CC BY
85
Anastasiya Vybornova
Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University Department of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (1 year master's program)
TRAINING ORPHANS FOR INDEPENDENT FAMILY LIFE
Annotation:
In the article is examined the problem of orphans'readiness to independent family life. The concept of post-maintenance opens up. The article is focused on description of the Tula regioninstitutions'experience. We distinguished the main legal, educational and social organizations offering a different help to the orphans and carrying out their preparation for life after leaving of a boarding-school.
Аннотация:
В статье рассматривается проблема готовности детей-сирот к самостоятельной семейной жизни. Раскрывается понятие постинтернатного сопровождения. Основной акцент статьи сделан на описание опыта работы учреждений Тульской области. Выделены основные юридические, образовательные и социальные организации, предлагающие различную помощь детям-сиротам и осуществляющие их подготовку к жизни после интерната.
Key-words:
orphans; children without parental care; a boarding school; the adaptation of orphans; the training of orphans; the post-maintenance.
Ключевые слова:
дети-сироты; дети, оставшиеся без попечения родителей; интернат; адаптация детей-сирот; подготовка детей-сирот; постинтернатное сопровождение.
I In September 1, 2015 in the Russian Federation came into force the government decree on the reorganization of children's homes and their gradual transformation into centers of family placement. Nevertheless, Russia still remains quite broad practice of education for orphans and children left without parental care in state institutions - orphanages and boarding -schools [10].
Upbringing and education of orphans in «nonfamily» conditions are actual socio-pedagogical problems. Children brought up in residential institutions, are often prone to apathy, consumerism and antisocial behavior. Many of them are not able to live on their own, build their family. According to statistical data, 81% of orphans begin their independent life before reaching adulthood (16-17 years). The gap between their perceptions of life and reality is visible in disability to
appraise the current situation, inability to work or changing their behavior and demands, depending on the complications.
According to the «National Strategy of Action for the Interests of Children for 2012-2017» in Russia 1.8% of all children are orphans. For example, in 2012 the federal bank had 120 thousand children, but their number has decreased by almost half, reaching 76 000 [10].
Every year, about 13 thousand orphans leave boarding schools. According to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, most of the leavers enter the institutions of primary (60%) and medium (24%) vocational education. Only 5% of young people study in higher education institutions, and the same number of them are employed [7].
Boarding-school leavers have problems with adaptation to the new social conditions outside their former institution. They have great difficulties in finding a job, housing; do not know how to communicate with adults, improve their life, keep their own budget, assert their legal rights. Unfortunately, in the state structure of social protection there is still no system of organized help to the orphans after leaving an orphanage or a boarding school. The problem is included in "closeness" of residential care and children's homes, limited contacts and constant emotional deprivation of their pupils. Orphans leave such places with a distorted self-awareness, inadequate self-esteem (underestimated or overestimated), undeveloped social intelligence, parasitism, ignorance and misunderstanding consumer aspects of life, heightened suggestibility, underestimated level of their own activity, unformed strong-willed personality.
The National Strategy of Action for the Interests of Children for 2012-2017, approved by the Presidential Decree of June 1, 2012 № 761 (Section V «Equal opportunities for children in need of special care of the state»), one of the tasks is to create the system of support for boarding-school leavers, which helps socialization [6].
The technology of post-maintenance is aimed to solve this problem by interaction of various specialists with a child and his social environment. Moreover, it helps to create optimal conditions for his adaptation and socialization in the society [5]. Under this term we also understand the assistance to pupils overcome difficulties at the stage ofleaving the residential institution, promote adaptation of leavers for independent life, take into account individual and age features; restoration of old or the creation of new supportive relationships in a social network; formation of the graduate requirements for self-development, self-help, proactive strategy to overcome life difficulties and problems.
For a teenager, who spent his childhood in the orphanage walls, making his own family is perhaps the most cherished dream. However, many are not ready for its building. Therefore, the leavers of boarding schools are more likely than their «family» peers to suffer a setback in this area. The absence of positive sample relations «parent-parent», «child-parent» leads to the shift of values orientation of orphans, complicates the construction of their own family or comes to a negative copy of parental models. The leavers of orphanages and boarding schools are often unable to make a prosperous family and save it.
Each subject of the Russian Federation determined the directions and content of the activities to provide the post-maintenance for leavers and adapt the conditions for their independent life. Activities in this area:
1) are grouped in different regional and departmental programs in more than half of the regions (e.g., departmental target program «Social adaptation and support forleavers and children left without parental care», «Start to the Future» of the Kaluga region);
2) are included in the integrated regional programs for the development of the education (for example, «Development of Education of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for 2012-2016»);
3) are included in the target programs for the prevention of child abandonment, and the development of family forms (for example, the regional target program «Orphans» of the Kaliningrad region).
The programs include the implementation of measures of social support for leavers of institutions, established by the federal and regional legislation, assistance in education, employment, housing, as well as psychological assistance [2, p. 11-12].
The experience of the Tula region isrepresented by the following organizations, which prepare orphansfor independent family life:
Tula City Public Human Rights Organization «For Human Rights» conducts legal education, concerning urgent and frequent problems of life for poor and socially bad protected categories of citizens of the Tula region through free legal advice and training of the legislation. Any citizen can call to this organization and get help or advice in the form of a one-time consultation or in the form of personal meetings [8].
Tula Social College is another institution, helping orphans to get a profession, to support their life.
The college offers three occupations: a computer operator, a tailor and a fitter-repairman. Students live there and study for two years. The learning process is realized during day-time and in the eveningthey can go to the gym. The orphans are provided by four times meals, academic and social scholarships. From the interview with the director of the college, we learned that children are taught such subjects as «family-study», «foundations of the family budget», «economics» for the girls, «conflict management». The orphans acquire socio-domestic, socio-economic and socio-pedagogical skills, through this comprehensive approach of studying.Analyzing the model of post-college students' adaptation, we have got the following results.
