The controversial TV series School reflects...

"There has been much criticism of the directors, of television. But in actual fact, this series showed us what is happening to our children and youth, albeit in a grotesque form," Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said during a visit to the Urals city of Chelyabinsk.

The patriarch praised the recent introduction of religious and secular ethics courses in schools, saying that they would "direct the thoughts of our students toward these very values."

School, a 60-part fictional series showing the harsh reality of Russian schools, was launched on Channel One January 11, and has sparked heated public debate.

The series by young director Valeria Gai Germanika was shot in a real Moscow school and includes large amounts of documentary-type footage. Forty-eight episodes have been broadcast since it was launched.

The series shows schoolchildren openly smoking and drinking beer, harassing their classmates and snubbing teachers, and even having sex, but the

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