Retreats, Summer Camps and Children

Last weekend, my friend Vy breathed a sigh of relief because his fifth-grade son had just completed a seven-day summer camp on fire safety and rescue.

It is a relief to say that Vy found the program serious and useful, and that the children were safe. When registering for his child, Vy tried to learn about the organizers as well as the content of the program. But he was still worried because many activities for children, especially in the summer, were advertised grandly but were carried out very carelessly, not ensuring both education and safety.

While her son was at summer camp, Vy heard that a retreat for children at Cu Da Pagoda in Hanoi had been ordered to stop by the authorities due to lack of management, leading to violence among the children. So I understood Vy’s anxiety and relief.

More than 30 years ago, every summer, my friends would go back to their hometowns to play. My grandparents passed away early and we had no place to go. I was a little jealous when I saw that they would have more friends to play with. But my summer was still a little bit better when every cool afternoon my parents let me play marbles or kick a shuttlecock with other children in the same situation.

Nowadays, in big cities, more and more young families have only two parents living with their school-age children. "Who plays with the children in the summer?" has become a big question for families. Under normal conditions, each worker is entitled to 12 days of vacation a year. Assuming that the two parents do not take vacations together and each spends only two days a year on other family chores, they have 20 days to play with their children in the summer - lasting at least two months. So who will play with their children during the remaining five summer weeks? Many families choose the solution of a full-day summer review at a teacher's or tutor's house as a form of combining studying and childcare. This need is quite differentiated depending on the conditions (income, education level) of each family.

The price of summer review at the home of a teacher or tutor ranges from several hundred thousand to millions of VND per month, depending on the age and time of care and study. Seven-day summer camps cost between 6 and 10 million VND. International summer programs can cost up to hundreds of millions of VND. Families are swimming in the sea of ​​​​prices of a variety of summer services for children, and not all parents have the financial means.

Meanwhile, summer programs organized by the government as they were decades ago are not popular and do not seem to meet children's needs.

Due to my parents' work, my children have left Vietnam and moved to many regions of France. Local authorities in France are usually responsible for organizing activities for children during each long holiday. These activities follow state standards and are used in public schools managed by local authorities. Apart from children's meals at the same price as meals at public schools, other costs are almost negligible. At the same time, the free market allows parents to choose different summer activities, each of which must comply with the standards and supervision of specialized state agencies.

In Vietnam, the market has gone very fast and far beyond state management. Summer activities are organized everywhere with all kinds of quality and costs. The state only intervenes when there is negative feedback. We lack regulations from the beginning and lack regular monitoring activities for this type of youth activities.

Every district and county government has an education department and cultural activity centers. At the end of each school year, Mr. Vy's son receives a certificate of transfer from the school to the local summer activities. At the beginning of the new school year, he goes to the ward to get a confirmation for his son, even though he doesn't actually participate in any activities. One year, he attended activities for a few days and then insisted on staying home. After talking to his son, Vy learned that the boy found the activities unattractive, mainly group dancing and singing, and reciting poems "for girls, no fun at all."

Not every family can afford to send their children to the countryside or to summer camp, but all children need care and education, even during the holidays. While I see summer as an opportunity for organizations such as the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights and the Youth Union to demonstrate their role through creative, long-term programs for children, not just a few short days of boring, repetitive activities.

After breathing a sigh of relief when her child returned happily from the fire prevention course, Vy faced the worry that her child would have to make friends with the computer and phone in the 60 square meter apartment, at least until school reopens in early August.

According to VnExpress