A Sydney high school principal has been forced to apologise after one of its teachers made a teenage schoolgirl of Russian descent burst into tears.
The distraught girl’s mother told Daily Mail Australia how the teacher said ‘nasty things about Russia’ to the entire class, and when the girl begged her to stop, she told the student she was wrong to support Russia.
In an apology emailed to the girl’s mother, the principal said the school was ‘sincerely sorry’ and has now banned all of its teachers and staff from any ‘further discussion’ of the Russia and Ukraine crisis.
The mother said her ‘very shy’ and kind daughter as shocked by the teacher ‘explaining to all children how bad is Russia’.
The comment ‘came out of the blue’ and her daughter ‘really needed to be coaxed back’ to school after the incident.
The mother, who did not wish to be identified, was shocked when her teenage daughter was brought to tears by a teacher who said to the whole class ‘how bad is Russia’ in the Ukraine crisis and has been given an apology by the principal
After the teacher said ‘nasty things’ about Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis making the student cry, her mother was sent an apology by the school saying it wouldn’t happen again
The mother ‘Eva’, who did not want to be known by her real name, said her two daughters were saying to her ‘people hate us now’.
Eva has issued a plea to Australians to cease any aggression towards children of Russian descent.
‘Australia is very inclusive. We used to be very multicultural. I never had any problems being Russian, but this time it seems to have change,’ she said.
‘My daughter says “I am so tired. People say they hate Putin, they hate Russians”. This makes them anxious.’
In her impassioned plea on Facebook, Eva posted: ‘Dear Australian community! STOP AGGRESSION TOWARDS RUSSIAN CHILDREN AT SCHOOLS!!!
‘My daughter came back home in tears and told me that the teacher began to say nasty things about Russia during the class, explaining to all children how bad is Russia.
‘All children were involved in this and showed aggression towards Russians. My child began to cry and begged teacher to stop!
‘What are you trying to bring by doing this? I’m half Russian half Ukrainian. I can’t choose between mum and dad.
‘We were made into the war, not we wanted the war. We never wanted it!’
Eva’s impassioned Facebook plea on behalf of Russian Australian children questioned why Australia was not the ‘big and friendly community’ it once was
Eva wants Australians to see images of Russian people like this mother and child (above) she says are among victims who have died since the 2014 conflict in Donbas began
Eva, who came to Australia from Russia two decades ago aged 20 said although her mother is Ukrainian, both she and her two daughters identify as Russian.
‘They identify as Russian Australian and speak Russian at home … and in general the school is very friendly.
‘But the teacher came to class to tell everyone about the situation and conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
‘(My daughter) burst into tears in class. The teacher trying to calm her down was trying to convince her she was wrong.’
On Facebook post, Eva gave an account of the last eight years in the Donbass and Lugansk regions of southeastern Ukraine where she claims Russians speakers ‘are victims of genocide’.
This version of events, used by Vladimir Putin to launch an invasion on Ukraine, is widely disputed by experts.
The Donbas war, which broke out in March 2014, and is part of the ongoing armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The United Nations has acknowledged the death in the region since 2014 of more than 13,000 people, on all sides, including Russian armed forces and separatist groups, and Ukrainian forces and more than 3300 civilians.
Eva has family members in Donbas, and forwarded images she wanted published of civilians she said were victims of Ukrainian aggression against Russians.
Anti-Putin sentiments, like this held up by a protestor in Sydney’s Martin Place, have risen around the world as well as in Australia, which Eva says was ‘always a big and friendly community’ before the current conflict
Eva sought a response from the school’s principal and was gratified to receive an email reassuring her that in the future teachers will not discuss the Russia Ukraine conflict in class
‘Since 2014, Russia was begging Ukraine to stop genocide. Why you, Australians, would do the same genocide here? How are you much better than that? Just STOP!’
In response to her Facebook post, Eva’s friends offered their support and criticised the teacher, although her comments did attract some online anti-Russian abuse.
‘It is unprofessional for the teacher to say things like this,’ one male Facebook user wrote.
‘The kid will remember such an abuse and the matter should be taken to the principal without any fears.
Members of the Australian-Ukrainian community and others participate in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the Sydney Opera House this week
Ukrainians and their supporters dressed in the country’s yellow and blue flag colours holding what has now become a daily protest in Martin Place (above) against the Russian invasion
‘If a teacher made a mistake – she will say sorry, otherwise – she is not in the right place.’
‘What has changed? Do you really want to make our children fight each other?’
Another Facebook poster wrote, ‘What a disgrace!!! Absolutely speechless!! this person should not be a teacher at all.’
Eva says she has a Ukrainian mother and a Russian father but identifies as a Russian Australian and questions why the community here has turned on Russians in the current conflict
Eva’s Facebook post about what her daughter endured at school when a teacher took side in the Ukriane conflict drew responses like this (above) saying how could multicultural Australia ‘get as low as this’
One man wrote that if their kid’s teacher did something similar to his child he would ‘make them run for their miserable life’.
‘I don’t understand how in Australia, a multicultural society and freedom, teachers get as low as this,’ he wrote.
‘I already heard complaints from Russian kids’ parents a few times. If it was a gay, ethnicity or some other topic, no one would say a word.
‘If it comes to politics and whatever Russia does, everyone must say something. You should lodge a complaint against bullying.’
After her daughter burst into tears at the anti-Russian stance taken by a high school teacher, Eva has questioned why Australians are so anti-Putin (above protestors at the Sydney Opera House this week) when it used to be a ‘friendly community’
Another posted Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s message to Australians of Russian descent, saying ‘I know they will also be feeling terrible about these events’, suggesting Eva send it to the school principal.
Eva’s daughter’s school has promised none of its pupils would be confronted in class again with opinions by teachers about the Russia Ukraine situation, and said it would be supportive and offered personal counselling by senior staff.
One of Eva’s Facebook friends described her daughter as ‘a beautiful girl, inside and out’ and said ‘especially in this country, she of all people should not have to put up with racial abuse.
‘Especially not from her teacher.’
