"Yet Another Attempt To Make The School Completely Sterile"

• 27.08.2026, 12:39

What is behind the regime's decision to introduce student searches?

Starting September 1, in Belarusian schools will be able to selectively inspect the personal belongings of students, their parents, and other visitors. However, the authorities have not yet explained who will conduct the searches or under what circumstances.

How might the new rules affect students, and why are these searches actually being introduced?

The website Charter97.org asked Andrei Sharendo, coordinator of the “European Belarus” civic campaign and father of two schoolchildren, for his comments:

— I can say with certainty that searches of students’ and their parents’ personal belongings upon entering the school will not be introduced to ensure the safety of the students themselves. In other words, they won’t primarily be looking for dangerous objects, weapons, or drugs, but rather for items that the Lukashenko regime perceives as a threat: truthful books, national symbols, and other forms of “extremism” that it finds objectionable.

This is yet another attempt to make schools completely free of anything that the Lukashenko regime finds unacceptable. And the worst part is that they are now trying to restrict the freedom of our very own children, using methods that are more akin to intimidation. Children are being encouraged to get used to this and consider it the norm. In other words, they want to accustom them from childhood to perceive violence and lawlessness as the norm.

Furthermore, I want to point out that such searches can, in any case, have a negative impact on children’s psychological well-being. When someone goes through your personal belongings, it’s always unpleasant. And when it happens constantly—when people are always searching through your things—it becomes traumatic, especially for children. Such searches can be particularly painful for 16- to 17-year-old teenagers. They already have their own secrets and personal belongings that they don’t want to show anyone. As a parent, I understand this very well. Children don’t want to show everything they have; they need to have their own personal space.

I’d also like to point out that it’s still unclear who will actually be conducting these searches. Most likely, they’ll hire some security guard or pull yet another physical education teacher away from teaching. And in any case, this will already have an impact on the educational process itself.

But I know for sure who will be footing the bill for all of this. I still remember when schools first introduced the pass system and turnstiles. Parents were the first to foot the bill: they were asked to contribute money for installing the turnstiles, producing the passes, and even for the equipment used at the security desk.

That’s why it’s clear even now what schools will start collecting fees for next: metal detectors, additional turnstiles, and then, perhaps, X-ray scanners. Yes, I don’t rule out that the next step will be the installation of such machines in schools, through which students’ belongings will be scanned. And for all of this, of course, ordinary parents will once again foot the bill—not the Lukashenko regime, which came up with all of this in the first place.

But, I repeat, first and foremost, this is a measure intended to intimidate and instill fear in the younger generation of Belarusians.