School Behavior Grades Return: Recalling 'Crimes' and Punishments

Starting 1 September 2026, all schools in Russia will introduce grades for behavior. Students from first to eleventh grade will begin receiving them. Fontanka asked readers to share what behavior grades they received and what they did to earn them.

What is known about the return of behavior grades to Russian schools?

Recently, a draft order from the Russian Ministry of Education (Minprosveshcheniya) appeared on the official legal information portal. RBC drew attention to the amendments reintroducing behavior grades in schools. The ministry officially confirmed this information the day before. The assessment of schoolchildren«s behavior will begin on 1 September 2026 — everywhere.

The initiative to reintroduce these grades did not come out of nowhere. An experiment with them started in 2025, but only in some regions of Russia. Back in late August, Irina Potekhina, the vice-governor of St. Petersburg overseeing education, said that many teachers support such an idea: in their opinion, a behavior grade «would greatly help teachers in those, fortunately not very frequent, cases when parents don»t listen.«

Now the Ministry of Education has defined key criteria by which schoolchildren«s behavior will soon be assessed (this also applies to students with disabilities). These include, in particular:

• adherence to discipline;

• social interaction;

• personal qualities;

• academic activity.

How exactly grades for behavior will be assigned based on the above criteria is not specified. For now, the experiment is being conducted in 89 schools in Russia. Each of them has chosen one of three proposed options for behavior assessment, and after the experiment ends, the Ministry of Education will select one model to be introduced in schools starting 1 September 2026.

Deputy Minister of Education of Russia Olga Koludarova, in a conversation with RBC, spoke about the high hopes placed on the behavior grading system. According to her, assessing behavior is intended to strengthen the educational role of the school, instill respect for traditional values, and protect the honor and dignity of the teacher.

«The introduction of behavior grades in schools is an important issue that concerns not only discipline but also the formation of the student»s personality,« said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Education Koludarova.

What did they get «failing grades» for in behavior?

Probably almost everyone has encountered behavior grades during their school years. Yes, they were abolished in 1989. Since then, behavior grades no longer affected the diploma, but could attract the attention of concerned parents of students whose behavior in the educational institution left much to be desired. Readers of Fontanka shared such memories with us.

«My first failing grade in school was precisely for behavior. I was active, loved to run around, fool around — the school forbade it. The failing grade accompanied me until ninth grade, until such grades were abolished. I think this constant pressure largely influenced my disregard for rules,» shares a reader.

«I got a 2 in geography for looking at an aquarium during class. There were several of them in the classroom. Greetings from Pushkin School in the Petrogradsky District (St. Petersburg),» recalls one of the readers.

«A failing grade and parents called to school. Oh, what we did! At ten years old, we learned what a water hammer is. We found dry ice — it was available at every ice cream kiosk back then — and flushed it down the school toilet. Interesting, right!» writes another Fontanka commentator.

«From fourth grade, I had a failing grade for behavior, in ninth grade I was even held back a year. And then — two higher educations, work as a director at LenSpetsSMU (a construction organization), my own business. What was worth a failing grade in school played out differently in adult life,» says a reader.

There were also opposite examples.

«I studied very poorly, but always had an A in behavior,» admits another reader.

The reasons for failing grades sometimes looked completely absurd.

«In second grade, I got a 2 for behavior for climbing a tree during PE,» recalls another reader.

Refuses to go to «Artek». Remarks for bad behavior

«Technology class. At the beginning of the lesson, I fought with a classmate with rulers — for which a remark was made in my diary. A bit later in the same lesson, there was a test. As a result, I got a wonderful entry in my diary: »Fights during class. 5.« So I live with this historical document,» shared a reader.

«Ate a bun during class — and as punishment spent the lesson in the cafeteria. I had some gastronomic remarks constantly. The buns were tasty, but somehow I was to blame. Somehow unfair,» recalls a former schoolgirl.

«Rolled my diary into a tube and sang into it during class. And then another remark: »Parents, feed your daughter in the morning. During class, she covers herself with a book and eats bread.« Apparently, creativity and appetite interfered with studies simultaneously,» wrote a reader.

«I still remember an entry from around 1974, I was in fourth or fifth grade then: »Parents! Your son refuses to go on a trip to Artek (a Soviet-era youth camp)!« And I never went — I hated these camps, already had experience,» says a reader.

Prove it«s not for knowledge

Fontanka staff also recalled their school cases.

«In elementary school, during recess, I finished eating corn sticks, and during class I popped the bag. It was loud, the teacher wrote a remark in my diary. My parents laughed at home. In middle school, I got a failing grade from the Russian language and literature teacher for drawing during class. And from English class, I was once kicked out for standing up for a classmate. In response, I slammed the door so hard that the whitewash fell off,» said an employee from the incidents department.

«In our school, the elementary teacher gave behavior grades on her own initiative. And I once had an entry: »Waited for a classmate with a mop in hand and unclear motives.« Well, and a failing grade,» recalled in the business department.

The author could not recall one particularly vivid case when he received a bad grade for behavior. He remembered his history teacher, Elena Konstantinovna, for life. She never raised her voice, and didn«t give official failing grades for behavior. However, she had one phrase that sent shivers down his spine.

It sounded something like this: «Danilov, I»ll give you a two, then prove it«s not for knowledge.» There was no desire to argue.

And in what situations did you get failing grades for behavior during your school years?