morality and discipline among young people and structured schools

At the time when the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) announced the end of the National Program of Civic-Military Schools, around two thousand students demonstrated how values ​​such as discipline, hierarchy and faith in the mission can be transmitted through an educational model derived from military culture. They were participating in the 15th edition of the Friendship Games, in Rio de Janeiro.

Chess, judo, modern pentathlon (running, swimming, fencing, equestrianism and shooting) and orienteering are some of the sports typical of military schools that were played alongside more traditional sports, such as football, volleyball and handball. The event involved students aged between 11 and 17 from the Brazilian Military College System between July 9th and 15th.

“We take educational, moral and values ​​training to the letter,” said Army General Richard Fernandez Nunes, head of the Army’s Department of Education and Culture (DECEx).

Unlike the civic-military colleges, maintained by the states and the Ministry of Education, the 15 military colleges are administered by the Ministry of Defense. Another difference is that there are active military professors, while in civic-military there are reserve or retired members of the Armed Forces. But both models serve both civilian and military families and also have civilian teachers.

These types of colleges follow the same curriculum as fully civil schools, but there are some differences. There are, for example, moral and civic education classes, students have to sing the national anthem and in most cases wear uniforms similar to those of the Armed Forces.

Students are also divided into guilds that reproduce the Army Weapons system (Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, etc.). But apart from the formal differences, the most significant is the teaching of military culture values, such as esprit de corps, faith in the mission, hierarchy, discipline and family worship. In a military school, for example, a student caught cheating on a test can be dismissed from the institution.

Not that these values ​​are not present in civil education, but in military schools they permeate all activities. They are even more evident in sports practice.

“The development of the physical part and sports actions are important components of the educational pedagogical model. It is not by chance that the first physical education school in Brazil belongs to the Army”, highlighted General Richard Fernandez Nunes, head of the Department of Education and Culture of the Army (DECEx).

According to him, the integration through the Friendship Games expands the formation of values ​​of the students of the system.

“For us, it is very important to have this interaction between 15 military colleges distributed in all regions of the country. It is something very important in terms of developing values, such as discipline, loyalty, responsibility. This all makes up the entire pedagogical project of the Colégio Militar do Brasil System”, completed the general.

Friendship Games encourage the training of athletes for Brazil

Despite not being the focus of the Friendship Games, the evaluation of the head of the Department of Education and Culture of the Army is that the program is an incentive for the training of future athletes for Brazil. Before the games are held, students are encouraged at their schools to develop their sports skills throughout the entire school year.

“We not only take care of the students’ cognitive part through those traditional disciplines. But we also emphasize the development of values ​​and the physical education part. [os Jogos da Amizade] without a doubt they are an incentive for some students to later become high-performance athletes. It’s a stimulus for that to happen,” General Richard explained.

Parallel to the games, the event’s program includes an activity, where students from each unit of the Colégio Militar do Brasil System had the opportunity to develop artistic and cultural activities. Named “ZumZaravoice”, an artistic event took regional culture to the stage and reinterpretations of great works in free themes.

“For many of the students, this is the first opportunity to leave their home states. This integration generates a lot of learning, respect for other cultures, respect for other ways of behaving. This generates a great benefit for the integral development of these students”, explains the general.

In this edition of ZumZaravoice, the winner was Colégio Militar de Salvador, which presented the heroes who stood out in the countless battles that took place in Salvador lands in a historical approach to the 200 years of the struggles for Independence.

In second and third place, respectively, were the Colégio Militar de Porto Alegre, which honored the singer Elis Regina, and Colégio Militar de Santa Maria, highlighting the figure of Cacique Sepé Tiaraju, who entered the history of the peoples of the South by defending his people from the European colonizers with the cry of “this land has an owner!”.

“This is a lesson in cultural diversity. A lesson in the respect that each region of our country contributes to making us such a diverse country”, added the head of DECEx.

Competition took place in the Olympic structure of Rio de Janeiro

This year, the Friendship Games took place at the Deodoro Olympic structure, in Vila Militar in Rio de Janeiro. The Army took over the administration of the space after an agreement with the Ministry of Sports and the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The structure used for the Friendship Games included the Wenceslau Arena, which has four courts and hosted basketball, volleyball, handball and judo. At the Air Force University (Unifa) athletics, swimming and modern pentathlon activities took place.

The hockey field was used for seven football games among other activities. In addition, other structures in Vila Militar, such as the Equestrian Center and the Military Circle were also used to host the games.

“There is really a very good understanding between us, the City of Rio de Janeiro and the Ministry of Sports. There is a good relationship in that sense of us assuming part of the Olympic legacy of Deodoro. The Wenceslau Arena has been the main sports square of these Friendship Games”, said General Richard.

In February of this year, the Army inaugurated the 15th unit of its schools in Vila Militar, close to the structure of the Olympic Games in Deodoro. The expectation is that the students of this unit will use this structure for their pedagogical activities.

“We are contributing so that the Olympic legacy is used, at least partially, in what concerns us”, completed Richard.