Who is depriving children of playtime?

Although there are no official survey data, there are increasing signs that Vietnamese children’s playtime is getting shorter and shorter. Too much studying, too little playing time, has resulted in many heartbreaking incidents.

Learning machines

In big cities, it is not uncommon for “learning machines” to wake up at 5am, go to school at 6am, be picked up by their parents at 5pm, go to extra classes at 7pm until 9pm, and come home late at night. There is no more time to play! Combined with the heavy curriculum at school and the fierce competition for grades, children will be increasingly burdened by the pressure.

It is not uncommon to see students having to eat and drink on the way to school.

This situation is increasingly confirmed by experts, even foreign experts. At a conference in Ho Chi Minh City last year, Dr. Jonathan Halévy, a pediatrician at Family Medicine Practice Hospital, said that Vietnamese children are overworked by a tight school schedule.

"Vietnamese parents are very dedicated and want their children to have the best education. Many teenagers take extra lessons in math, English… after school. Then they go home to have a quick dinner and do their homework. By the time they go to bed, it is almost midnight (or even past midnight).

Some schools in Vietnam operate in shifts and classes start very early, meaning children have to wake up at 5am to get to school on time. That leaves the child with very little time to rest,” said Mr Jonathan.

Children are being deprived of playtime by study pressure.

Warnings were constantly being issued. But only recently, thousands of parents were startled by a true story: a 9th grade male student jumped off a building to commit suicide due to pressure from studying and grades. Having low grades while always having high expectations, and being in a school with great competition, this male student could not overcome the disappointment, suffered from severe depression and chose an extreme outcome...

Give kids back playtime

When the heartbreaking story above happened, many parents started to panic and “question” themselves. Many parents immediately wrote on their personal Facebook that they would no longer force their children to study, and would no longer care about their children’s grades as much as before.

But that is not the root solution to relieve pressure on children when the education system is still considered too heavy. According to many experts, letting children experience more playtime is the way to help children balance and relieve pressure.

Psychologist Dinh Phuong Duy, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Psychology and Education, said he had witnessed many cases where in the afternoon parents took their children to extra classes, while they were taking them, they ate a sandwich, and when they came home in the evening, the children were exhausted and still had to continue doing homework.

According to him, in terms of common psychological principles, human activities, living, playing, resting… must be in accordance with each person’s biological rhythm. If children study too much, they will not have enough time to balance their spiritual life, leading to them being overloaded with studying.

A student quickly ate before going to extra class.

“Many city children grow up with an incomplete childhood, only studying and studying without experiencing interesting interactive games with friends... In terms of spirit, the child's soul will have little emotion towards the world around them, leading to emotional poverty. A person with little emotion will behave very rigidly towards the world, not easily adapt to changes in life, and easily close themselves off from society.

That also leads to more serious consequences such as children will not have friends to play with, growing up like "fighting cocks", only knowing how to study but not having life skills or social skills. From here, children easily fall into traps, not having the mental resistance to overcome failures," said Dr. Dinh Phuong Duy.

According to Dantri