Job Discussion Forums

[Confederate]

One of my clients is the director of one of the children�s societies here in Moscow and today she asked me if I would be interested in giving a talk about child safety because of an American that was arrested last month for picking up little boys and abusing them. She knows that I used to teach child safety and survival English when I was working with one of my home state�s state police depts.

I was asked to give my views on whether or not Russia should tighten up the requirements on foreign teachers coming to Russia to teach, such as have each school require that each teacher provide a letter from their local police department stating that the teacher has a clean criminal record, just like a person must provide when they apply for temporary residence in Russia.

Right now, since I have never heard of a teacher being arrested here for child abuse, I am leaning toward saying that I do not think that is a requirement that is needed. But then, since I use to work in law enforcement I know of several instances where teachers have lost their jobs and have been arrested for fooling around with under aged teenagers.

I just wanted to see what other teacher�s opinions are before I decide on what I will say, what are your views on this, should Russia enact stronger requirements on foreign teachers such as proving that they have a clean criminal record or not?

GA Confederate

[Communist Smurf]

Although you didn't specifically say that foreign teachers would be targetted, I'm assuming that is what is being proposed.

Are foreigners, by nature, predisposed to sexual misconducted with minors? I don't think so, at least not anymore than the locals. It seems ridiculous to me that we might be singled-out in this way, especially in a country like Russia.

If they want a police report from a prospective teacher, they should require it of all employees that would be put in a position that might endanger a child.

CS

[Confederate]

I can only go by what was mentioned to me and from what was mentioned it is more dealing with the problems with child abuse in certain countries. I mean let�s face it the US is not exactly Mr. Clean, hardly a week goes by that some pervert is not arrested in the US for child molestation. Just a couple of weeks ago a man from the US was arrested either in Moscow or St. Petersburg for molestation of young boys. That pervert got lucky in that instead of being sent to a Russian prison, he was returned to the US to serve a 300 year sentence that he ran away before he could be put in prison.

Also lately there has been a new move here in Moscow where certain low life animals kidnap children and force to make porn movies, then kill the children for real and film it all. These movies are made to be sold in countries like the Netherlands and the US on the black market. This has got a lot of people upset and very angry as it very well should for any normal human being.

You look back at past news accounts from the US, just last week a 86 year old man was arrested at an airport in California for having child pornography in his suite case, that animal�s excuse was that he goes to the Philippines to train children in sex, he always thought it was legal to have sex with children. Then there are all these arrests of teachers having sex with underage students in the US, again just this month another teacher was arrested in Chicago for trading drugs for sex. Then you have the unnamed religious denomination that had so much sex abuse committed by its representatives, and the church tried to more or less cover that mess up. Russian people are not fools, they see what is going on in other countries and now with these perverts kidnapping children and making these movies and then killing the children, can you blame them for feeling this way? They see all that trash going on in the US and do not want it here either.

I told my student that requiring teachers to provide proof that they have clean criminal records would really do no good because most molesters have never been caught before, only a very few have prior convictions. I think this is more talk from angry and frustration than factual, as far as I know there is no move to change and laws concerning people coming here to teach, but it could very well happen if enough people get angry enough. One of the reasons this idea is being talked about is because of that American that was arrested here or St. Petersburg for molesting young boys, he was on the run from the US law and came here for easy pickings or so he thought, is he the only pervert from the US here?

As it stands now I think I will tell this group that changing the law for visa, or requiring foreign teachers to have special requirements really would not really help, but then if it stops one animal from getting their dirty hands on a child, I will say so strongly that maybe all foreign teachers should be investigated. I mean lets face it, how many of these schools really check who they are hiring very well? Of course having a background check done on every teacher may or may not help. Every thing I just mentioned has been on Russian TV news and on Russian news web pages. People are very upset about this and I for one do not blame them at all. Maybe because I am a former police officer in two states, I guess I see things a little different. It really makes me angry to see trash like is going on in the US now raising its ugly head here too.

But the way it is now, I will concentrate on safety tips for young people mostly and if I am asked about if changing the law concerning how foreigners get into Russia will help, I will say that since no foreign teacher here has ever been arrest for doing anything like this, I do not think there is a need to make changes in the laws. If you take time to attend one of the neighborhood community meetings that every neighborhood holds in Moscow, you will see that people are upset and expect their politicians and law enforcement to do something. You can not blame the Russian people for trying to solve the problem before it becomes like it is in the US. Russians do not blame all Americans or suspect that all Americans are perverts; they are only looking for ways to protect their children. Right now it is only discussing different options and the good and bad to try and find a solution that is all that is going on now. Any changes in the law are not being considered now.
GA Confederate

[Communist Smurf]

Do these same Russians that know about sexual crimes in other countries know about the sexual crimes in their own country perpetrated by their own citizens?

About six months ago, my wife received some type of advisory warning through her university talking about rapes taking place in Russia. It wasn't focused on children, but mostly for women her age. I can't remember the average number of rapes that take place in *Moscow* (alone) each day, but it was something unbelievable like 12-15 or something. Something like 90% of them were from locals, not foreigners (although the only "foreigners" mentioned were those from southern republics).

Perhaps you read in the paper a few months ago about a reporter that was investigating rape among militzia with women in Moscow. He was taking pictures and posting it in the papers of militzia bringing women into the station for several hours, then afterward asking the women what happened. They said they were raped several times by different men. Last I heard, that reporter was nearly beaten to death by an unknown person while working "undercover."

