VietNamNet Bridge - Many reports of child abuse cases have been in the news recently, with education internet forums holding postmortems on the reasons behind the child abuse. But nothing has changed: more and more cases have been reported. 

In early February, Bac Lieu province was stunned by a video spread on Facebook which showed images of a babysitter at the Vinh Phuoc An Tu Orphan Center beating a 2-year old child.

The babysitter was seen pulling the boy’s pants with her right hand and beating the boy with her left hand. The boy put his head down to the ground, with his legs stretched skyward.

In mid-March, a teacher at the Thuong Loc Nursery School in Nghe An province pulled a child’s ears and left a 3 cm injury on the child’s left ear. The parents only discovered the problem later on the evening, after the child cried and related the story.

In late December 2014, a three-year old boy was beaten black and blue by a state-owned nursery school’s teacher in Quy Nhon City just because the child wanted to go to the toilet frequently.

In early October, at a private kindergarten in the central province of Quang Binh, three babysitters beat and bound a baby boy, and stuffed his mouth with cloth.

Nguyen Tung Lam, a renowned educator and psychologist, noted that the violence at preschools has increased recently.

“The teachers lack a professional conscience and responsibility. Therefore, they bound children’s hands and legs,” Lam noted. “And they not only do not have love and affection towards children, but also do not have necessary teaching skills.”

He warned that the abuse may have very serious consequences. A high school student may protest to to teachers when he gets a slap on face. Meanwhile, small children may develop mental problems. 

“The abused children need to be taken care for some more time to find out if there are any problems,” he said.

However, Lam said, parents should also be blamed for the child abuse. Parents should keep watch over their children every day so as to recognize any abnormal things and ask for help in a timely fashion. 

However, a lot of parents, busy at work, have been relying on kindergartens and schools.

Meanwhile, a high school teacher commented that child abuse should be blamed on the unreasonable education system.

“The Ministry of Education and Training carries out educational reform, but preschool education has been ignored,” he said.

“Everyone can become a preschool teacher, provided that they can teach children to talk, play, sing and dance,” he said. 

CV