“I (surname, given name) entering the ranks of the All-Union Pioneer Organization commemorated to Vladimir Illich Lenin in front of my comrades solemnly promise: to passionately love my homeland, to live, study, and fight as bequeathed by the Great Lenin, as the Communist Party teaches, and to always carry out laws of pioneers of the Soviet Union.”
More research turned up the following details of the Young Pioneer organization. Membership was theoretically optional, but almost all the children in the Soviet Union belonged to the organization; it was a natural part of growing up from the ages of 10-15. Children were allowed to join in the third grade. Not being admitted at all was odd, and lack of desire to join was considered suspicious. In line with the Soviet doctrine of state atheism, the Young Pioneer Leader's Handbook stated that "every Pioneer would set up an atheist's corner at home with anti-religious pictures, poems, and sayings" in contrast to the traditional Russian Christian icon corners. Some students refused to join because of its promotion of Marxist-Leninist atheism. After the age of 15 , they could join the Komsomol (the youth section of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) with a recommendation from their Young Pioneer scoutmaster. Not being part of the Komsomol all but eliminated opportunities for higher education, affecting their lives forever.