Prosecutors in the Chelyabinsk region have found traces of extremism in a test designed to detect extremist and aggressive proclivities in teenagers, the regional Prosecutor's Office said in a statement Thursday.
During a large-scale inspection of schools' compliance with federal education legislation, Chelyabinsk prosecutors encountered a test that was to be administered to 8th-graders in the city of Kopeysk to help teachers identify students prone to extremist or aggressive behavior.
Authorities claimed that the test, which had been devised by educational psychologists, could lead teenagers to engage in extremist activity.
"Testing to identify aggressive and violent teenagers could lead to the incitement of social, racial, national or religious hatred," the statement read, without elaborating on the contents or the examination, or explaining which elements led prosecutors to determine that it was extremist.
The head of Kopeysk's education department received a formal warning in response to prosecutors' finding, the statement said.
Russian law enforcement agencies have toiled to squash all things they have reckoned to be extremist. Earlier this week, a court in the far eastern Amur region found signs of "violence and intolerance" in the song lyrics by two prominent Russian metal bands. The court said it had filed a claim with the Justice Ministry to have the songs added on the country's list of extremist materials.
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