Russian teenagers use social media to rebel against teachers

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, Leonid Shaidurov, left, Maxim Dautov, center, and Andrei Vorsin talk, outside their school in St. Petersburg. Two Russian high school students, Leonid Shaidurov and Maxim Dautov, have irked their school by setting up an independent union to voice the students’ concerns. Faced with a backlash, the boys like many other young people in Russia, didn’t take the punishment lying down but went public on social media with their dispute with the principal. (AP Photo)

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia: The principal of a prestigious school near St. Petersburg summoned 16-year-old Leonid Shaidurov and 14-year-old Maxim Dautov in for a chat. Then he threatened them with expulsion, a criminal probe and being blacklisted from all Russian universities. 

Their crime? Setting up an independent student union.