Who are they?
Kamikaze teenagers is a term often used to describe young people who deliberately engage in extremely dangerous or suicidal acts, usually due to despair, mental problems, or environmental influences. In a broader sense, these can be teenagers who exhibit excessively risky behavior without realizing or ignoring possible consequences.
Main signs
1. Emotional or psychological distress
2. Influence of environment or social networks
3. Desire for attention
4. Romanticization of self-harm or death
5. Low self-esteem and lack of support
Why does this happen?
"Few people know that the most systematic document on military-patriotic education in Ukraine – still in force – was signed by the traitor Medvedchuk. That in the swamps over the past 10 years, more than a dozen nationwide youth movements have been systematically built with funding of hundreds of millions of dollars annually (the money was invested most of all not just in these movements themselves, but in their institutional and infrastructural development).
And what about us? Less than 10 systematic organizations that are bearers of values and are able to shape them among young people have not become – as one would have liked – movements. They are scaling down their activities. And their main challenge is not how to create new branches and involve more children in value-based education, but how to find at least some money so that the organization can continue to operate at least in a pre-war full-time mode.
As a result – roughly – we have more than 95% of teenagers who are social egoists. And the vacuum is easily filled with simple Moscow narratives and money. Even in Ivano-Frankivsk. They hype through TikTok, they recruit through Telegram. You will be surprised, but even an immediate ban of these two social networks in Ukraine will only suspend the process and easy recruitment, but without large national youth networks of hundreds of thousands of children, this will be only a temporary measure.
The youth networks of the 'old' EU countries have full basic institutional support from their states (in Ukraine, if lucky, such support is provided perhaps by Germany…). Including state compensation for their contributions to relevant European youth associations, as in Estonia (practical, not verbal, youth European integration). In Estonia, all this has been built systematically for 30 years. Lithuania has been building for 15 years, because after joining the EU, a third of young people simply left, and now most schoolchildren also want to leave somewhere (and this is from a country already in the EU and NATO). Lithuania is slowly catching up with Estonia, even recruiting our experts and offering them jobs.
In, say, Norway, 80% of young people are involved in public life, and the remaining 20% are engaged through grants for activities with the uninvolved. Again – grants are not the main tool there. The main work is done by youth networks built there more than a hundred years ago, with their endowments, youth houses, and field training centers. In the United Kingdom alone, there are about 500,000 scouts, and another 250,000 cadets (simplified scouting in military uniforms).
And there are many more youth movements there, including youth party branches in universities that nurture future Thatchers (we will not have such, as they are directly prohibited by law). In France, there are nearly a quarter of a million youth workers alone, and tens of thousands of new ones are trained every year. There is also the 'Civic Service' through which the state hires hundreds of thousands of young people for volunteering for a minimum wage.
How to help?
What can be done in Ukraine – quickly, apart from banning the two above-mentioned networks?
1. To begin with – put a lot of money into institutional support for organizations that are already working. They should not think about where to find money (amounts that are trivial for the state), but about how to reach more young people with active civic work. For a start, 2-5 million dollars a year will suffice, because by and large there is not much to scale except for a few organizations that regularly publish obituaries of their activists and students killed at the front, not photos from conferences somewhere abroad.
2. With the help of youth network organizations, seriously invest in 'Dzhura', which this year – as reported – was left without any funding for the first time in many years. This network of over 70,000 teenagers should be coordinated not by the deputy minister of education in charge of the field – who, with all due respect – has no idea what it is or why it exists. But, as in normal NATO countries – at least by a combat colonel appointed by the Ministry of Defense.
3. Create and launch a powerful social campaign – and not a 'general' one, but a very specific one based on the first two points. And not for children, but for volunteers, who still need to be properly trained. Unfortunately, this list of quick recipes ends here. Because even the Muscovites, with their bottomless resources for war, have been creating tools and launching nationwide youth networks over the past 10 years, investing hundreds of millions of dollars annually (just last year, officially more than a billion rubles from the state treasury).
Good to know!
How to protect yourself from coronavirus: information on COVID-19 prevention
Since the symptoms of coronavirus are no different from other viral diseases, it is important to see a doctor immediately. If you have returned within the last 14 days from a country where cases of coronavirus have been recorded, or have communicated with a person who has been in contact with someone who arrived in Ukraine from a country where cases of coronavirus have been recorded – immediately inform your family doctor about this. Afterwards, the doctor has an algorithm of actions on what to do.
Human Trafficking
"Human trafficking is a crime, do not be indifferent. Together we can stop it!"
Human trafficking is a serious global problem that violates fundamental human rights. It involves the forced movement, use, or exploitation of people through deception, violence, threats, or manipulation. Victims can be women, children, and men.
IT IS IMPORTANT to know about the danger in order not to become a victim and to help others.
In the event of a violation of human and civil rights, anyone can contact the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, who exercises parliamentary control over the observance of constitutional rights and freedoms.
For contacting the Commissioner, the following methods are available:
● In person: via the box at the address: 21/8 Instytutska St., Kyiv, or through the Commissioner's regional public reception offices.
● By mail: to the address of the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: 21/8 Instytutska St., Kyiv, 01008.
● By email: .au.vog.namsdubmo%40eniltoh
● By phone: 0 800 501 720 or 044 299 74 08
These communication channels provide an opportunity for every citizen to report violations of their rights and receive appropriate assistance.
Don't be indifferent!
These resources and organizations are ready to provide advice, support, and take the necessary measures to help victims of human trafficking, as well as to prevent such crimes.
Mental Health Support