And that entire us versus them narrative rests on three lies.
11:01The lie that the West rejects these values or actively attacks them.
11:07The lie that the West has always sought to destroy Russia.
11:11And the lie that Russia's rulers actually uphold these values themselves.
11:17Family values.
11:19Putin abandoned his wife for a younger gymnast.
11:22Humanism and mercy.
11:24Russian soldiers are sent to war as disposable tools,
11:28let alone Ukrainians dying under Russian bombs.
11:32This propaganda only works if children are cut off from the outside world.
11:36And that's exactly what Russian authorities ensure.
11:40Even if parents disagree with indeclination, there's little they can do.
11:45In Soviet times, children were state property.
11:48Today, that same attitude is quietly returning.
11:57Today's conversation about what matters don't just praise Russia.
12:01In Russia, they rewrite history.
12:03Stalin is rehabilitated.
12:06The annexation of Crimea is celebrated.
12:09Opposition leaders are raised.
12:11The war in Ukraine?
12:12Renamed a special military operation and presented to children as a noble mission.
12:18This is not about ideas.
12:20It's about identity.
12:22One internal report describes the goal as fostering a unified moral patriotic consciousness.
12:30That phrase should scare you.
12:32Because this is not education.
12:35It's programming.
12:37So, next time you feel frustrated by political division in your country, remember, the alternative is this.
12:45When you start programming children from age 6 to accept war, loyalty, and sacrifice as moral duties, you are not
12:52raising citizens.
12:54You are raising fanatics.
12:56Some lessons sound harmless – family, tradition, heroes of their motherland.
13:01But underneath, the pattern is clear, glorifies sacrifice, label descent as treason, and elevate blind loyalty over critical thinking.
13:13One Moscow mother said her 7-year-old came home confused after a lesson on bravery.
13:19The teacher explained how noble it was to die for Russia during the special military operation.
13:25The child asked,
13:27Mom, would you be proud of me if I died like that?
13:31Another nationwide lesson titled, What is a true citizen?
13:37Praised unconditional loyalty and denounced foreign influence.
13:42Children are told the West is corrupt, Ukraine is a Nazi state, and fallen soldiers are martyrs.
13:50Teachers assign thank-you letters to soldiers at the front.
13:54Kids draw flowers and tanks on postcards, which are then delivered directly to the battlefield.
14:00A teacher in Voronezh said it plainly.
14:04We are not teaching kids how to think anymore.
14:06We are teaching them how to obey.
14:09And if you don't obey, teachers can be punished.
14:14Parents investigated.
14:16Children who ask uncomfortable questions become problem students.
14:20In one case, a high school principal reported her own students to the police for writing that the
14:28war in Ukraine was morally wrong.
14:30The students were arrested.
14:32Meanwhile, the most obedient children, those who eagerly participate, are labeled patriots.
14:40They are praised, promoted, and rewarded.
14:43Just like in my childhood.
14:45Of course, not every teacher wants to become an ideological inspector.
14:51But what can they do?
14:52I asked a friend of mine who teaches in Russia how this looks in her school.
14:57She told me she avoids it as much as possible.
15:01Then she quietly added.
15:03Let's talk about something else.
15:05She is not alone.
15:07Many teachers live in fear.
15:09A single complaint from a patriotic parent can trigger investigations.
15:14There is a woman in St. Petersburg.
15:16Let's call her Marina.
15:17She has been a literature teacher for 20 years.
15:20When ordered to teach about the reunification with Crimea, Marina read Pushkin instead.
15:27If they want propaganda, she said, they can hire someone else.
15:31She was reported, investigated, and reprimanded.
15:35But she is still teaching, and still refusing to participate.
15:40A mother in Perm posted her son's art assignment online.
15:44He was told to draw a tank and write a thank you note to a soldier.
15:49Instead, he drew a field of flowers and wrote,
15:53I hope you can come home soon.
15:55Her post went viral.
15:58The school summoned her.
15:59She refused to apologize.
16:01When anthropologists interviewed teachers and students about these lessons,
16:06two very different realities emerged.
16:08One parent described her daughter's experience this way.
16:12The teacher is young and reasonable.
16:14Yes, she plays the assigned videos, but while they run,
16:18she sits on her phone, checks homework, or works on her laptop.
16:22The kids sit on their phones too, playing games.
16:26She allows it.
16:28My daughter doesn't even remember what was said.
16:30Only rare bits that personally interest her, like something about nature or animals.
16:36But she picks up on the teacher's attitude and adopts the same one.
16:41It becomes a silent agreement between teacher and students.
16:46You show up and sit quietly.
16:48I won't interfere.
16:50Another mother shared a glimpse into how these lessons actually work.
16:55My daughter said that her teacher keeps a rolled-up portrait of Putin above the blackboard.
17:01During their conversations about what matters lessons, the portrait stays rolled up.
17:08But if she hears someone approaching the classroom, maybe the vice-principal,
17:14she quickly pulls the string and the portrait unfurls.
17:18She immediately shifts topics and starts saying something patriotic.
17:23This is how the system operates.
17:26Not through real belief, but through careful performance.
17:30Everyone knows what's expected.
17:33And everyone pretends.
17:35But not everywhere.
17:36Another mother described a much darker reality.
17:40Here it's awful.
17:41More and more patriotic improvisation from teachers.
17:45The children come home and repeat what they've heard.
