The Seminar entitled “Exchanging Experience about Controlling and Educating Children to Help them out of the Offence and Social Evil”: Role of Family in Teaching their Children

    Mr. Bui Xuan Nga, the Deputy Manager of PX28 of the Provincial Police reported an increase in crimes committed by teenagers and this issue has become complex. From 2005 – Jun. to the first six months this year, there were 1,580 cases. The number of crimes has been directly proportional to the age of teenagers.

    Rate of criminal teenagers included 55.2% for aged between 16 and 18 -the highest rate, 32.5% for ones aged between 14 to 16, 10.8% for ones ages under 14, 1.5% for ones under 12. The most common crimes committed by teenagers are theft, intentional damage, and gambling, etc. Notably, in the first six months this year, the total cases of intentional damage caused by teenagers make up 61.6% of the total.      

    This problem has been a stinging issue for families, schools, and society. Family is one of the most important factors influencing shaping and developing teenager’s personality and one of the main reasons for their crimes. The seminar, causes of teenagers’ crimes according to some viewpoints: some family members are not exemplary ones; educating method is not proper; children are indulged, treated rudely and harshly; some families’ parents just pay attention to earning their living but not their children; almost leave educating duty to school.

    Unhappy families for arguments, violence, gambling, shouting, and then divorce result in bad effects on children for the rest of their life; or low education of parents and relatives limits their parenting skill.    

    Sharing experience in educating children, Vy Thi Lien ( member of Song Trau Woman’s union – Trang Bom district) said:” To control children well, parents must know clearly their children’s learning schedule, relationship with their friends, care about and contact regularly with schools and former teachers. Besides, parents should communicate to children as their close friends to understand more about their feelings. Thanks to that, parents could satisfy their legitimate aspirations and protect them from social evils.

    At the seminar, students from Penitentiary School number 4 and An Phuoc middle school acted in “ One Minute In Paradise (Mot phut len may)” and “ Mom, I Came Back (Mẹ Ơi Con Đã Về)”,

expressing their messages: do not kill yourself due to lack of knowledge and say no to drugs for the future without social offence.

   Expressing their expectations for the society at the seminar, criminal teenagers said, “ After released from this schools, we will be able to find a stable job;  the locality will support us with a little capital so that we can earn an honest penny, and keep away from social evils; the society will not keep aloof from us; we expect that the society will not have social evils and there will be a lot of interesting amusement activities and centers that are suitable for us, too; what we expect from our families is our parents’ care, encouragement, consolation; we need parents to pay much attention to us when we are released from the school; we hope that our parents will respect us, understand, spend more time to communicate with us, and that our parents will remain loyal to each other to maintain a family with full of love and faithfulness; we are afraid of a dad with alcohol addiction and violence. Do not force us to learn too much and our parents will be good models for us to follow”.

   There are many reasons for their offences such as: following bad friends, being induced by bad friends, being witnessed family violence, being suffered from parents’ divorce, parents’ quarrels, being attracted by interesting games, living in poor family, studying badly, not having parent’s respect, being considered kids, etc.

     A family is a cell of society so a stable family can make a stable society. Situation of this issue in our country for the time being shows that family is one of the main reasons affecting young offences in our country. Thanks to listening to what  teenagers talking about social evils, it is necessary to have   care and collaboration of branches, agencies, unions  in managing and educating them as well as role and responsibility of families should be grasped well.

Reported by Le Lan, Translated by Ha Giang