Anna:

The workshop on “The Totalitarian State and Its Discriminatory Practices” was attended by 124 students in Ukraine (Chernivtsi, Mamaiivtsi, Luzhany, Striletskyi Kut, Drachyntsi) and 43 students in Romania (Suceava).

Liliia:

In total, 125 students from Chernivtsi, Mamaiivtsi, and Luzhany, and 25 from Suceava participated in the workshops on "Hate Speech and Discrimination in the Mass Media. Fake News".

Liliia:

The role and importance of the media in the world today, their objectivity and compliance with standards, and the fight against disinformation, hate speech, and various forms of discrimination are among the most relevant issues of our time. Disinformation can significantly impact society, creating misconceptions and destroying trust between different groups of people. Fake news or manipulative messages can influence electoral processes and public opinion or cause conflicts. Disinformation also threatens the security of users’ personal data. For example, fraudsters can use fake messages to access confidential information and commit criminal acts. Hate speech online also harms users’ emotional state and well-being. This is especially important for young people, who are the primary audience for the internet. Critical thinking skills and verification of information sources help prevent the spread of disinformation and manipulation, which we learned to do during our classes with high school students.

Anna:

Totalitarianism is an invention of the twentieth century. Nowadays, there are no totalitarian states (in the classical sense of the term). However, the majority of the world’s population (almost 40%) lives under authoritarianism, which has a number of features similar to totalitarianism. A totalitarian regime distorts human values and ideals, using all available means, especially harsh propaganda. In order to keep its population under control and to direct its latent rage in the direction desired by the dictator, it creates the image of an “enemy”. These methods were used by Nazi Germany to justify the murder of millions of European Jews. No matter how much we study this topic, it is still difficult for me to understand how the whole mechanism of mass murder in the form of ghettos, concentration camps, and death camps was established and organized. It would seem that this is all in the past. But then we look at the present and see how skillfully the terrorist state of russia is creating the image of the “enemy”, actively using propaganda to explain and justify the war against Ukraine... Unfortunately, not everyone learns the lessons of history and is, therefore, doomed to repeat mistakes.

Anna:

Unfortunately, yes. And this is the bad news. The good news is that a totalitarian state does not emerge overnight. It requires raising an entire generation of obedient citizens ready to obey their dictator mindlessly; therefore, it takes time. However, the trends in the modern world are very worrying. In 2023, the world’s democracy index fell to its lowest level in 17 years. Less than 8% of the world’s population lives in full democracy. Authoritarian regimes are strengthening and expanding their geography. Although totalitarianism in the modern world may not be the same as in the twentieth century, the basic principles are likely to remain the same: the complete devaluation and denial of an individual and the willingness to commit unprecedented crimes to satisfy the interests of dictators. However, none of the above can be done by a dictator alone. For this, he needs a "convenient" society. A society with a high level of education and culture, capable of critical analysis of the past and present, able to distinguish between truth and fake news, and highly immune to propaganda will never be "convenient" for a dictator.

Liliia:

Today’s teenagers actively use social media to get information and interact, and therefore, they are more vulnerable to the influence of fakes and hate speech. During the classes, we noticed that younger children (13–15 years old) mostly find it more challenging to recognize manipulative technologies online. On the other hand, older children, 16–17 years old, are less likely to believe everything they see on the internet and already have specific skills at identifying disinformation. But they also face the influence of fake news and hate speech. Among the workshop participants were children from families of internally displaced persons from eastern Ukraine. They actively participated in the discussions and shared their own experiences on the topic. For example, Yeva Rudyka from Sloviansk told us that many of her friends and acquaintances had fallen victim to russian propaganda at the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion. At the same time, Yeva and her family did not believe the fakes, which were actively spread by the aggressor country. The story of this workshop participant inspired other students to be more critical of information and learn to analyze sources.

Anna:

To my mind, it all starts with the family. After all, the values cultivated in the family circle have a decisive influence on the formation of a child as a personality and also "program" their behavior in adulthood. In psychology, the concept of an "authoritarian personality" is considered the basis of a totalitarian regime. According to one theory, the foundations of such a personality are laid in childhood and depend on the methods of raising a child in a family. Therefore, it is impossible to overestimate the importance of the family as the primary social unit of society. Meanwhile, a school is perhaps the main place of child socialization. In my opinion, the school has a decisive influence on the formation of the collective consciousness of the younger generation. Therefore, a modern Ukrainian school must strike a reasonable balance between providing educational services and upbringing. Since it often seems that the primary efforts of a modern school are aimed at providing the academic component, which is significant and complex, the function of education is relegated to the second or even third plan. In this situation, non-formal education institutions should come to the aid of the school. The latter can and should complement the knowledge gained at school and contribute to the formation of the civic consciousness of our youth. That is why I advocate that formal and non-formal education institutions should work together because we have a common goal.

Anna:

Both cycles of workshops planned in the project implementation plan have now been completed. However, the museum’s educational program, which we are currently working on and which will include various academic activities, will offer these workshops in the future as well, although perhaps in a slightly modified format. By booking in advance, you will be able to attend them right at the museum. In addition, the materials and exercises we developed for these workshops will be available on the project website, where teachers can download them and use them at their discretion, both during classes and for educational extracurricular activities.