17:49We must be ready to fight for the motherland.
17:52Russia is better than those miserable countries.
17:55In America, they are still lynching black people.
17:58While our school graduates heroically die near Kursk.
18:02Every Monday, flag rising, white shirts, the anthem, marching drills.
18:08At first, it was harmless.
18:11But after three years of war, it's non-stop Putin and our Donbass.
18:16It's getting harder and harder to explain to the children that all of this is a lie.
18:22This quiet divide between passive indifference and active indecination runs through Russian schools today.
18:34What happens when children aren't taught how to think, but what to think?
18:39The answer is already visible.
18:42The young Russians sent to fight in Ukraine, many just 18 or 19, weren't trained to question orders.
18:49They were trained to follow them.
18:51They were also trained not to see others, anyone from a different tribe, as fully human.
18:58And once your enemy stops being human, anything becomes possible.
19:03We've seen the videos.
19:05Looting, torture, executions, rape.
19:08And when these soldiers are captured by Ukrainians, they often don't even feel guilt or responsibility.
19:15I had orders.
19:17Everybody does it.
19:18They made me.
19:20This is the consequence of years of propaganda.
19:25It teaches that violence in service of the state is noble.
19:29That enemies are subhuman.
19:31That questioning is betrayal.
19:33Even in peacetime, the damage spreads.
19:37Students and teachers learn to self-censor.
19:40Parents warn their kids, don't talk politics with your friends.
19:44Don't ask questions.
19:46An entire generation grows up surrounded by unspoken truths, silent fear, and artificial loyalty.
19:59In Russia, most Western social media are banned.
20:02Facebook, Instagram, ads, YouTube.
20:04So, everything moves to Vkontakte and Telegram.
20:08And for anyone like me trying to understand what's happening inside Russia, these platforms are a gold mine.
20:16Russians love posting anything that might earn them social points, especially if it might please their bosses.
20:24So, I expected to find plenty of examples of conversations about what matters proudly displayed.
20:31And I did find many Vkontakte groups for teachers using that exact title.
20:36But what surprised me most was what was not there.
20:41Instead of war propaganda, most posts feature coloring pages, lesson schedules, drawing prevention posters, or classroom displays for various holidays.
20:52The war is almost invisible.
20:54When you step back and look carefully, you see that this entire patriotic movement has naturally split into three distinct
21:03groups.
21:04First, those cashing in on big federal budgets.
21:09They produce glossy videos with stage locations, child actors, and professional editing.
21:15But there is nothing genuinely talented or inspiring.
21:19Just empty slogans, only this time with better lighting.
21:25Second, the bureaucrats dutifully reporting that lessons were held.
21:30No creativity, no imagination.
21:33Just the same empty rituals I remembered from Soviet schools.
21:37Third, the countryside, especially depressed regions.
21:40Here you find youth military clubs, meetings with veterans, and overt militarization.
21:47For many families, this is seen as the only available social ladder.
21:51While preparing this video, I was reminded again, this is not a cult like Kandastalim.
21:58It is simply a system of orders and budgets, handed down from above.
22:04And the adults adapt however they can.
22:07Some quietly avoid involvement.
22:09Others profit by putting on a show of enthusiasm.
22:13Many simply don't care at all.
22:16Yes, there are fanatics, but they are few.
22:19And they are unlikely to grow because they have nothing new to offer.
22:23No victories, no achievements, nothing that can truly inspire.
22:27But in this cynical game played by adults, it's always the children who suffer.
22:34By the way, I have a separate video about lonely and unhappy women who ended up supporting dictatorships.
22:40Check it out.
22:41It's key to understanding the hidden mechanics behind authoritarian regimes.
22:52I've noticed a very telling pattern.
22:54If you browse school websites in Moscow, St. Petersburg, or the wealthier districts of other major cities,
23:01the focus looks very different.
23:04College admissions, foreign languages, creativity, and personal development.
23:08But in poorer neighborhoods of big cities, the tone shifts.
23:13Schools there work hard to please the authorities.
23:17Announcements from local administrators, state-sponsored contests, and patriotic holidays.
23:24Plenty of flags. Plenty of state symbols.
23:28And when you scroll through the websites and social media pages of schools in small towns and rural regions,
23:34the atmosphere changes completely.
23:37Here, you see open glorification of war.
23:41Meetings with veterans posing with toy rifles, dressed up for patriotic photoshoots.
23:48And the trajectory is crystal clear.
23:52The first group, children from good schools, won't be sent to war.
23:56They'll become officials, specialists, business owners.
24:02The second group, from lower-level urban schools, will fill the state's middle ranks.
24:08Teachers, clerks, minor bureaucrats.
24:11But the third group, the countryside, is being prepared for slaughter.
24:15This war is a tax on the poor and on those far from any functioning social ladder.
24:22In these regions, militarization is not just ideology.
24:26For many families, youth military clubs or patriotic programs offer the only path to recognition,
24:33advancement, or even basic stability.
24:36And this division is not accidental.
24:39The system feeds on inequality.
24:42It preserves privilege for a narrow elite while harvesting loyalty and bodies from everyone else.
24:49That's why propaganda may seem clumsy and hollow in the cities,
24:53but remains dangerously effective where hope is scarce.
24:58If this made you feel something,
25:00if it helped you see propaganda in a new light,
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25:31And finally, thank you.
25:34Truly.
25:38For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au