What did the retraining of left-handers in the USSR lead to?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Those who studied in Soviet schools until the mid-1980s are familiar with one of the quirks of the system of this era - the retraining of left-handers. The methods, as well as the reasons, were different. For our contemporaries, some of them still remain strange and incomprehensible.

1. What techniques for retraining were used

To retrain a left-handed person, to make him write, draw, do something with his right hand, and not with his left, is not so easy. The methods in educational institutions (schools) were different. Everything depended on the teachers working with these children. Most often, there was a moral impact on the student, but more radical measures could be applied, for example, the left hand was tied to a chair. So she could not be involved in the work. It happened that especially disobedient ones, who did not react to the teachers' comments and continued to write with the “wrong” hand, received a pointer on their fingers.

Parents were also forced to take part in this. Teachers suggested that during homework, put a mitten on the child's left hand and not allow it to be taken off. The second technique can be called "barbaric" - it was recommended to bandage the fingers on the left hand.

2. Reasons for retraining

The first thing that influenced this decision was Soviet policy. At this time, everyone should be the same. It was impossible to allow someone to stand out from the crowd. Not only left-handers, but also hippies or "dudes" were considered "not like that". At one time or another, they were treated with contempt, they were not perceived.

There was also an "official" explanation for retraining. Its essence was that all objects and tools were created for right-handers and it would be difficult for a left-hander to use and work with them. An example was an ink pen. If you write with your left hand, as you should, from left to right, then it is very difficult not to smear the ink.

The third reason was not particularly voiced, although it did take place. This is army service. Automatic shutters are on the right, and shells fly out in this direction after firing. Left-handed shells will fly in the face. This will significantly complicate a person's service in the army, and, possibly, exclude it altogether.

3. Why retraining of left-handers was canceled

At the same time, observations were carried out over retrained left-handed children, the results of which showed a negative effect of the process on their neuropsychic state. These students often became insecure, they had a sense of guilt, they did not study well, which is associated with constant internal struggle, relations with classmates were strained. Many retrained left-handers suffered from insomnia, they developed a nervous tic, stuttering.

Interesting fact!Science has proven that a person born with this trait cannot be completely retrained. Unlike right-handers, left-handers are dominated by the right hemisphere of the brain. Those who were able to successfully adapt, as a rule, learned how to work with both hands to the same extent. In connection with the described discoveries, in 1986 the technique of retraining left-handers was canceled.