Improved cooperation between students, staff, parents and local authorities is needed to prevent violent or abusive acts at schools, educational experts said at a meeting held on October 10 in HCM City. 

Vietnamese high school students 

Teachers and education officials met with city leaders at a conference that discussed solutions to curb the growing number of violent acts at schools under the HCM City Department of Education and Training.

Nguyen Van Yen, principal of Hung Vuong High School in HCM City, said that school violence and abuse cases had increased not only in quantity but also in severity.

“All schools work to prevent school violence. Students, staff and parents all have an important role in promoting school safety,” he said. 

“Schools should closely liaise with police, parents’ associations, organisations and agencies to take serious measures against violence and create a friendly studying environment.”

Besides physical fights, abuse also includes humiliation of students through videos and posts on social media.

A few years ago in HCM City, a group of four schoolgirls forced their classmate into a corner and took off the girl’s clothes and made a video.

The video was shared with other classmates and then uploaded on to the internet.

In some cases, the student’s family members took part in violent acts.

Speaking about the problem, a teacher from a high school in the city said that punishing students had not solved the problem. 

Most punishments aim at educating students and giving them an opportunity to correct their faults.

A psychological expert said that expelling the students was not a good idea, and that students should to be taught social skills.

Their psychological needs must also be understood, but schools lack expertise in this area, he said.

The school should assign several teachers to watch these students, and submit reports to local police.

A group to prevent school violence and abuse should also be set up with the police, Yen recommended.

Vu Trung Kien, a teacher at a secondary school in the city, said that families, schools and society should focus on improving students’ behaviour and character.

Students should not have access to violent programmes, images and games, and schools should have lessons that strengthen connections between students, he said.

TV programmes should honour good behaviour instead of broadcasting too much negative behaviour, he added.

Parents and teachers should also act as good examples for students, said Kien.-VNS