SOCIAL AND LEGAL PROTECTION OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE SOVIET POWER (based on the materials of the Chuvash ASSR)
Authors: Sokolova Valentina I. , Evdokimova Anzhelika N. , Andreev Oleg V. 
Published: November 2024

In modern reality, the issue of social protection of various categories of the population, especially the youth, is extremely acute, since the future of the country, the Russian civilization and preservation of the moral potential of the Homeland largely depend on its upbringing and education. In this regard, the experience of the Soviet past is important. The study of social and legal protection of the younger generation is important scientifically and practically, since the activities of the state and the society to protect the rights of the youth to labour, health and education in the early years of Soviet power left a certain positive experience that representatives of legislative and executive authorities, as well as public organizations, need to borrow in modern conditions.

The purpose of the study is to examine the activities carried out by state bodies and public organizations of the Chuvash ASSR in the field of social and legal protection of the younger generation, to determine the effectiveness of work in engaging adolescents in labour activity, exercise of the rights to health and education.

Materials and methods. Among the research methods used are historical-comparative, historical-genetic, statistical ones. The article is based on historical sources and literature. The main source base of the research was laws published in various publications, resolutions of the party and the government, regulatory and departmental materials, as well as unpublished documents and materials stored in the State Archive of Modern History of the Chuvash Republic, and literature.

Research results. Based on the analysis of all available materials, the role of the state, party bodies, and youth organizations in overcoming the negative consequences of the Civil War is shown. Homelessness, social diseases, low literacy rate, lack of necessary practical skills and work experience were given prominence among acute social problems requiring early resolution. The state tried to cope with the tasks set. The militia, the criminal Investigation Department, and the State Political Department were engaged in accounting for street children. The Commission for the Improvement of Children’s Lives and the Children’s Social Inspectorate, the “Children’s Friend” Society were created, which worked together with the departments of public education and social education under the executive committees of the Soviets. These institutions also identified street children and sick children and sought to educate them through a network of factory schools and work schools created everywhere. The Komsomol of Chuvashia was called upon to ensure control over compliance with the labor legislation of minors in particularly problematic areas of the hand-crafted-artisanal economy of Chuvashia and to facilitate their higher education in the capital’s universities. An effective measure to protect the rights of young people was the opportunity of saving a teenager’s workplace and availability of special youth labor exchanges, mandatory medical examination when applying for a job. Among the measures to support the younger generation, collection of funds and clothes for special children’s funds is given prominence.

Conclusions. The Soviet state paid the closest attention to implementing various forms and methods of social protection of the younger generation in the conditions of Soviet power formation, and national regions were no exception. Despite difficult post-revolutionary years, the party and state bodies, youth organizations paid the closest attention to elimination of illiteracy among the younger generation, to employment of adolescents, disease prevention and the fight against homelessness.