For a long time in Russia, the education of children in peasant work took place according to a system that was well thought out by many generations of people.
Children were taught to do it no later than from the age of seven, believing that "a small business is better than a big idleness." The accustoming of children to work from this age, very early from the point of view of modern people, was dictated by the idea that if a child "from an early age" not included in village work, then he will not have a "diligent ability" for peasant labor in the future. A person, in the opinion of Russian peasants, can only then do the hard work of a plowman, a reaper, a carpenter well and with joy, if the habit of work has entered his flesh and blood from early childhood.
From the age of 6 to 7, the child developed stable hobby duties, while work acquired a sexual division: the boy gradually moved into his father's labor sphere, where he was attracted strictly to male occupations. For example, in the Simbirsk province at the age of 6, boys were instructed to carry sheaves during threshing, at 8 - to graze horses, at 9-10 to harrow, at 12 - to plow, and at 16-17 to completely replace their father in all household chores, in the field and on hunting.
Children were taught peasant work according to a system that was well thought out by many generations of people. Children were taught to do it no later than from the age of seven, believing that "a small business is better than a big idleness." The accustoming of children to work from this age, very early from the point of view of modern people, was dictated by the idea that if a child "from an early age" not included in village work, then he will not have a "diligent ability" for peasant labor in the future. A person, in the opinion of Russian peasants, can only do well and with joy the hard work of a plowman, a reaper, a carpenter, if the habit of work entered his flesh and blood from early childhood. The process of labor training of a child was usually carried out in stages,while taking into account the physical and mental characteristics and capabilities of children in different periods of their growing up. A Russian proverb says: "I always wear it by myself, so as not to groan when walking." The amount of workload and educational measures that people used to attract children to work were determined taking into account the number of years the child had lived. The peasants understood very well that the child should work to the best of his strength and capabilities, and that he should be given, as they said, "once for each difficulty." Otherwise, they believed, it is possible to discourage the child from the desire for work, to instill in him an attitude towards work as a heavy duty.were determined taking into account the number of years the child has lived. The peasants understood very well that the child should work to the best of his strength and capabilities, and that he should be given, as they said, "once for each difficulty." Otherwise, they believed, it is possible to discourage the child from the desire for work, to instill in him an attitude towards work as a heavy duty.were determined taking into account the number of years the child has lived. The peasants understood very well that the child should work to the best of his strength and capabilities, and that he should be given, as they said, "once for each difficulty." Otherwise, they believed, it is possible to discourage the child from the desire for work, to instill in him an attitude towards work as a heavy duty.
In the Russian countryside, work was supposed to be distributed also depending on the gender of the child. Girls were entrusted with work that would prepare her for the life of a woman, boys were given the knowledge and skills necessary for a man. At the same time, the training was structured in such a way that the child knew exactly his duties and the parents did not have to remind the child about them.
Children were taught to work in the Russian countryside easily and imperceptibly under the guidance of a mother or father, grandmother or grandfather, older sisters or brothers. Growing up in an atmosphere of work, the children themselves showed an interest in work, expressed a desire to do something necessary for the family. Parents usually tried to support this desire in the child, give him a job that he could do well, allow him to earn money with his labor, albeit small, but bring it into the house. At the same time, they considered it necessary that the adolescent "indulge his dignity", i.e. received praise for his work, saw that his work was needed by the family.
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From early childhood, the child was unobtrusively taught to do minor household chores and parental assignments. Most often it was washing dishes, bringing small logs to the stove, looking after chickens, feeding bast when weaving bast shoes or thread when knitting. In some guernias, a three-year-old boy could already help his mother peel potatoes, sweep the floor, give her something, find his father's sash, or pick peas scattered on the floor. It happened that already from the age of three, fathers took boys to the field when transporting manure. Involving the child in joint work, offering him a job within his power, the parents maintained in him a sense of joy from being involved in the business together with adults, pleasure from the work performed. If the mother drove the sheep home, she would let her five-year-old daughter wave a twig, explaining that this would make the sheep run faster. Weeding ridges in the garden, she instructed her daughter to throw away the weed or hold the plucked carrot. A father repairing a fence allowed his son, who was spinning around him, to hold a rail or a nail. In a large family, the little one became the direct assistant of older brothers and sisters. The division of responsibilities could be as follows: while the older sister was sweeping the floor, the younger one was dusting. In an effort to resemble their constantly busy parents, seeing their friendly attitude towards their attempts to learn a business, listening to pleasant praise addressed to themselves, the children could not imagine, that you can not work, not be able to spin, sew, chop wood, nail a board that has come off, not help your father or mother. In the children's environment, it was considered a shame if a twelve-year-old girl was said to be a "bad guy", but about a boy of ten,- that he "can only drive money."
