2 boys leave home from Nghe An to Hue: Warning about children running away from home

Incidents that caused a stir in public opinion

In the past two days, information about two children in Vinh city, Vuong Tuan Khoa (born in 2011, 3rd grade student, Le Loi Primary School, Vinh city) and Luu Xuan Dat (born in 2007, 6th grade student, living in the same Le Loi ward) has been widely shared on social networks, causing a stir in public opinion.

Previously, relatives of the two children posted information on social media about the two children who had been missing for 2 days and had not been found by their families, asking the online community to help find them.

At the same time, the two children's families also reported to the police. And immediately after that, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Police issued a notice to search for missing people. According to the family, at around 6:00 p.m. on February 26, Dat came to Khoa's house to invite him to go out. Late at night, the family did not see the two children return home so they went to look for them, but by February 27, they still had not seen the two children return home.

Photos of Khoa and Dat were shared by their family through searching on social networks. Photo courtesy

At 11:30 a.m. on February 28, Dat's biological mother in Thua Thien Hue called her family in Nghe An to inform them that the two children had just arrived. According to Dat's relatives, it is still unclear how the two children entered Thua Thien Hue. Because when they left the house, they walked, wore normal clothes, and did not ask their parents for money.

Earlier, in the early morning of July 17, 2019, people in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district, discovered 3 strange children standing on the side of the road and reported it to the police. After investigating the information, initially, the 3 children, including Nguyen Cong Th. (14 years old), Nguyen Van H. (10 years old) and Nguyen Van Th. (9 years old, all residing in Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district, Nghe An) said that they were riding bicycles together to play when suddenly a man "kidnapped" them and took them into a car. While the car was traveling on National Highway 1A through Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district, taking advantage of the driver going to the toilet, the 3 children escaped from the car.

On the same afternoon, the Anh Son District Police and the Dien Chau District Police coordinated to clarify: The truth is that the children went out to play and got lost from Anh Son to Do Luong District, then to Yen Thanh District, and then to Dien Chau District. However, because they were afraid of being beaten by their parents, they discussed lying that they were kidnapped.

Police and local authorities handed over the three children to their families in Phuc Son (Anh Son) after they were found. Photo courtesy

Also in Nghe An, on November 15, 2019, Ms. Nguyen Thi Chau (42 years old, residing in Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province) went to Quynh Luu district police to report that her daughter Ho Thi Ng (15 years old) had been missing for many days. On November 18, the police discovered Ng sitting on a motorbike with two strangers and handed her over to her family. Ng said that she left home "voluntarily" with her friends because she was sad and did not inform her family.

On July 15, 2019, after many days of searching for her daughter without results, Ms. Nguyen Thi Duong (residing in Hamlet 2A, Nghia An Commune, Nghia Dan) sent a report to the police about her daughter's disappearance for unknown reasons and requested support in the search. On June 17, 2019, after 3 days of being reported missing, the 13-year-old girl from Nghe An who ran away from home was found in Hanoi.

The cause was determined to be that H. had run away from her parents to Vinh City to find a job. There, a restaurant owner introduced H. to Hanoi to work for a restaurant. After the notice to find the child was posted on the media and social networks, a resident of Hanoi read it and then called to inform H.'s family.

The image of child H was provided by someone to the authorities to assist in the search. Photo courtesy

Warning about runaway children

Information about cases of children running away from home has made many parents worried. In particular, for families whose children or grandchildren "suddenly" go missing, they have had to go through moments of extreme anxiety and insecurity when their own children suddenly disappear without a clear reason. More importantly, in cases where children run away from home, their families and relatives did not notice any signs or symptoms of their children's sudden actions of running away from home.

For example, two students in grades 3 and 6 in Le Loi Ward, Vinh City. Their families said that when they left home to go to Thua Thien Hue, they were wearing normal clothes, did not ask their parents for money, and did not show any suspicious signs. Therefore, after not seeing the two children return home, the family immediately thought of the possibility that their children had been kidnapped.

And until now, after the biological mother of one of the two children in Thua Thien Hue called to inform that the two children had just arrived in Hue, their family was on the way to Hue to pick them up. However, what is worth mentioning here is that even the families and relatives of the children, when they heard that their children had left home to Hue without permission, did not know how they got there or where they got the money to go.

Illustration image. Source internet

And according to many comments from parents on social networks about the case of Khoa and Dat running away from home to Hue, many opinions expressed concern as there are more and more cases of children running away from home on their own, and going far away with "heaven and earth" reasons. Many other opinions said that through such cases, parents should review the way they care for their children.

Why do we let our children have free thoughts, be undisciplined and irresponsible towards themselves and their families when they run away from home? Maybe they do not fully understand or foresee the dangers that lurk around them when they run away from home, or they are dissatisfied or dissatisfied with something from their family. And this is the root cause of the incident.

Recent cases of minors running away from home in Nghe An and the whole country show that the reasons for such actions are often boredom, being scolded by their parents, not being allowed to play with their phones, failing exams, or getting lost because they were too busy playing. Another worrying thing is that from the acts of running away from home, out of fear, they commit additional mistakes such as lying and making up stories. For example, the case of 3 minors in Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district who got lost in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district. Because they got lost, they made up stories about being kidnapped.

DRegardless of the cause, the increasing number of children running away from home is an alarming phenomenon, requiring each family to be more closely involved in management, to be close and actively coordinate with the school in understanding their children's thoughts, and to avoid unfortunate incidents that cause serious consequences.