Europe for Kids": the adapted version of the European Union

The article considers practices of European identity construction which target on children of the 0-15 age group. The European Union promotes European identity among its citizens, and pays special attention to young Europeans through the educational system. It is education that has a specific role in transferring views to children and young citizens by social institutions, because community needs to maintain its basic beliefs. If one analyzes the content of school education, it is easy to understand the ideals and purpose the society wants to achieve. Nowadays the European Union faces challenges to European identity and a crisis of it appears in the increase of Euroscepticism and regionalism. But European identity is still one of the most important issues of the EU, because the future of the united Europe depends on the Europeans' capabilities to accept this feeling of belonging to one community: there is no supranational union without a unifying idea which brings together the mosaic of Europe. The European Union constructs its own image of Europe and translates it through special publications for kids of different age printed under umbrella of the European Commission. These materials aim to represent the official point of view on European history and the European Union and also help children to create the feeling of "European identity". Children should feel proud of being Europeans and belonging to the big European family. Knowing the history of the continent, they can understand the significance of the European path that let Europeans build a common space as a result of all historical development. Public opinion polls demonstrate that adult citizens of the EU do not have a strong feeling of European identity. This fact explains why the political elite concentrates on the future generation of Europeans, who are used to thinking about themselves as part of the "European family" since childhood. The printed materials mentioned above make emphasis only on the great moments of European history. For example, the development of the EU integration is shown as a progressive advance to a more fair and prosperous community without touching any difficulties and problems arising during the creation of a united Europe. The EU conception "United in Diversity" is represented in full measure in these materials: compilers tell that the dissimilitude of the continent's cultures and traditions is not a barrier for the realization that all Europeans have common roots, and all states make an equal contribution to the European civilization treasury. The aim of these publications is to form a good image of Europe and the EU among young citizens. Such an image makes children want to relate themselves to the united Europe. Besides, the EU is interested in the understanding of Europe as identical to the European Union, a formation that makes itself legitimate using the European culture legacy. Thus, the analysis of the printed materials allows receiving the idea of what future adult citizens of Europe must support according to the elite of the European Union.

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