– How does the communication with the outside world and with parents occur? It is very important to immerse a child into this special environment so he would be there for a long period of time. But should he still have an external connection through the internet or telephone? Can he connect to his relatives and the people close to him?
– Children can see, hear, and talk to their parents every day on Skype. The camp should definitely offer them this possibility. If the camp is somewhere out in the field, they can still go to some place where every person has the chance to talk to his parents for five minutes, but not longer than that. As for connecting with other, egoistic, uncorrected societies, this is absolutely unnecessary at this point.
We have to understand that if we are creating a new society, preparing a new human being, then he has to look ahead and never back. After all, children don’t want to listen to their parents. They want to do everything their way and advance forward, while the parents stand behind them.
Parents should only give children the right setting and the right direction, and do everything they can so the children can advance. They should never try to pull the children into their own world. On the contrary, they should create new conditions for them so the children are only in them, and from there on, would move forward.
That is why we have to rear the parents ahead of time, before this small person returns to his family, by giving them an explanation of how they should express themselves in relation to their children. We are not trying to re-educate them. This is a completely different task that can only be done through the mass media.
But they can provide the correct routine for the children and support them every day, and to have the same routine be present at school, meaning, in their children’s world as a whole. This is what we have to provide.
– What if the parents want to see their children physically, especially if the camp is intended for a long period of time? Should we organize parents’ days?
– Yes, this can be done. Naturally, they won’t have to see their children “through the fence.” It has to happen handsomely and pleasantly. For example, we can hold a picnic together where children both perform and are also just next to their parents.
A child wants to snuggle up to his mom and to sit next to her, and she wants to see her darling child. All of this is obvious and natural, and we certainly don’t prohibit any of that.
But nevertheless, this still calls for a briefing for the parents. For example, they shouldn’t cry over their darling Johnny, “Oh no! He got sunburned or scratched…”
Parents have to treat the children with encouragement and even admiration because the children are in such a special camp. This is very important for the children.
– And how often should a “parents day” be held?
– I don’t think it has to be done often. Maybe once every two weeks, and certainly not for the whole day. And during these days the children should carry out practically the same work as on regular days, while the parents can be together with them and observe how all of it is done from the side, including the games, discussions, courts, songs and dancing, and meals. And a couple of times a day they should be given half an hour or an hour of free time. It’s necessary to show parents what this is.
This is how we also teach the parents to understand what is happening with their child later on. We have to organize these days in such a way that they will be educational days for the parents. When their child returns home, they will be able to understand how they should relate to various things and what “product” they have received after two or three months of camp.
The child is a completely different person, having a different outlook on the world and on life. The parents have to be ready for this. Therefore, during these days there should be very intensive studies for the parents.
We have to give every parent a brochure and a CD that they will have to watch in preparation for the next visit. In general, this is mutual, intensive work that gives us the opportunity to literally perform a reconstruction of society around these types of camps. And not only parents can come there, but also grandmothers, grandfathers, and other relatives.
– Can parents work at the camp, or is it preferable for the staff to be strangers who don’t have any familial connection?
– I think that in the future we will be able to create some kind of a resort for parents and children, where both children and parents participate in training sessions and go through mutual, psychological re-preparation, developing a new attitude to society, to creating themselves and a new community among them.
But this is already the next step. I can only envision it slightly, but it is premature to discuss it today.