Attracting boys to work on the ground was one of the most important moments in the transfer of work skills necessary for independent living. Without owning them, a teenager could not become a full member of the village community. In the Russian tradition, farming was perceived as the basis of a full-fledged male status.
Becoming an assistant to his father, the boy participated in all his work. When ditching the land: the father brought manure and scattered it in large piles, the son dragged it all over the field, and then, during plowing, he made sure that the clods of earth and manure did not hinder the work of the plow and did not fill the furrow. In harrowing: the father instructed his son to harvest the field after plowing (girls could also play this role if there were no sons in the family). The boy either led a horse harnessed to the harrow by the bridle, or rode it. It was easier to drive a small harrow harrow, but for an adult, driving a horse all day on a bit was considered hard work. Therefore, the owners, who did not have children, hired a teenager - a harrow from the side. If the ground was lumpy, the father would sit his son on top of the harrow to make it heavier, while he would lead the horse. By the age of 10 - 12, the harrow-harrowing boy had already taken upon himself all the worries of harrowing the field.
From 11 to 13 years old, his father taught the boy to plow. “For lack of time,” he rarely explained to his son how to plow, and there was no particular need for that, since he, following his father relentlessly, adopted all the necessary work techniques. The father trusted his son to make a couple of furrows or provided an opportunity to practice, allocating a small area of arable land for self-cultivation. A teenager mastered plowing usually by the age of 14 - 15 - on the verge of majority.
In a Russian village at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. the boy's entry into the working life of the family, the mastery of male household functions, was accompanied by the obligatory involvement of him in caring for the horses: he gave them food, gave them to drink, in the summer he drove them to the river to drink. From 5 to 6 years old, the child learned to control a horse, sitting on top of it. From 8 to 9 years old, the boy learned to harness a horse, to control it, sitting and standing in a cart. At this age, he was already sent to the nocturnal - summer nocturnal grazing of herds of village horses.
In the Russian North and Siberia, where trades (fishing, hunting, etc.) were of great importance in the circle of economic concerns, children were attracted to fishing activities from early childhood.
First in the game, and then watching his father and brothers, helping them to the best of his ability, by the age of 8-9 the boy had learned the basics of fishing: he knew how to put loops on ducks on a nearby lake, shoot a bow. At 10 years old, teenagers caught gophers, columns. Selling booty to visiting merchants, they received their first money of their own, which they could spend at their own discretion. At this age, almost every boy in a Siberian village could independently make a "muzzle" for catching fish and set it in the river. The first fish caught was a special source of pride. After such a proof of mastering the skills, the father began to take the boy with him on a fishing trip, teaching him to beat the fish with a spear. Having mastered this lesson, the children gathered in an artel in the fall and went to ray fish on the nearest mountain rivers. The beam took place after sunset. Usually the boys were divided in two:one walked along the bank and carried a bag for fish and a bunch of one and a half-meter pine splinters, the second, dressed in special non-soaking boots - "glasses" and armed with a small guard, walked along the bottom of the river upstream so that the water muddied behind, not in front. In his left hand he carried a bunch of lighted torches, which shone through the water to the very bottom and made it possible to see the sleeping fish. Noticing the prey, the boy beat her with a spear.
The fishing activities also included the picking of berries and the extraction of pine nuts. The teenagers took an active part in collective, including several families, fishing trips. During them, they got acquainted with nature, learned to better orient themselves on the terrain, and adopted the experience of constructing fishing camps. By the age of 14-15, the basic fishing skills were adopted. The father who went fishing in the spring was not afraid to leave his son of this age to hunt in the forest alone.
An important stage in the socio-economic development of a teenager in fishing areas was membership in an adult fishing cooperative, which included all the men of the village, from teenagers to old people. Men's fishing, less often hunting, associations, as well as latrine, craft professions, contributed to the preservation / revival of the traditions of men's organizations. One of them was a probationary period for admission to the artel of adolescents of 8-12 years old, without which they could not become its full members. The adolescent trials were a prime example. in the Murmansk fisheries of the Pomors: they were entrusted with impossible tasks, deceived, putting stones instead of fish in bags and tackles, forced themselves to get food for themselves, arranged competitions between them, etc.
From that moment on, the professional and life education of a teenager was concentrated in the artel. Growing up, the boys passed into the category of cabin boys and coastal fishermen, who already had their share and contributed a significant share to the family budget. The adults treated them with respect and affectionately called them “breadwinners”.
By the age of 15, a teenager had adopted all the economic skills, was considered fit for any male work, and if he was hired as workers, he received a pay equal to an adult. He was considered the right hand of his father, replacing him in absences and illness. In the fishing areas, adult sons took over all spring field work. While the father was on the hunt, the teenager independently plowed and fenced the plot, and then went to help his father. Having an earnings, such a teenager spent part of it on himself, preparing an age-old outfit for festivities, without which he could not be considered an enviable groom.
V. G. Kholodnaya