“Guguta” Municipal Puppet Theater in Orhei. 160 Preschoolers and Primary School Pupils Learned to Be More Vigilant Online
The “Guguta” Municipal Puppet Theater continues its tour in the country with the PikPok.online@guguta show. After Anenii Noi, the actors visited three other Russian-language institutions in Orhei District. On September 20, approximately 160 children from kindergartens and primary schools learned to protect themselves from online risks, watching an educational fairytale staged by the theater actors. This activity is part of a project implemented in partnership with the Independent Journalism Center.
They made their first stop at the “Soarele” kindergarten in Samananca, a village where Ukrainian traditions and customs prevail. Later, we have found out it was the first time in the history of the kindergarten that a theater crossed the threshold of this institution. The children eagerly watched the play and the characters (the Squirrel, the Mouse, the Wolf, the Boar, the Bunny, and the Weasel), and at the end, they took photos with the actors, thanking them for the wonderful moments they had shared.
“Although we live at the distance of only 35 km from Chisinau, it is the first time a puppet theater visits our kindergarten. It was a very joyful meeting, and the kids were glad to watch this show,” educator Tatiana Urman told us. She also mentioned she would definitely discuss the topic of the performance with the kids to find out which character they liked the most and why. “The most important message for the kids is that the wolf is not evil, because he apologizes in the end. He realizes he was wrong. It’s quite an emotional moment. We will explain to the children that if you make a mistake and are to blame for something, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. You have to apologize, and everything will be fine,” the educator explained.
The “Guguta” Theater’s itinerary continued in Ivancea Village in the same district. The little ones from the “Ivancea” kindergarten and the primary school pupils from the gymnasium of the same name attended an unusual lesson for 45 minutes, and learned how the online environment functions and why we have to demonstrate good manners while surfing the web. When asked about the impressions they had after watching the educational story, the kids told us it would help them stay more aware of the risks and be more careful, because nasty behavior online may result in the same unpleasant consequences it might have offline.
Bianca Lupan, 2nd grade pupil, shares her impressions with us: “I really like the performance, because it demonstrates a side of life I was basically unfamiliar with until now. I used to think everything was perfect online, but I saw it was actually far from that.” “I have many friends. I wouldn’t like to be tricked, and I don’t want to deceive anyone either,” her classmate Denis Paslaru, adds, mentioning that he likes that the story ends well, and the protagonists become friends.
Lidia Boaghe, homeroom teacher (in charge of the 2nd-4th grades), says she hopes that, “after this show, the children will reconsider what they watch, and maybe they’ll keep to the golden rule that says, ‘Treat people the way you want to be treated.’ It would be good if they did more sports, read more books, and had more respect for their real friends.”
“Information technologies keep getting ahead of us, and children need a lot of support to know how to navigate online safely. We would be eager to have this story as a teaching aid for our pupils. Our school curriculum includes a subject titled Digital Education. During these lessons, the kids are very curious, they know many elements of the Internet, but they don’t always realize how to use them,” Galina Paslari, Romanian language and literature teacher from Ivancea Gymnasium, told us.
The “Guguta” Theater creative team made its final stop at Mihail Lomonosov Theoretical Lyceum in Orhei Town. Primary school pupils, as well as their parents/grandparents who came to pick them up from school had an opportunity to watch the PikPok.online@guguta show together.
During the discussion with the audience, Gabriela Lungu, director of the Theater, remarked that, in the 21st century, one can no longer imagine life without the Internet, gadgets, or social networks. Still, the more we depend on new technologies, the more vigilant we have to be due to numerous dangers we may even have no idea of. “Be very careful who you communicate with online. Never hesitate to address your parents or teachers for assistance, and they will give you a piece of advice when you aren’t sure about the facts or decisions you are about to make. Be wise, and you will become real personalities when you grow up!” actress Gabriela Lungu urged the audience.
The acting captivated the audience from the first moments. At the end of the performance, we recorded a few more impressions.
Izabela Filip, pupil from Mihail Lomonosov Lyceum: “I have accounts on Viber, Instagram, and WhatsApp. I’m aware of certain risks when we navigate these and other networks, but it seems impossible to exist without them for my generation. I believe, however, that our parents play an important part in our education, such as checking what we do or what we see online. I’d like to recommend this show to my other colleagues and friends. It teaches us to stay more cautious.”
Irina Nichitina, parent: “I’ve really liked this show. At home, we often try to limit the time our kids spend online, but sometimes, we actually fail to do that. I hope that what the kids learn from each other or from such works of art will be more understandable to them and have a greater impact on them.”
PikPok.online@guguta is an adaptation of the educational fairytale titled “A Click of Fangs or the Manipulative Wolf” written by media researcher Solvita Denisa Liepniece from Latvia. The show lasts for 45 minutes and is included in the repertoire of the “Guguta” Theater both in Russian and Romanian. In partnership with the Independent Journalism Center, the “Guguta” Theater launched the Romanian version of the PikPok.online@guguță show in November 2022, and the Russian one in February 2023.
The show is an educational and entertaining story intended for kindergarten children and primary school pupils. The play helps the little ones comprehend how the online environment functions and encourages them to analyze what they see or hear, especially on social media.
The PikPok.online@guguta show tour is organized within the framework of the project “Media Education and Literacy and Optimisation of Newsrooms” (MELON). This project is financially supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Moldova.
