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עמוד:*15
* 15 parents' homes . The parents would refuse to let the miscreants spend the rest of the night with them and would return them forthwith to the children's house . The kibbutz educational system refused to cater to the needs and difficulties of these children and roundly denounced their behaviour . Needless to say, both the children and their parents suffered stigmas, being referred to as "the problematic ones" . The children's suffering was thus twofold : fear of spending nights away from their parents, and public censure for being unable to adapt . Pressure to conform to the kibbutz way of life and educational values : uniform attire and . 2 attitude to religion and Jewish tradition One of the fundamental values in communal education was equality, with all kibbutz children receiving the same education . Schooling included a full 12 years of study, with no thought given to individual preferences or talents that might be evident . Mechanical equality of this type also typified the attitude to dress, the idea being to provide exactly the same kind of clothing to all . If the communal store supplied blue coats to the girls, it had to be the same coat for all . An episode in this context involved one of the girls who asked the clothing store manager to give her the cash equivalent of a coat since she did not like the idea of the same garment being worn by all . The woman's reply was quick : Under no circumstances ! You're no different from the others, just make do like everyone else does ! You're not special, you're the same as everyone else ! Conformity was the operative word even when it came to the colour of the clothes . Red was out ; it was a colour that called for attention and broke ranks . The claim was that a person who wore red wanted to stand out . All were equal so there was no justification for choosing that colour . Conformity to a dress code was not quite as strict throughout the kibbutz movement . In several, however, as in those belonging to the Shomer Hatza'ir stream, it was the rule of law . Though more conspicuous in the case of dress, social pressure to conform clearly existed in several areas . Conformity was expected in connection with opinions, in commending or denouncing specific values, and in social or political activity . Everyone identified more or less with the same values, and believed wholeheartedly in settlement of the land by a secular, socialist population . Any disclosure of a traditional or religious bent in any form was condemned and prohibited . No religious ceremonies were allowed, while traditional Jewish festivals were modified to include secular, socialist content . Textbooks and school curricula were
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אדמוני, אריאל
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