Scandal in a Polotsk school: mother claims her son was beaten during judo training — the coach "educated" the boy this way
A video by Anna Zakharova, mother of three and a blogger, gathered tens of thousands of views and thousands of comments on various platforms within 24 hours. In it, the woman tearfully recounts that her son Klim was beaten by his peers during judo training at the Polotsk SDYUSHOR (Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve). Moreover — with the coach's consent.
"I don't treat my sons like 'coddled darlings'. But I definitely won't allow such treatment," Anna promised.
According to the mother, the coach allowed other children to "educate her son."
"Klim was having trouble doing an exercise, and the coach said: 'Until Klim gets it right, everyone else does squats.' This went on for some time, and at the end of the training, the coach said: 'Well, I allow you to punish him for this.'"
Both Klim and his other son Mark, who also attends the same judo training during holidays, told their mother about the situation.
"Klim was beaten by a crowd of his peers, Mark tried to protect his brother, but the crowd simply wouldn't let him. Are these pedagogical methods, when a child comes home and his nose is bruised? I know that my Klim isn't a perfect athlete, but why couldn't they contact me and say he was having problems?" the woman asks one question after another. "No matter how he behaved, beating him is unacceptable."
Anna Zakharova. Screenshot from Instagram video @by_zakharova
Anna decided not to publicly name the SDYUSHOR coach until the investigation was complete, but the entire situation was reported to the police. The mother also scheduled an individual meeting with the coach and visited the hospital to document the bruises. Local officials and media have joined the case, promising that the incident is "under control."
"Relevant services, including the sports department of the Polotsk district executive committee and the management of the sports institution, are involved and taking necessary measures. We strive for maximum transparency — as soon as official information is received, we will definitely report everything," wrote "Polotsky Vestnik."
Screenshot: @pvestnik page on Threads
The Polotsk SDYUSHOR itself refused to provide prompt comments to journalists.
The blogger's video sparked a broad discussion about the permissibility of upbringing methods in sports, especially when it involves combat.
The majority of Belarusians in the comments unequivocally condemn violence and forceful upbringing:
"Horrible, unpedagogical, the coach acted terribly. No matter how a child behaves (and I can imagine what boys sometimes do), but this is not allowed!"
"Beating someone with a crowd — that's not about sportsmanship or upbringing, that's 1000000% abnormal. The coach shows that if someone does something wrong, you can beat them with a crowd. Solving problems with fists is a direct path to prison."
"Take the children away from such a coach immediately and fire him!"
"I am a coach. Write a statement, he should be fired. This is not pedagogical. This is bullying. Fire him, and no one will hire him again."
But there were also those who justified such methods:
"Send your child to chess, maybe they'll be safe and sound there. If you enrolled him in this sport, you should understand what will happen to your child in training."
Ksenia believes that some of the comments justifying the coach were written by the man's friends or the parents of the children who beat her Klim.
"Your Klim can't do something every training session, maybe this isn't the sport where he can progress."
"My brother trains with Klim, her son constantly disrupts them, and that day they just had to do a basic movement, which her child couldn't manage, and the children had to do 150 squats until he did the exercise. Klim doesn't want to train, he calls other children names, shows the middle finger, and lies under the radiator, nobody beat him, they gave him one kick and that's it."
"If he's the only one who can't do it, why should others do push-ups for him? You sent your son to martial arts. So let the coach decide in such matters. And to pat your son on the head and coddle him… Why did you send him to sports then? Get him into embroidery!"
However the story develops further, Anna has already decided that her children will no longer go to that coach.
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