Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today I heard that Belarusian prosecutors and police officers now hold lessons on patriotism not only for high school students but also for kids in kindergartens. As a mother, I could not contain my anger when I heard this. I immediately imagined my children forced to listen to the ideological slogans of the regime, lied to, and instilled fear of power instead of love and respect for each other.
You know, it's very easy to lie to a child. It's not hard to pretend to be authoritative in front of children and make them believe something that adults want them to believe. And so it is especially cynical to lie to those who trust easily.
Children must not be part of political games or objects of other people's manipulation. They should be happy when they run around the park with friends, watch cartoons, or furtively get their favorite candy out of the cupboard before dinner. In short, they should do what children are supposed to do. And those who think they have the right to pry into the carefree lives of children only to mold them into obedient members of the system are taking away the most precious time from them – their childhood.
Dear parents, I want to support you, because I know that being a good mom and dad in Belarus today is hard work. Thank you for this work. Talk to your children. Defend their right to a happy childhood. We only get to live our childhood once, and it passes very quickly. And that's why it's our job to protect it”.
