Bailiffs stood up for the Danilov hermits

· Events

The family of Mikhail Shaydenko and Yulia Danilovskaya is called hermits by the media, and indeed by the people. They moved to an abandoned village, standing alone on the very bank of the Ukhra River, run a household, raise and bring up their children according to their own rules and laws.
Article 27, para. 1 of the Russian Constitution states: “Everyone who is lawfully present on the territory of the Russian Federation has the right to move freely, to choose their place of stay and residence.”
Talking with these interesting people, who have chosen an unusual, non-traditional way of life for our times, made us reflect on the correctness and justification of the claims made by the guardianship and custody authorities.

Articles from the “Family Code” of the Russian Federation, Art. 63, fully justify the spouses’ actions:
Parents have the right and duty to raise their children. Parents bear responsibility for the upbringing and development of their children. They are obliged to care for the health, physical, mental, spiritual, and moral development of their children. Parents have a preferential right to raise their children over all other persons.
And the head of the family — Mikhail Shaydenko, the hardworking mother and generator of ideas — Yulia Danilovskaya, and the healthy, sturdy children, of whom one wants to say “blood and milk” — make up a perfectly well-off Russian family. Having abandoned “this mad, mad, mad world,” they were drawn to the land, decided to raise their children in unity with nature, founded on love for nature. They repaired and rebuilt an old village house, bought domestic animals, laid out a vegetable garden. They eat what they grow themselves. Everything they need they buy in bulk at the wholesale market, using money earned from selling meat.
Porridge, unsalted rye flatbreads, raw vegetables, goat cheese and extraordinarily tasty milk, herbal tea — that is a usual meal in this large, close-knit family.
In this house with a big Russian stove there is no electricity, no mobile phones, no internet, no television. The children do not attend school; they study at home using the works of classical authors, play the piano, study history in depth from Kliuchevsky, and work on the land. The parents do not follow any educational program.
However, this does not prevent their children from acquiring knowledge about the world, friendship, good and evil from literature, from contact with wild nature and domestic creatures. The family spends leisure time at the grand piano or with books. On the eve of the Great Victory holiday, the so-called “hermits — people who shun others” gave a concert program in the local club, where they performed live their favorite songs of the war years, about war and peace.
The media often reported that the children “toil without straightening their backs.” Surprisingly, seeing the smiles on the faces of these kids, you realize that all the accusations against the parents have no foundation. It is a pity that we hardly managed to talk heart-to-heart with the children (they refuse to speak on camera), but we left with the awareness that these children are not as unhappy as those who are abandoned or live with alcoholic parents, yet remain within a family.
The socialization that the guardianship authorities worry about does exist. The family communicates with neighbors and friends, visits the library more often than the local residents, and their family — which is large, fortunately — is a model of mutual relations, love, care, and support. In any case, the children and parents lead a healthy (in every respect) way of life. The parents have managed to protect their children from alcoholism, substance abuse, and drug addiction, from those destructive habits that lead to the degradation of urban youth who live the “correct way of life” dictated by civilization.
None of the children — not the eldest daughter Vasilisa, who will soon turn 18, nor her brothers — plan to get an education in any educational institution. And the parents stand in solidarity with them on this decision. They gave their children the right to choose, to self-determination. After all, Mikhail Lomonosov did not sit at a school desk at age 7, but, as is known, almost at 20!
However, the RF Law “On Education,” Art. 52, para. 1, on the one hand, grants the freedom to choose the form of a child’s education and reads as follows: “Parents (legal representatives) of minor children, until the latter receive general education, have the right to choose forms of education, educational institutions, to protect the lawful rights and interests of the child, and to take part in the administration of the educational institution”; (RF Law “On Education,” Art. 10, para. 1):
“Parents, taking into account the opinion of children, have the right to choose an educational institution and the form of education for their children. Taking into account the needs and capabilities of the individual, educational programs are mastered in the following forms: in an educational institution — in full-time, part-time (evening), correspondence forms; in the form of family education, self-education, external studies. A combination of various forms of education is permitted.”
On the other hand, the law quite strictly regulates the duties of parents:
“Parents are obliged to ensure that their children receive basic general education and to create conditions for them to receive secondary (complete) general education.”
How will the fate of the children from this strong family, which has chosen the path of the working person, be decided? Will the guardianship and custody authorities come to terms with the way of life that the Shaydenko-Danilovskaya family continues to lead? Who knows — maybe a desire for knowledge and education will awaken in these children as well. Is it worth forcing them now? Is this not an act of violence against the person? Will the parents compromise with the authorities, or will they defend their civic stance? Time will tell. For now, Article 23, para. 1 of the Russian Constitution enshrines the rights of citizens: “Everyone has the right to inviolability of private life, personal and family secrecy, and the protection of their honor and good name.”
Press group of the Federal Bailiff Service for Yaroslavl Oblast

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