Lawmakers are proposing to introduce tax breaks for expenses related to school preparation. God doesn’t know which generosity is obviously more solid than previous promises. Earlier, they mentioned the possibility of an annual allowance that would recoup at least half of parents’ spending on purchasing school uniforms and stationery. But God is with them with promises. Another interesting thing is why is the everyday phenomenon of buying notebooks, briefcases, shirts, trousers and trousers so demonized every year? Is this really such a difficult test for Russian families?
Kids are expensive, yes. Those who try to argue with this either do not have or have children, but are hardly involved in their upbringing, or belong to an extremely small group of people who can afford not to count money at all. Everyone else knows perfectly well: children are fixed costs. This is where the weirdness lies.
Costs are fixed. Either it’s time to buy clothes for winter, then you need to update your wardrobe by summer, then sports camps on the nose, then serious dance competitions, then it’s time to fix your bite, then teachers, then graduation. Against this background, school fees are not the most devastating expenses. Also, they are not sudden and can stretch over time like others. Yet every August, this deep and piercing sigh is heard throughout our vast country. This heavy accusation against the sky: for what they say, Lord, and where do we get the strength to get rid of everything.
And what is it? What are these fees? And it depends, as you know, on what will be measured: in money, in time or in nerve cells.
In terms of money last year, the main thing was calculated by Rosstat (this summer, the department is in no hurry with the numbers). The authorities covered the cost of 27 thousand rubles (22,300 rubles for a girl and 26,800 rubles for a boy). The proposed set, of course, turned out to be rather meager. For girls – two school dresses, two skirts, three blouses, a sweater, a tracksuit, two T-shirts, three tights, five pairs of socks, shoes, sneakers, boots. For boys, two pants, three shirts, a sweater, sweatpants, two T-shirts, five pairs of socks and three pairs of shoes. However, the authorities were quite stingy with stationery: they thought that four thin notebooks, five fountain pens, the same number of pencils, an album, and for some reason five textbooks would be enough for schoolchildren for a year (although the school provided them ). No atlas, compass, paint, gouache, plasticine, no one talks about them, God forgive me, floss or polymer clay.
It is clear that the estimate proposed by Rosstat is a purely economic option. It is clear that the list does not include any accessories for extracurricular activities and circles: dance dresses and shoes, kimonos, swimsuits, suits for junior hairdressers – not fat.
Of course, if the family is low-income and has two or three children (and the more children there are, the more likely people are to be officially below the poverty line), then preparing schoolchildren for a start isn’t really easy. their work. But these families are still helping. There are monthly allowances for the needy, large families have compensation for school uniforms, and charities have seasonal promotions. Of course, getting help takes time. No one will fully solve the problems of poor families, as they say, on a turnkey basis, you will have to find various opportunities yourself: track stocks, buy long in advance on the days of sale, search for something on Avito. This is again a waste of time. But time is the same money, if you want to save one, you spend more on the other. Of course, we need to make efforts so that this balance is not so sad and the situation gets more difficult from year to year, but this is so lucky.
But I want to draw attention to one more thing. What is overspent not only money and time, but also nerves? Preparing for school is always complicated by some ridiculous requirements. For example, this practice is still common when school administrations force you to purchase school uniforms from a particular manufacturer. And yes, most of the time, the prices of the products of these companies are two to three times the average market price. At the same time, as a rule, we are not talking about some kind of super quality. On the contrary, it is not uncommon for an ordinary vest worth five thousand rubles to be spooled up after two weeks of wearing.
Naturally, such requirements are illegal, no one can force parents to buy clothes of a particular brand for their children. I personally have not played such games for a long time, and I can say that my “sabotage” had absolutely no consequences. None. But I know it’s really hard for many people to oppose the party line imposed by the administration. And it is often difficult for people of extremely modest means. Traditional psychology: For those who still have something to spend, the poor, those who buy what they don’t really need, even on credit, it’s easier to refuse irrational spending, just to show they can’t afford something.
The school, represented by individual teachers, much more often than school uniforms sets out the requirements for the acquisition of various teaching aids. Here, too, everything depends on the fact that every student of the subject needs atlases, workbooks and reference books of strictly defined publishers and strictly the last year of publication. It is impossible to organize the purchase of everything at once: there is one thing in one online store, and not the second, and vice versa. And the fact that teachers cannot agree among themselves and express their wishes collectively, not at the last moment, complicates the problem even more. As a result, everything is stretched out over several weeks and dispersed into the virtual or real space. And there is no discount for you for a large order and a purchase that is not at the peak of demand. Moving between ordering points instead of bonuses.
Again, you cannot attend this attraction at all. Yes, if it does not hit your pocket hard, it is better to buy – it will facilitate children’s study. Of course it’s the teachers’ job. But if the family is in a difficult situation, it is enough to calmly explain to the teachers that at the moment there is no opportunity to purchase additional assistance, the teachers will understand in 99 out of 100 cases and undertake to give the child photocopies of the benefits. That’s right, even threats from the prosecution will not be necessary – all people. Another thing is that it is still difficult for an insecure person to maintain a calm tone, they always feel hurt by the circumstances and the environment seems hostile to them. Hence conflicts, trials, and ultimately endless stress.
But that’s not all. In this fun time when the task of “Take the child to school” continues at full speed, parent committees come into play. Sometimes this looks like some kind of scheduled sync from above. While parents spend their paychecks and weekends on shopping trips, knocking themselves down to find something “the same but with mother-of-pearl buttons”, the most enterprising moms take the stage and offer to pay for another quest. children and then how on September 1 without a holiday. And so that the search cost not 2000 rubles, but 1900 rubles, it was proposed to pay as part of some annual subscriptions for the event – only about fifteen thousand. On top of that, of course add the needs of the classroom.
It is clear that even such activities can be avoided; collective farm is often a voluntary affair. But then again, who cares? Knowing the real price of all these collective excursions and pursuits, able to organize leisure for children on their own (and at the same time more interesting and cheaper), a complex that has seen and tried a lot, is called “you can not fight from the team” to those who do not have it. Unfortunately, there are not many such families. It seems that people feel that they did not attract and something of excessive value was sold to them, and all this is not in time, and therefore credit cards are already in use, but somehow it is inconvenient to refuse, this is not good to think about the family, it will affect the children.
Don’t do it this way. Don’t go on about someone’s stupidity or self-interest.
It’s also optional to wave your arms, throw yourself into a tantrum, and scare your own kids at the same time. The consistency of stupidity, selfishness, selfishness and indifference in the world is quite high. So what? Is it worth responding to all your vibrations?
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.