School violence is a painful problem at the beginning of the new school year.

The new school year 2023-2024 has just begun less than a month, but consecutive cases of school violence have occurred in schools, causing public outrage. The violence is not only between students but more sadly, there have been consecutive cases of teachers abusing students.

Public opinion stirs

This morning, October 4, the Department of Education and Training of Gia Lam District (Hanoi) said that it has requested the People's Committee of Trau Quy Town (Gia Lam District) to issue a document to close the private kindergarten Ngoi Sao Nho (Trau Quy Town, Gia Lam District). Previously, on April 13, a clip recording a teacher at this educational facility pushing the head and squeezing the mouth of a 14-month-old child caused outrage in public opinion. According to the Department of Education and Training of Gia Lam District, this facility is operating illegally.

On September 30, a fourth grade student at Hai Hoa Primary School (Hai Hoa Ward, Nghi Son Town, Thanh Hoa) was beaten by his teacher with a bamboo stick, leaving bruises all over his back because he did not do the homework assigned by the teacher.

On September 29, in the hallway of class 12D4, Da Phuc High School (Soc Son district, Hanoi), a female student was chased out of the classroom by her teacher and cried until she was exhausted. The clip recording the incident shows that the teacher then went out and scolded the female student, causing her to panic, hug her leg and continuously say "I'm sorry teacher, please forgive me". The climax of the incident was the teacher grabbing the student by the collar and dragging her. The reason was that the female student bought a birthday cake for the class that was not to the teacher's liking.

Also on September 29, another clip that caused public outrage recorded a scene of a teacher scolding a student with inappropriate words. The incident took place in a classroom at Phan Huy Chu High School (Thach That District, Hanoi).

Along with the continuous cases of teachers abusing students, there are also cases of violence between students. On October 2, a female student of Hong Duc High School (Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak) used a clog to hit a classmate, causing her head to bleed. According to the school’s report, the reason was that the female student thought her classmate had said bad things about her.

Previously, on September 25, in a 9th grade classroom at Yen Lo Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Binh Gia District (Lang Son Province), due to personal conflicts and badmouthing each other on social media, a group of 9 female 9th grade students forced a 9th grade student from the same school to sit on a chair, then took turns yelling and scolding, grabbed her hair, slapped her repeatedly in the face and back, hit her head with a ruler, filmed the clip and posted it on social media.

On September 27, a group of four female students from several schools, including Phong Thinh Secondary School, Cat Van Secondary School and Thanh Tien Secondary School (Thanh Chuong District, Nghe An Province) participated in beating up their friend, stripping them, and filming a clip.

What is the solution?

After the incidents, local education and training leaders quickly took action and all said they would handle the matter seriously. Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong affirmed that the department's directive is to resolutely and strictly handle violations, and absolutely not cover up substandard behavior or violations of teachers' ethics. The department will also rectify all educational institutions in the city after a number of violations by teachers have occurred.

However, school violence is not a new problem but has been occurring continuously for many school years, causing public outrage, especially violence against students by teachers, who are considered moral standards, shining examples for students to follow, and who have qualifications and are properly trained in pedagogy.

Sharing about this issue during a meeting with Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son before the new school year, Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Hue, Principal of Trung An Secondary School (Vu Thu, Thai Binh) said that currently, the awareness of some students is not good due to many conditions such as family circumstances, early exposure to the Internet and social networks... This leads to many students violating school regulations, causing school violence.

However, school violence does not only occur between male students, but also between female students, between teachers and students or students and teachers, and even between parents and teachers. Therefore, Ms. Hue expressed her hope that the education sector would pay attention and find solutions to improve the above problem.

This is also shared by Dr. Nguyen Van Hoa - Chairman of the Board of Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary and High School (Cau Giay, Hanoi). According to Mr. Hoa, the issue of pressure, school violence, and lifestyle of teenagers and students in the era of social network development needs attention. At Nguyen Binh Khiem School, the school has brought psychology into the classroom, teachers are trained to transform positive emotions, promote the value of teacher pride, reduce pressure and handle school conflicts.

From the practical results at the school, Mr. Hoa proposed that, in addition to adding psychological staff, the Ministry of Education and Training should provide training courses on life values ​​and life skills for teachers, and training on psychology for managers, teachers, and staff nationwide. This will help solve psychological problems in schools.

Sharing about the issue of school violence, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son acknowledged that this is a burning issue that needs to be prevented from the root. The Minister said that the Ministry of Education and Training has assigned relevant departments and agencies to investigate and research to come up with solutions. First of all, the principal is the one responsible if school violence occurs in his/her unit.

The Minister also emphasized the need for a coordinated solution between family, school and society. In addition, it is necessary to equip students with the skills to deal with the problems they face, and equip them with the right attitude when participating in social networks. On the other hand, it is necessary to promote school psychological counseling, enhance the role and problem-solving skills of homeroom teachers. The Ministry of Education and Training is also proposing to add more school counseling staff to schools.

Besides, the Minister said it is necessary to develop school culture, considering this a key issue in building happy schools.