A week or two ago, dozens of Russian women were deported from Helsinki for prostitution. They were ALL living in apartments owned and operated by the Russian Embassy.

If I wanted to make comparisons between sexual crimes here in Russia to the ones you stated in your post, I'm sure I could do a pretty good job. The difference here is that sexual crimes are over-shadowed in the US, but not here in Russia. Just imagine if dozens of American prostitutes were deported while living in apartments owned by the American government. How much coverage would that get in the media?

If it makes people feel safer about their (American) teachers, then do it. It just seems ridiculous that English teachers would be singled-out in this way. It's all a production of media.

CS

[Confederate]

I agree, as it stands now, it is Russians committing most of these crimes, especially that criminal gang that makes those sick movies. I am only trying to get some ideas on what to say to this group when I address them. That lady only said that one of their ideas was to suggest maybe that foreigners coming here to teach maybe should be checked a little more closely.

It is kind of like a damned if you do, damned if you don�t situation, no matter what is suggested, it really will do no good. But here are my ideas on this matter.

1. no foreign teacher has never been arrested or involved in this, so changing any rules or laws is an unneeded act that would really do nothing to solve the problem.
2. the majority of those committing these crimes are Russian, and the few foreigners that have been arrested, were not teachers or involved in teaching in any way.
3. changing the laws and rules will only make it harder to get native speaking English teachers that are needed here, plus it only punishes those who have nothing to do with this.
4. the best way to deal with this problem is in Russia�s legal system, those who choose to act this way should face the strongest and toughest punishment there is, so tough that they will be afraid to come here. (it already is tough in that those who commit such crimes hardly ever get out of prison alive)
5. foreign teachers are not the problem, so changing any laws or rules in reality does nothing to solve the problem

I am only trying to find ideas on what to tell this group not make suggestions of any kind on what they should or should not do. The five ideas above are what I have thought of so far, any others I can add will be appreciated.
GA Confederate

[bobs12]

I've gone over this before with teachers here. There is a problem, although maybe not particularly widespread, of teachers having sex with underage students. A lot simply don't know that the age of sexual consent is 18 in Russia. From what I gathered, most of the 'perpetrators' are teenagers or in their early twenties. In such cases it's hard to describe it as abuse, although it is pretty sleazy.

Children in ordinary schools are probably at no real risk from teachers, but the lack of checking could be a potential draw for molestors. A police history check is no use to a Russian organisation without confirmation from the teacher's embassy or consulate that the report is genuine, or, better still, the report should be obtained directly by the authority. However, a police check only confirms that the teacher has not been previously convicted of crimes against children, and nothing more. It could open a door for sickos or potential sickos with clean records to come and molest children even more freely than if there were no such checks. Russia's trust in the stamped document is easily conned.

We were worried about the hiring of teachers in kindergartens, where kids are more likely to be at risk. I was shocked at the laxity demonstrated by those in charge of the one where I worked. There were two Russian women working with toddlers, one of whom I would have said was mentally abusing the children in her charge. I discussed this with management, who tried to force me to work with her. They dismissed my concerns, replying, "She has her methods."

There were situations in that place that many western teachers would refuse to go into in their own countries. As I understand, there are strict rules in the US, and undoubtedly in the UK, regarding who can and can't be left alone with children. Here, however, there remains a culture of communally taking care of children, and of trusting strangers who are 'earmarked' for taking care of them. I don't think that sending a two-year old child off to kindergarten without checking who will be changing its nappies would happen in the UK or US.

Another problem is 'blind trust' in foreigners, believing that they are all honest and clean and truthful, etc. etc. In the kindergarten, we didn't even need to have the medical checks that the Russian employees required.


As I see it, the only checks that might have some useful effect would be psychometric tests carried out in the embassies or consulates, or by an independent teacher accreditation body. Other procedures could prove counter-effective.


As for the sex industry in Russia, that's totally unrelated to teaching. But it's sick. Human trafficking is a frightening thing- young girls from Russia and the Ukraine even ended up in a brothel in Glasgow. A huge sting operation sprung the local operators, but of course the bosses remained untouched. There was speculation that some of the girls were forced into it to pay off drug debts, others were duped into entering the country willingly, and some were said to have been kidnapped and forced onto the plane under the threat that if they resisted their family would be killed.

The 'snuff movie' filming is not new, and it doesn't just happen in Russia. Not so long ago, a young girl was raped and beaten to death, and the whole gross performance was transmitted live to paying viewers via the web. This act was committed in the US by the girl's own father.


I think the best thing that can be done is to educate people about the dangers, but without scaremongering. Encourage people to take common sense precautions. Rape is not uncommon in Russia, and not taken seriously enough. As I understand, the victims stay silent as they know that they will receive no sympathy, or at worst will be blamed for having 'asked for it'. I read a statistic for the proportion of rapes committed by acquaintances, although I can't remember what it was, it was high. It didn't mention rape by foreigners.

I would recommend to parents that they meet teachers at the school, if necessary asking another teacher to translate, and try to decide for themselves, 'why is this man not married, why is he alone in Russia scraping a living teaching English in a badly-organised school... what does he want here?'. They should supervise any out-of-class meetings with their children. Some guidelines should be set for 'private lessons', something I will set out on my website (if it ever gets going!) saying that children ought to be supervised with teachers at all times. Young women ought to meet in safe public places or at home with their family present.

Then there's the problem of teachers being duped into entering other people's homes...