– Russetida already starts the first day of school in upper secondary school, says a father who has children at Blindern upper secondary school in Oslo.
None of the parents Dagbladet spoke to want to be named: it would mean “social death” for their children.
– In the first six months of upper secondary school, students are divided into several Russian buses. It’s like a reality show: you have to find your group, and then you’re in, out or waiting, dad tells Dagbladet.
His son was lucky and managed to get on a bus. A couple of best friends have been put on hold. For six months there was an audition, in which every month someone was chosen for the bus.
– It is a cynical process that creates great challenges for some students and destroys friendships, says the father.
Russian culture and exclusion have been a topic multiple times, recently in one article in VG, where the headmaster of the Ullern school raised the alarm on the Russian environment. But this is a problem in several Oslo schools, such as Blindern.
– Trend on the rise
Hege Haugland is the principal of the Blindern upper secondary school. Since this fall he has witnessed a growing trend in which Russian time has an increasingly important voice in the social life of young people.
– Before the pandemic, we had a downward trend for Russian buses, but after the pandemic we find that Russian buses are a much bigger topic in first and second class than we have seen before. We see that this year has been much more urgent than in previous years, he says.
SEE AN INCREASE: Who’s on the Russebus got more say, especially for this year’s first-graders at Blindern High School, says the principal. 900 pupils attend Blindern vgs. Photo: Blindern vgs
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Now he receives requests from the parents of pupils who cannot get on the Russian bus. Being banned from the Russian bus has consequences for who they are in school and in their free time and who they can sit with in the canteen.
– This is serious. So we as a school need to work even more focused to promote inclusive behavior of young people, says Haugland.
A mother of a girl who goes to Blindern high school says:
– The canteen has become a placement arena. There is an unspoken agreement on who can sit where, as we have seen in American high school films. Now the same kind of division has crept in here, she says.
– It seems that they agree to divide according to the “popular” and the “unpopular”, adds the mother.
Recorded at the parents’ meeting
In Blindern, the topic of exclusion and Russian culture was raised at a parents’ meeting in October. The principal was then able to say that he had put extra adults in the canteen and during the breaks, as well as furnishing the canteen to break up the groups.
Because there is a strict hierarchy among the students of the school, which is expressed, among other things, at the tables at which the students are “allowed” to sit in the canteen.
– There are dedicated tables for dedicated buses. If someone else comes, you can’t just sit down, then break an invisible wall. They are almost closed groups where a table is a group, says the mother.
From the first year of upper secondary school, the russebuss division also decides who can attend parties and other social events. Male and female buses team up, become “boyfriend buses” and party together.
Blindern’s father asks the school to address the problem.
– The schools have completely failed. When russetida is overwhelming and totally dominant for the whole school environment and students, they can’t just put their heads in the sand and say “we’re helpless”. If it is true that schools have a responsibility for students during school hours and a “safe and good learning environment,” then they have a very big challenge that they face immediately, he believes.
– Lowered
Principal Haugland says he doesn’t fully acknowledge the criticism.
– Throughout the years, we have smoothed out Russian weather in Blindern. It is not possible to play Russian songs in the school premises, it is not allowed to drive buses in the school and there is no Russian council. It is a demanding job. The home must also have clear expectations of its young people, which we also pass on to parents, says the principal.
On Friday, according to the principal, the school sent a letter to parents, in which they inform about how they are working with the growing trend of groupings on Russian buses.
Ullern upper secondary school principal Torill Røeggen recently sounded the alarm about the Russian environment in the school, like this VG previously mentioned.
In a letter he sent to the school’s parents on November 1, which Dagbladet saw, he writes:
“Students fear going to school, they sit in the stairs and on the toilet rather than in the cafeteria and many find that good friends suddenly turn their backs on them.”
Youth culture appears increasingly hierarchical, and those who are “inside” and “outside” are increasingly linked to belonging to the bus.
The headmaster of Ullern promises measures, through talks and continuous changes in the structure of the canteen.
PRINCIPAL: Hege Haugland, Blindern High School. Photo: private.
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The pandemic may have had an impact
It may appear that the closure during the pandemic affected the social maturation process of the pupils, says principal Haugland of Blindern.
– We particularly noticed that first-class pupils this year focus more on Russian buses and gang formation, he says.
Blindern’s principal points out that only a third of their pupils take the Russian bus.
– Most of the students who do not take the bus have chosen it personally and are satisfied with it. Then there are some students who would like to get on the bus, but they are excluded. It’s not good and the school has to work on that, she says.
ADDRESSED: Bus time and exclusion were raised during the autumn parents’ meeting at Blindern High School in Oslo. The principal says this is unfortunately a growing trend. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB
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Dagbladet spoke with parents who have children on the IB line at Blindern School (International Baccalaureate). This is a line with an international program from 10th grade up to upper secondary school. Parents say some children get food from older Blindern secondary school students if they try to sit in the communal cafeteria.
– Throwing food to other students
On October 28, the management of the IB line sent an e-mail to the parents:
“Dear parents, (…) We have received reports that some of our IB students have been harassed by some students from the Norwegian line of study (ST).”
The school promises to have contacted the management of Blindern and have drawn up a detailed action plan.
– This year we have experienced a polarization between IB and study specialization. We talked about it in the classes involved. There was a jargon and a polarization. Fortunately, it seems that this has not been so ingrained, Principal Haugland tells Blindern vgs.
The Dagbladet parents intervened to say that the graduate students, which is the “normal” upper secondary school, have thrown food at the IB line students and call them foreigners.
– Does that seem a bit more of a polarization to you?
– Yes, there was nasty harassment between the study specialization and IB. These were individual incidents committed by a few students and occurred in a shorter period. This is not representative of our student environment, Principal Haugland replies.
The school has implemented measures to mitigate the polarization and now has several joint activities.
