Ministry of Education and Science Appeals to Prosecutor's Office Regarding Gor Vardanyan's Film

In light of the complaints received regarding Gor Vardanyan's multi-part film "Wings of the Empire," the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia has instructed the "Pedagogical-Psychological Center" to conduct an analysis of the film and present conclusions.

According to the conclusions from the "Pedagogical-Psychological Center," watching the film can lead to the imitation of negative behavioral manifestations, such as tobacco use by minors, disrespectful behavior towards one another, various expressions of negative behavior, and more. Considering the social imitation mechanisms of younger schoolchildren and teenagers, children watching such films might identify with the main characters and unconsciously start exhibiting similar behaviors.

Moreover, nearly all characters in the film display unacceptable forms of verbal communication and gestures characteristic of criminal subcultures, which may also be imitated by children.

The Ministry of Education and Science finds the involvement and participation of minors in a film containing elements of criminal subculture to be extremely concerning and unacceptable.

It should be noted that according to Article 18, Paragraph 4 of the Law on Children's Rights, "The dissemination of mass information and literature that negatively affects the health, mental and physical development, upbringing of the child, promotes violence and cruelty, degrades human dignity, discredits the family, and encourages violations of the law is prohibited."

Taking this into account, the Ministry of Education and Science has appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia to examine these circumstances and take appropriate measures.