‘Aggression is mostly shown by secondary school students, this is the time when adolescence begins’

“In the overwhelming majority of cases, the law is on the side of students and parents”

In Russia, it was proposed to introduce administrative liability for insulting teachers. The initiative belongs to Deputy Chairperson of the education committee Yana Lantratova, deputy Alexander Terentyev and the head of the party A Just Russia — For Truth Sergey Mironov.

Fines for public insult of teachers for citizens will be from 5 to 20,000 rubles, for officials — from 50 to 100,000 rubles, for legal entities — from 200 to 500,000 rubles. If the insult is posted online, the fine will be from 10 to 30,000 rubles for citizens, from 100 to 200,000 rubles for officials, and from 500 to 700,000 rubles for legal entities.

The bill has already been supported by the Ministry of Education and Science and is now sent to the Supreme Court and the Russian government for review.

“Today, there are a lot of complaints from teachers, and they all say that the law in the overwhelming majority of cases is on the side of students and parents, and the teacher is left alone with his problems,” said Sergey Mironov. In his opinion, the developed initiative will create a mechanism for preventing the humiliation of the honour and dignity of teachers, and will also increase their status in society.

Leaving the profession due to bullying

A biology teacher from school No. 5 in Bavly commented on the initiative for Realnoe Vremya:

“Unfortunately, a teacher is not always an authority for students. Schoolchildren can insult, give unpleasant nicknames and not bear any responsibility for it. If the bill is approved, students and parents will start thinking about what they say, because everything comes from the family, and sometimes a negative opinion about a teacher is formed at home.”

According to her, both young and old teachers are insulted.

“Aggression is mostly hown by secondary school students, this is the beginning of adolescence: children want to assert themselves in front of their peers. They have a negative attitude towards old-school teachers, children do not like it when they are forced to study and do everything as expected, but young teachers are insulted the most — schoolchildren are not afraid of them, they consider them their peers. This is one of the reasons why young teachers flee schools. The new bill will help protect the rights of teachers and give many of them the opportunity to continue doing what they love, rather than leaving the profession because of bullying,” she said.