We have decided to apply a non-traditional approach to sum up the past political season, including the end of the parliamentary session. As all politicians tend to explain their actions and steps by extreme care about the future of our society and state, we chose to ask those who represent this future, i.e., the younger generation, what they think about Ukrainian politics and politicians and, particularly, about the latest political events. Frankly speaking, the results of the interviews that our correspondents had conducted with schoolchildren in various regions of Ukraine astonished us much more than all kinds of expert opinions and commentaries. So the proverb “out of the mouth of babes and sucklings” seems to be right.
Marianna PINDERETSKA, 14, Lviv Secondary School No. 96:
“As my brother was leaving to take part in the Independence Square rally last year, I made him a bracelet with the word ‘Tak!’ hand-sewn with beads. I wanted to go with him very much, but had to stay with my mother at home. There was so much elation in our hearts. We were jubilant. It seemed that it would take just a little more for us all to be happy. We called Oleh in Kyiv every day, but it was impossible to talk because of all the noise. Yet we knew that he was safe. We knew that after his return everything would be different in our country, because people in Independence Square accomplished this by jointly choosing the path of democracy.
“As I now watch daily news reports and listen to the radio, I realize that the country has not accomplished anything but chaos. We have put away the bracelet in our familial collection until better days. But when will those better days come? Soon I will have to choose where to continue my education. I dream of becoming an artist. Everyday I sit at the table and make patterns out of colored beads. They help me become isolated from the rest of the world and live in beauty. This is exactly what my heart craves: beauty that would rule the world and bring peace into every home and every soul. I also dream of one day taking my bracelet from its hiding place and presenting it to the president, who will make good on all his promises, and will consistently and wisely lead his country toward prosperity.
“Ukraine is preparing to hold parliamentary elections, when adults will yet again cast ballots, giving their votes to people whose job is to take care of our wellbeing. Will this really happen? I heard that there are many people among nominees whose parliamentary mandates are ending just now. But they could not come to terms during the past four years! Will they really behave wisely this time and try to find middle ground? This is so strange: while the individuals are all the same, the promises are different.”
Natalia BILOSHYTSKA, 15, tenth-grader at Zhytomyr comprehensive magnet school No. 12:
“Basically, various political forces are now engaged in a power struggle. Most parliamentarians supported the motion to disband the government in order to assert their power status. The Orange Revolution was also about power. Many people disliked Viktor Yanukovych, which is why he lost. But in general, the situation in the country is improving. Relations among people have become kinder, and you can see more happy faces in the streets of our city. People now exchange smiles more readily.”
Yanek SHYMANOVSKY, 13, eighth-grader at Zhytomyr college-type school No. 34:
“I think the country is in a state of chaos, and there is nothing constant. Recently our school hosted the city’s mayor, Heorhiy Buravkov, who came with candy for junior pupils. We made a joke of this, as we realized that he was trying to ingratiate himself with the people ahead of the elections, during which he will try to win the right to keep his post. Our senior students worked hard to spruce up our World War II museum, but he never visited it.”
Lisa LAVRYNENKO, 9:
“Our country is in a state of disorder. It’s extremely cold now, and classes have been canceled at our school. There is lots of snow everywhere. The roads are dangerously slippery for cars to drive, but nobody is around to maintain the roads. There are heaps of garbage everywhere in the city. To make things worse, they keep cutting off heat to our homes, and it gets very cold inside. Nobody is concerned about homeless animals, which are also suffering from the cold. They could have simply made a special shelter for them.”
Yevhen BOKHONKO, 14, Khmelnytsky:
“Present-day Ukraine is a country that seeks recognition from the international community and wants to satisfy its citizens’ needs. We have won recognition. Ukraine is represented by the best athletes: Andriy Shevchenko, Yana Klochkova, Serhiy Bubka, and many others. The one thing we lack is unity. While we have never been short of great minds and strong wills, we lack unity. What unity is there to talk about at a time when eight million of our fellow citizens are laboring abroad? Granted, many people were forced to leave in search of a better life, but is there not enough work in our homeland? Is this really unity? We are simply contributing to economic growth in other countries at a time when our economy is on a downward slope.
“Most people believe that those in power are the root cause of all woes. I think this is not true. We must start by looking for possible causes within ourselves. We must stop to think: How do I benefit society? If every person did that, we would certainly have better lives.
“I think the time of economic and political instability will pass in the country, but this will not happen unless we truly want this and work for the country’s good.”
Iryna SKULSKA, eighth-grader at Khmelnytsky lyceum No. 17:
“I think Ukraine now faces numerous problems: sociopolitical and economic. These include natural gas price hikes, meager pensions, and the ongoing bitter struggle for power. The sale of Kryvorizhstal steel works has adversely affected the country’s economic development, as Ukraine is left with almost no working plants of its own.
“The Tymoshenko Bloc, the Regions Party led by Yanukovych, and Lytvyn’s bloc are trying to increase their influence. Health care costs are also rising noticeably. Ailing people need treatment and medication. But far from all can afford to pay for their health. Pensioners complain of inadequate pensions. After all, a person cannot survive a whole month on 300 hryvnias. This money is not enough to pay for utility services, food, clothing, treatment, and other needs.
“The antagonism between Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko has affected the nation. Ukraine has split into two warring sides. I think the leadership should pay more attention to maintaining order in the country, to its population, as well as to pensioners’ demands for higher pensions. Personally, in the future I want to be a useful citizen of Ukraine and work for society’s good.”
Slava MIAHKOV, 15, Kharkiv:
“Things are as usual in the country: while politicians are wrangling, ordinary citizens have to pay the price. All these politicians are the same to me. What difference does it make what party you vote for, if they are simply craving power while caring about the people according to the so-called leftover principle? Sometimes when I surf television channels and come across broadcasts from parliament, I can see that parliamentarians gather in full strength only when they need to disband the government or chastise somebody else. Meanwhile, the discussions of painful issues, such as the problems of Chornobyl victims, the AIDS epidemic, etc., draw no more than 50 parliamentarians, and half of them sleep through the discussion. Politicians are busying themselves with tasks that directly affect their standing in the polls. Now the opposition is actively remonstrating with the government over the problems in the country. They are quick to condemn everybody, but are unwilling to show understanding because it is not in the opposition’s interests to take the government’s side, understand and agree with the president. The same thing happened with natural gas. Some people are blaming the Ukrainian leadership, alleging that the Russians have taken a grudge against us over this gas dispute. In reality, this is what somebody wants people to think. Meanwhile, I have friends in Belgorod oblast, and their attitude toward Ukrainians has not changed one bit. They realize that all of this is part of score settling between the two states at the highest level. But why do they choose to manipulate ordinary people?”
