Giving birth to a second daughter at an older age, L.T.H in in Hanoi admitted that she faces a lot of problems because of the generation gap. Despite her great efforts to keep up with new information, H said there is little mutual understanding between her and her children.

The mother said she has been warned by co-workers and friends of the risks that children may face in the digital era, where toxic content exists everywhere within the reach of everyone.

However, H admitted that she is not knowledgeable enough to keep her children away from the toxic content.

“I don’t have good understanding about technological resources my children have, so I dare not prohibit them from using electronic devices,” she said. “Because of Covid-19, I have to buy an iPad for the daughter, a primary school student, to study online. She also uses iPad in her free time and uses it well."

At first, H felt secure as the daughter could use iPad to serve her study. However, she became worried when her first child, an overseas university student, returned home in summer holiday and discovered that his sister had opened ‘sensitive’ sites and videos.

“I was surprised when discovering that my daughter watched videos showing young men getting tattooed all over and doing meaningless challenges like getting into an iron cage, or drinking water for 24 hours,” H said.

N.V.S in Binh Thanh district, HCM City, said he could not prevent his son from approaching toxic content on the internet. 

Unlike H, S thought he had pursued a reasonable strategy in educating his son and controlling the son’s time of using computer. The boy uses his laptop only at a certain time for his studies and listens to music sometimes if the parents allow it. S was the only family member who knew the password. 

S and his wife both have a higher education level and usually access education forums, so they believed that their education method was safe for their son.

They could not imagine that listening to music turned out to harm the boy. One day, when watching TV news and seeing a lot of music videos named as ‘rubbish’ because of insignificant words and vulgar images, the father found that his son also listened to the melodies.

What should parents do?

A survey by the Institute of Sustainable Development and Save the Children found that in Vietnam, 66 percent of children have an internet connection and 43 percent connect to the internet from 30 minutes to one hour a day.

The huge volume of information children receive impacts their thoughts and speech. They need to know what content they can watch, with the help of their families.

S told VietNamNet that after discovering his son listening to "dirty" music, he and his wife talked to the boy many times about which kind of content he should ignore.

“I believe that instead of punishing him, it’d be better to talk to him like a friend. Modern children want negotiations, not imposition,” he said.

Nguyen Phuong Anh, a psychology expert from the Hanoi University of Education, said that parents have to take responsibility for the way their children approach information.

“Many parents allow their children to use internet-connected devices, but don’t know what they use the devices for. Children need guidance on what they should do, or they will follow the wrong path,” she warned.

The Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) and World Vision are moving ahead with a plan to set up an alliance, or a club of units that provide solutions to protect and support children to have healthy and creative interactions in cyberspace.

Thai Khang