Confusion reigns over Moscow’s annual “Back to School” celebrations
Across Russia, the first of September is met with either dread or anticipation. For students it’s the “Day of Knowledge,” where they report back for their first day of school ushered by their eager parents snapping photos of a solemn celebration that has the optics of a Russian Norman Rockwell: schoolboys suited up, holding out bouquets for their teachers; girls dressed in pressed navy skirts and pristine white knee socks, their braids tied up in frilly bows.
For decades, the rituals of the first day of school haven’t changed much, down to the hairstyles. Children line up by grade outside the school building and are ceremoniously called in as parents proudly watch.
So it’s hardly a surprise that parents were alarmed by a recent announcement posted by Moscow’s Education Department: schools should cancel this Monday’s celebrations. The recommendation cited “health concerns.” Across Moscow, panicking parents began exchanging conspiracy theories in Whatsapp groups, trying to explain such an unprecedented edict from the Education Department. Not helping matters much, the post was then deleted and replaced with a non-explanation that the department had requested its statement should be taken down.
Tomorrow many are carrying on with their planned celebration despite the warning, though some parents have reported cancellations at a number of schools. But the conspiracy theories are still swirling. Cooked up in an information vacuum with officials declining to shed further light on their announcement and retraction, the most popular conspiracy theories are tied to the two biggest news stories of the summer in Russia and give some insight into how Moscovites think their city administration is awash in paranoia.