At the time of graduation, 95% of leavers determine the motivation to enter the university. Among them, 50% (mostly girls) have the desire to make their own family. Many of the boys expressed their willingness firstly to serve in the army, and then build a family [3].
Tula «Crisis Center for Women» provides comprehensive support for those leavers of boarding schools, who are pregnant or are mothers.
Our university is working in close cooperation with the «Crisis Center». A graduate of our department (now the social educator of the center) has developed the program «Mothers and Daughters», aimed at helping pregnant minors and
mothers, including leavers of boarding schools, soon to born a baby. I was an intern in this institution, and together with the social worker we conducted training sessions for these women. We talk about how to swaddle, bathe, feed the baby, what doctors you need to go, what vaccinations should do, as well as to watch over child's healthin the future.
In the Tula Regional Resource Center «Perspectiva» there is the department of post-maintenance. It organizes and carries out social adaptation ofboarding school leavers and children left without parental care.
The goals and objectives of the department are focused on building unified, efficient regional system of post-maintenance.
Specialists of the department conduct preventive work for leavers to removesocial maladjustment, protect their rights and legitimate interests, reveal negative factors of socialization in the process of adaptation during the period of post-maintenance and help to reduce their impact.
The priority of the department is the social hostel accommodation for the leavers, who are under 23 years and have no specific place of residence.
One of the areas the most prospective of work is the creation of the «Association of orphans and children left without parental care».
Forms and methods of work:
• Accounting and monitoring leavers of institutions for orphans and children left without parental care.
• Methodical provision of post-maintenance professionals.
• Development of individual support programs for leavers.
• Admission of leavers, competent psychological, medical, educational and consulting services.
• The provision of social services.
• Conduct recreational activities for leavers [9].
The state institution of the Tula region «Complex Social Services Center of the City Tula» was created to operate the new service «Social assistant» which provides free social services at home for mothers with children from birth to 3 years of age. One of the categories of serviced residential institutions is a woman-leaver with a child under three years.
The service offers:
• assistance in child's care;
• short-term child's care at home and during walks;
• assistance in purchasing food, medicine and other essential commodities;
• assistance during visit to a pediatrician;
• assistance in payment of utility services;
• assistance in social payments and documents;
• advice on pedagogical, psychological and legal issues [4].
The State educational institution of the Tula region «Kireevsk Boarding School for Orphans and Children Left without Parental Care» implement the program of support for orphans, due to which there are positive changes in the adaptation of a leaver.
This program consists of five stages. At the initial stage a portfolio of pupils is being formed. It contains some information about the academic achievement, obtained certificates, characteristics from the educators. The second stage is a professional training. The subsequent and equally important steps are: students' visits to Moscow State University, the creation of social hotel in the boarding school, and conducting joint artistic activities.
Complex of above - mentioned steps give rather good results in the preparation of orphans for independent family life. Itcontributes to: 1) the development of the social environment of pupil; 2) the establishment of his professional skills and, as a consequence, the right choice of the profession in the future; 3) improvement his knowledge of buildingown family; 4) the development of socio-domestic, socio-economic skills and the skills of independent housing; 5) Practical skills in meeting new people, making own thoughtful decisions and behaved correctly in conflict situations are to be worked on [1, p. 151-156].
Summing up, we can say that the measures of orphans' support and preparation for an independent family life are formedin the Tula region. Generally, different programs are realized on the base of the organizations for the orphans and the children left without parental care, the institutions of primary and secondary education, the social service centers. We can note thatsuch system of interventions effects on eachindividual institution only positively. Although, this system has defects. Perhaps there is a problem in the lack of cooperation between government institutions. Thus, the whole situation in preparation of the orphans for independent family life in our area remains unsolved and requires special attention.
References:
1. Aksenov A.M. The model of post-maintenance of orphans within the boarding school. Support of Orphans: modern challenges. Proceedings Interregional Research Conference (December 5-6, 2013, Kaluga) / Comp. I. A.Bobyleva. M.: Charity fund for social assistance to children «Spread Your Wings!», 2014. 314 p.
2. Bobyleva I. The development of post-maintenance regional models and leavers adaption to the conditions of independent life: analytical report. M.: FGNU WIS RAO, 2013. 109 p.
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4. Mamcompany. Service «Social assistant». Available at: http://www.mamcompany.ru/forum/forum48/topic60868/ (accessed 22.11.2015).
5. Office of guardianship of the Administration of the city Ufa of Bashkortostan Republic: Available at: http://opekaufa.ru/26-uncategorised/osnovnaya-deyatelnost/postinternat/53-podgotovka.html (accessed 18.10.2015).
6. Russian Federation. Laws. Presidential Decree of June 1, 2012 N 761 «The National Strategy for Action on Children in the 2012 - 2017 years» («Natsional'naya strategiya deystviy v interesakh detey na 2012-2017 gody»). Available at: http://base.garant.ru/70183566/#friends#ixzz3vYcAgvyK (accessed 6.11.2015).
7. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Available at: http://xn--80abucjiibhv9a.xn--p1ai/ (accessed 10.09.2015).
8. Tula city public human rights organization «For Human Rights». Available at: http://www.narodedin-tula.ru/ (accessed 26.11.2015).
9. Tula Regional Resource Center «Perspectiva». Available at: http://gu-perspektiva.ru/ (accessed 10.11.2015).
10. Tumova N. Farewell orphanage! (Proshchay, detdom!) // Newspaper «Teacher's Newspaper» («Uchitel'skaya gazeta»). Available at: http://www.ug.ru/archive/61958 (accessed 12.11.2015).
