A secret research institute may be established to bar Russian children from borrowing ‘harmful’ Western cultural patterns. The institution is expected to focus on developing and examining… toys.
The Working Group on Children’s Information Security led by Vice-President of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya has recently discussed the issue of protecting children from ‘western’ toys.
“In our country, modern toys mainly come from the West: the only exception is toy models of the domestic armaments delivered to the market by our weapon manufacturers. However, one cannot simply impose an embargo on foreign toys: such measure would only make them more attractive. It is crucial we found a research institute – surely, a a secret one – for designing domestic games and toys. And there should be a no-nonsense approach, including psychoneurological analyses and studies. The toys one plays with do have an impact on their state of mind, e.g. the choice of a country you serve. The best example is the Barbi doll,” Vitaly Tretyakov, Dean of Television Department at Moscow State University warned.
The vice-chairman of the Russian parliament, who considers foreign toys to be a threat, agreed with him:
“If one wants to beat the country, they should raise their children in the corresponding way. And that was the cause of the collapse [of the USSR – Belsat.eu],” Yarovaya added.
The top official is set to ask the government to set up a special and task it with developing tests for toys sold in Russian shops. Ms Yarovaya was backed by a representative of the Moscow Institute of Psychiatry. The specialist complained that psychiatrists had been invited for consultations only sporadically, but, according to him, they should always stand sentinel over children’s souls.
