Schools share how to deal with school violence

The problem of school violence has been occurring in many schools, raising alarm bells, causing many parents, students and teachers to worry. Therefore, strengthening propaganda, orientation, support and psychological counseling for students needs to be given special attention to avoid unfortunate and unwanted incidents from happening.

Don't let it drag on, don't let small things become big things.

On April 17, a fight between 10th grade students broke out in a classroom at Ha Huy Tap High School. Immediately after, the information was posted on social media with a picture of a male student with red bruises on his face and many worried and indignant words…

At a school with nearly 2,000 students, similar incidents had also occurred at Ha Huy Tap High School. Upon receiving this information, early that afternoon, the school board asked the students involved to write a report and invited their families to meet. Through conversation, the problems were resolved because the incident took place right in the classroom and were just minor conflicts between students. After this meeting, the students also realized their shortcomings, made peace with each other, and apologized for their uncontrolled actions. The families also understood the school's handling of the situation.

A propaganda session on violence prevention at Ha Huy Tap High School. Photo: NTCC

According to teacher Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of Ha Huy Tap High School: In the current school environment,school violencecan happen at any time

Previously, according to school regulations, if school violence occurred, students could receive the highest form of disciplinary action, which was expulsion.

However, after many years of working as a teacher, homeroom teacher and later as a school manager, teacher Cao Thanh Bao believes that “expulsion is only a rare case. Instead, when unfortunately there is a school violence incident in the school, it is necessary to grasp the problem early, find out the cause and promptly handle it, avoid prolonging it, do not let small things become big things, which can make the conflict worse. Even from a conflict between two or three students, it can turn into a group. Moreover, at their age, due to lack of experience in resolving relationships, it can make the matter more complicated and lead to unfortunate consequences.”

To limit school violence, Ha Huy Tap High School is also using many measures at the same time. That is installing cameras in many areas such as hallways, in front of the school gate and some classrooms for regular monitoring. At the same time, security guards and shock troops are often present in front of the school gate at the beginning and end of each school day to grasp the situation, check, and not let strangers enter the school to find opportunities to cause trouble. The school also regularly contacts the authorities, especially the Le Loi Ward Police to coordinate if any unusual incidents occur.

At present, the leader of Ha Huy Tap High School also said that school violence can occur in many different forms. Therefore, to prevent it in time, the role of the homeroom teacher is very important: In fact, all schools have a school psychological counseling team, but students are often afraid to go to the counseling team. Usually, students still go to the homeroom teacher first to present problems, propose wishes, and the homeroom teacher, in his role, must know how to listen and share. In case the matter is difficult to solve or beyond the scope, it must be promptly reported to the school board for a solution.

In the process of preventing school violence, the role of the family is also very important to accompany the school to grasp the situation of children at home, their relationships outside of school and give them useful advice. If an unwanted incident occurs, parents will also see their mistakes.

All school violence cases must be dealt with firmly, admonished, and properly oriented so that students can see their mistakes and be afraid. From there, they will be aware of their actions and be responsible for their behavior.

Teacher Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of Ha Huy Tap High School

Building a safe and healthy educational environment

The morning class of April 20 of teacher Tran Thi Viet Ha - homeroom teacher of class 9D - Hung Dong Secondary School (Nghi Loc) spent a lot of time talking about the issue of school violence. This is also the content that she and many other colleagues have been carrying out continuously recently, not only during class but also in extracurricular activities, flag salutes, in the hallway during recess or sometimes in small groups.

Teacher Tran Thi Viet Ha also said: Drowning accidents and school violence are the things that we are most worried about right now, because at this age, children are hyperactive and not yet aware of their own behavior. Therefore, when guiding students, we must propagate so that they can see the level of danger, consequences and other negative impacts not only for themselves but also for their families and society.

Propaganda about school violence at Hung Dong Secondary School (Nghi Loc). Photo: MH

This female teacher also added that most of the quarrels among students are not long-term but only temporary. Therefore, when discovered, if there is no homeroom teacher, other forces will handle it promptly. In case the matter is prolonged, coordination between family - school - society and the executive board of the parents' association is necessary. If this relationship is not good, it will affect the school environment.

As for homeroom teachers, although the work pressure is very high and the responsibilities are increasingly heavy, in order to fulfill their role well, they must always try, put in effort, put in their thoughts for the students and follow them closely in all activities to be able to understand the students and work with them to resolve any problems.

It is necessary to promote the role of school counseling groups in schools. In the photo: Teachers at Nguyen Canh Chan High School share with students about school age issues. Photo: MH

Referring to the issue of school violence, Mr. Nguyen Van Thong - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Nghi Loc district also admitted that this is a reality that is happening in schools in forms such as conflicts from words, jealousy, etc. In the context of the explosion of information technology, students are sensitive, especially their psychological stability and ability to handle situations are not stable, so many problems easily arise. Therefore, it is very important to grasp information, including information via social networks.

In recent times, the Nghi Loc District Education Department has also coordinated with other departments and agencies such as the Youth Union and the Police to promote propaganda on school violence in many different forms. Schools are also required to strengthen school security committees and school psychology working groups to promptly detect incidents and prevent the formation of groups.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thong also shared that teachers have a lot of pressure, especially homeroom teachers today, because in addition to their professional duties, the teaching staff also has to shoulder many other tasks. Moreover, today's students also have differences, "both modern and very vulnerable". Today's students also imitate behaviors very quickly and many of them cannot distinguish between good and bad.

Therefore, teachers, homeroom teachers, and school psychologists must grasp the psychological developments of students, promptly detect mental violence to build solidarity in the school, and build a safe and healthy educational environment.