Opinion: Florida politicians could learn from Armenia’s educators

Raffi Khondkarian 2023
Washington Post
March 9 2023
LETTER

It was inspiring and reassuring to read in the March 6 news article “For Russian children in exile, hard questions in classroom” about the education of Russian children who attend the Liberated School in Yerevan, Armenia. It is good to know that not all Russian youngsters are force-fed their homeland’s prevailing orthodox thinking and propaganda.

I was stirred by the words of one staff member at that school. The school’s director said, “Children should make their own decisions. They should decide themselves how they relate to a political situation or a religious belief.” She added, “We will not bend to anyone. We will not be told who are the good guys, who are the bad ones, who we should support and so on.”

So it is good to know that there are educators in this world who encourage free thought and free _expression_ among students who want candidly to discuss events relevant to their lives. Perhaps also, just possibly, there are places of intellectual refuge available to families with children in Florida’s schools.

Bill Coe, Washington