“I will refuse to drink the water used to clean blackboards.”

When Hedgehog returned to Vietnam from France for Tet, his teacher sent him a list of questions from his classmates who wanted to learn about Hedgehog’s homeland. One student asked: “Has Vietnam signed the convention on the rights of the child? Do children go to school and receive care?Of course, Hedgehog's answer is"Have".

Japanese mothers' way of teaching children to think early. Illustration photo

But every day, Nhim's mother reads the news, the stories in the educational environment are truly heartbreaking.

Most recently, a teacher punished a third grader by making him drink blackboard cleaning water, just because he was talking in class.

Whatever the student's mistake, the teacher's punishment was barbaric and inhumane.

Mom asked Nhim, now a 5th grader, what he would do if he were in that situation. Nhim said he would refuse to drink it because he thought it was too cruel, no one would rinse their mouth with such dirty water.

Mom continued to ask, what if the teacher threatened to tell Mom and Dad that I was naughty in class? Hedgehog answered without hesitation:

“Oh! I’d rather be scolded by my parents than have to rinse my mouth with dirty water. If you punish her like that, I’ll tell my parents when I get home, and the next day at school I’ll tell the principal to fire her. Someone like that shouldn’t be a teacher.”

Mom was very happy with the way Nhim handled the situation. In her eyes, you have always been a shy and weak girl, fragile and vulnerable, but also have your own courage and stance.

One of the good fortunes of Hedgehog is that he grew up in an environment where children are listened to, cared for, protected and respected, so he is not afraid to express his opinions and voice. Children are also rarely subjected to unreasonable pressure from adults, so they easily react and do not accept unusual actions.

Even at home, parents rarely use their parental authority to force Nhim to do this or that, they only give options, analyze the pros and cons, and then let him make his own decisions.

When commenting on the story of a teacher forcing students to rinse their mouths with dirty water, an acquaintance - who is an active activist in issues related to children - said that while we cannot yet adjust the teacher, the educational environment or society, we should start making changes from within the family.

Parents should teach their children how to express their opinions, self-defense skills, and appropriate behavior in different environments, so that they know how to refuse when someone asks them to do something wrong.

I am also quite concerned about this advice, because Vietnamese society and culture are still very oppressive, the type of children must obey adults. Especially for children, teachers have a certain authority that makes them obey, even many parents at home cannot instruct their children, and even tell teachers that "everything depends on teachers".

But thinking back, I see that if you want to change, you have to change completely, from top to bottom, from bottom to top, from inside to outside.

Before expecting positive changes from the outside, parents must change first within the family. Don't impose, but listen, respect the views, opinions and voices of the children in the house.