LookAtVietnam – With an increase in violence in High Schools it’s increasingly being asked, should schools take their share of the blame?

Experts call on schools to take strictrer control over their students

With Dong using his break to catch up on his studies he refused – an act which provoked Phuong to punch and strangle him.

Dong was killed for no more than refusing a school yard invitation to play.

Phuong was sentenced to four year’s imprisonment. His family was forced to pay 35 million Dong as compensation and to cover the cost of Dong’s funeral. Meanwhille, the Dong Son Secondary School, where Dong and Phuong were both pupils, had to pay 5 millon VND to Dong’s family.

Educators are now raising the alarm over school violence, saying that more and more regrettable cases occur due to minor disagreements.

On August 3, 2009, 14 year old Bui Xuan Duyen went to Thanh Chuong 3 School in Nghe An province to attend summer classes. At 9 am while sat with friends in the school yard, Duyen saw Thai Doan Son beating his friend – Nguyen Van Vuong. When Duyen tried to break up the fight he too was beaten by Son and left with his shirt torn.

After the fight, Duyen did not go home because he did not want his mother to know about the fight. Instead he went to Cat Ngan High School, where he related the story to friends. Together with accomplices Trang and My he formed a plan to fight Son.

Duyen hit Son in the head. Having suffered a severe wound, Son later died at Nghe An Hospital.

While students themselves were central to the crime, educators have suggested that if the schools had better managed them the incidents might not have happened.

School violence has become so serious that the HCM City Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs several months ago organised a workshop to raise awareness and help combat the issue.

A survey released in late 2008 showed that 22 per cent of primary school students lied to their parents, while the figures were 50 per cent for secondary schools and 64 per cent for high school.

Meanwhile, 4 per cent of primary school students, 35 per cent of secondary school students and 70 per cent of high school students have said they do not respect traffic laws.

In 2004, 600 students were reportedly found to be drug addicted. The figure rose to 1,234 students in 2007.

VietNamNet/GDTD, TP