Fighting against school violence was the main topic of discussion at the National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, the Youth and Children working session on May 17.

Of the reasons behind the increased school violence, Nguyen Tung Lam from the Hanoi Educational Psychology Association cited the lack of family education.

“Children are hungry for family education,” he said.

In families with financial incapability, parents are too busy earning their living, and they don’t have time for their children. “In well-off families, parents think money can replace education,” he said.

In both cases, children are neglected and behave as they want.

A high school teacher in Hanoi commented that parents tend to blame schools and teachers for any problem occurring with their children, but don’t understand that they have to take responsibility for the problems.

In developed countries, parents have to take responsibility for the behavior of their under age children as stipulated by the laws. Therefore, parents have to join forces with schools and psychology consultants to settle their children’s problems.

“Vietnam needs to do the same thing, or school violence won’t be settled,” he commented.

The teacher, who has been working for 30 years, complained that in many cases, parents are uncooperative with schools in educating children.

“A parent told me that I have the right to punish his child for mistakes and do everything I want to educate the student, without having to inform him, because he is too busy to hear about minor things. I just need to contact him about school fees and tuition he has to pay,” the teacher said.

“The parent, of course, never attends parents’ meetings and I am sure he doesn’t know about his son’s learning capability,” he added.

Bui Van Linh from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) agrees that family education is ‘in crisis’ when many parents leave the work of educating children to school.

On education forums, some parents even comment that they pay high for education services and must get the best-quality services.

Do Thu Hang from the Youth Research Institute also pointed out that the lack of family education is a major reason behind the increased school violence. Overindulgence and family conflicts are the major problems of family education.

Educators all emphasize the importance of family education in modern times. The educational process affects every step of the development of personality.

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