The incident of parents rushing into a school to beat two students that just happened in Quang Nam is not an isolated case.
Recently, there have been a series of incidents where parents rushed into schools to beat their children's classmates, beat teachers, or even parents carried knives to "threaten" the principal.
A case of a parent beating his child's friend to the point that the victim had to be hospitalized occurred in Quang Ngai (Photo cut from clip).
Dan Tri reporter had an interview with Dr. of Sociology Pham Thi Thuy, Ho Chi Minh City branch of the National Academy of Public Administration, about this burning issue.
Madam, in Quang Nam, there has just been an incident where parents rushed into the school to beat their children's classmates. This is not a new phenomenon these days. As a sociologist, how do you view these incidents?
- First of all, it must be affirmed that violence against others, against anyone, even parents beating their children, is wrong and a violation of the law.
There is no excuse for violence against others, especially the act of rushing into a school to beat students or even teachers. These acts must be dealt with according to the law.
However, from many incidents of parents breaking into schools to beat students and teachers, I see that there are 5 main causes, all linked together.
First of all, when their children are bullied or subjected to school violence, parents are extremely scared and worried. When fear and worry lead to loss of composure, they act in a way that vents this anger and worry on the person they think is bullying their child and endangering their child.
Dr. Pham Thi Thuy (Photo: PT).
Second, a social issue that needs to be recognized is that the EQ of a segment of the population is currently very low. Especially those who are in stressful situations are prone to losing control, lacking empathy, cooperation...
Third, in the economic recession, many people face financial pressure and job pressure, so they carry a lot of frustration within themselves.
These frustrations can lead to violence. This problem has been predicted for a long time, when society has economic and faith disorders, people become more frustrated. I fear that violence will continue to escalate in the current stressful context.
Fourth is the loss of faith in the strictness of the law, here the faith in the strictness of education. When people lose faith, they tend to take matters into their own hands, using the "law of the jungle".
Parents rush into schools to beat students, or even teachers, to solve problems because they do not believe in the school's strictness.
This is the factor that is driving violence in Vietnamese society, not just in schools. When an incident occurs, instead of reporting it to the authorities, many people choose to handle it themselves.
The fifth cause is all-encompassing and most worrying, which is the problem of moral degradation. I am not talking about moral degradation in general, but rather the point of view and perception of human values that are declining and wavering.
In the past, people like children, teachers, and doctors were highly respected and protected. But now these people can also be attacked and assaulted.
The standards and value systems of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad are being turned upside down. The value system lacks respect for people, even for those who need to be respected and protected the most.
From many cases of parents rushing into schools to beat their children's classmates, it seems that now many people refuse to cooperate with the school or wait for the school to solve the problem?
- As I said above, people tend to "take matters into their own hands" when they lose faith. They have no faith in the education system, no faith in the legal system applied in schools.
Dr. Pham Thi Thuy in the exchange program on the topic of happy schools (Photo: TP).
They do not believe that if they report the matter to the principal, the principal will resolve it. They do not have faith that their child will be protected.
What parents see is that the school situation is extremely serious. Before each incident of school violence, parents are very scared and insecure. So if their child has a swollen eye or a scratch on their hand, they can go crazy. Because people are worried, because people are scared!
They fear the consequences of school violence. They fear that if they do not intervene to stop it, their children will become victims of school violence.
- As you said, are these incidents not just about "parents' personal behavior" but also a problem from the school?
- Parents storming into school to beat students is a sign that the school needs to make adjustments and review its management.
In the incident where parents rushed into a school to beat two students in Quang Nam, I saw details of teachers and security guards trying to stop them but were unsuccessful. Too dangerous! Where is the role of school security guards, the role of the school in protecting students?
Parents stormed into a classroom to beat students at a high school in Bac Lieu (Photo: cut from Clip).
Why can parents easily step through the school gate to rush into the classroom to beat students like that? Not only parents, but also gangsters, debt collectors, kidnappers from outside can rush in?
Does the school have a plan to protect its students, at least on school grounds? How is student safety ensured in school? The school must review its procedures and barriers to protect students, and must take measures to prevent potential risks.
In addition, school leaders must consider how they have managed, handled, and resolved student and teacher misconduct so that parents can rest assured that this is a safe environment for their children to go to school every day.
In the face of this incident, the responsibility of the school administrator is to ask why the parents did not believe them and chose to "take matters into their own hands". This is something the school must review and adjust, not just see the fault on the parents' side.
The incident of parents breaking into school and beating students is an alarm bell for all schools, not just one place or one school.
In many places across the country, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, happy school criteria are being built. The first criterion of a happy school must be safety.
- Through these events, we see that the important subjects in education are schools - teachers - parents - students, the relationship that requires mutual support and cooperation seems to be in confrontation?
Violence often occurs when people are frustrated due to lack of understanding, lack of information, lack of communication, lack of control skills...
In my opinion, schools and parents need to increase exchanges and dialogues so that all parties understand each other, understand each other's needs, desires and directions. Increase communication and exchanges between families and schools, between parents and teachers, between students and teachers and between parents and parents.
This helps parents feel secure and avoid choosing to handle the situation themselves.
Not only in schools but also in society, there is a great need for programs to support, relieve psychological stress, and guide people in emotional transformation skills; communication skills, and cultural behavior...
- You once said that when adults have not stopped their violent behavior, don't expect children to stop acting violently. Parents rushing into schools to beat students also adds to the painful situation of school violence?
- Yes, I have mentioned this point of view in many programs and discussions about school violence and happy schools. Thank you for remembering and reminding me.
We talk a lot about preventing school violence, but I want to say, when domestic violence does not stop, school violence will never stop.
When adults, especially parents and teachers, have not stopped violent behavior, it is very difficult to tell and teach children "don't fight".
Parents in Ho Chi Minh City during a discussion and dialogue with the school (Photo: Hoai Nam).
Children are exposed to violence from adults. If we want children to adjust, we adults must change the way we behave with everyone around us.
Parents who are violent should not expect their children to be non-violent. Parents who rush into their children's school to beat up their friends are teaching their children to solve problems with violence.
Violence is like a terrible spinning wheel. And who, other than each of us adults, is primarily responsible for stopping the rotation of this wheel?
- Thank you very much for your frank discussion.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/phu-huynh-lao-vao-truong-danh-hoc-sinh-dung-chi-thay-loi-tu-phu-huynh-20240927122422128.htm
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