When NHK collected questions from the 4th to 6th grades of elementary school with the cooperation of experts regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, nearly 1000 children answered.



"Why are you at war?"


"When will it end?



"

Why are you doing this?

Ukraine invasion Gimon of 1000 elementary school students

↑ Click here for an article in which NHK's commentator answers the question ↑

The answers were from 10 elementary schools in 4 prefectures, Shizuoka, Nagano, Gifu, and Aichi.

We asked children in grades 4 to 6 "what they wonder, don't understand, and are worried about when they see the news of Ukraine and Russia," and a total of 980 people answered.



The most frequently asked question was "Why Russia is invading Ukraine", and was asked by 397 children.



Many questions were also asked, such as "Why are unrelated citizens involved?" And "When will this war end?"



Here are some of the various questions and questions of elementary school students.

"Why isn't it strange that you hurt unrelated children, unrelated people, and innocent people, and eventually kill them? I want you to review them."



"Why Ukraine isn't doing anything wrong? I'm going to attack. Please stop doing it because it's a request. "



" I'm not sure why Russia is waging a war even though it should have experienced a world war. "



" Many people are at war. "I don't think there's anything good about it. " "



I think we should talk directly with President Putin and President Zelensky to solve it."



"Russian soldiers see the Ukrainian people disappear and what do they think? "I

wonder



why the war is still happening in this era, and why I can't stop even if I say" stop "."



"There are no children smaller than us, and in this world I wanted you to know more about the fun. "



" What are you doing at school now, like us, elementary school students? "



" It's amazing to see a lot of Ukrainian children dying. I'm glad that the war with Russia is over and I'm happy to have friends with my family. "



" Will Japan suffer damage? Will Japan also go to war? "



" Why Ukraine, our country Do you want to do it? Is it fun for children to be sad? "



" I'm not on the side of Russia, but I want to see for myself what Ukraine is saying. Is it true that what is reflected in the news?) "



"It was a little sad to see that the scene of Ukraine seen in the news was almost the same as the scene of the war in the story of the atomic bomb in the class when I was in the fifth grade."

This questionnaire survey was conducted with the cooperation of Associate Professor Kazunori Sato, Faculty of Education, Shinshu University.



Associate Professor Sato, who read the children's questions, said, "The questions are summarized in the simple question,'Why Ukraine and Russia are at war.' It was divided into "children", and I got the impression that the detailed children were in the minority.

Watching news and reading newspapers means that children aren't as children as adults think, and they can only understand it in fragments. "



In addition, Professor Tatsuya Horita of the Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University said, "There are two reasons why children's questions are simple. One is that they have no prerequisite knowledge. I don't even know where Ukraine is because I'm a sixth grader learning about the relations between countries. The second is that it's hard to imagine because I haven't experienced it. There is a lot of distance. "



On top of that, when children come into contact with Ukrainian news, adults should be careful: "Just showing the news footage is a risk of being scared or deciding the facts. While talking with adults and children If you look at it, your child's anxiety will disappear. "



Also, when watching videos on the Internet, "Because video sites are sent by people from various positions, there is a risk of anxiety and pain at times. After filtering," I feel unpleasant. It's important to tell an adult if you ever get sick. "



And to the children, "News such as TV are explained briefly to the viewers, so it is not all that is reported. You can judge the news by examining the surrounding information and knowledge yourself. I want you to be like that. "