New pain, old cause

(Baonghean) -It has been less than two months since summer began, but so far, dozens of drowning incidents have occurred in the province, killing 20 children. Behind these alarming numbers are the tragic deaths of young children and the great pain of their parents. It is worth mentioning that this pain stems from the same old causes: children lack skills to prevent and fight drowning; lack of a safe environment for children; drowning prevention for children is still neglected...

Alarming numbers...

Nearly 2 months have passed, but the tragic death of Nguyen Huu Dung (15 years old, Thanh Tuong, Thanh Chuong) still leaves an inconsolable pain for the family. That afternoon (March 16), the whole family went to a wedding in Vinh, only Dung was home. It was sunny, Dung invited his friends in the neighborhood to go swimming in the brick kiln pond near his house. When they got into the pond, Dung and his friends were caught in a whirlpool and drowned. Hearing the cries for help, the brick kiln owner was able to bring one child to shore, but Dung drowned and died. As the only son in the family, Dung's death left Hung and Nam devastated; Dung's grandfather fainted at his grandson's funeral...

Most recently (May 23), there was the drowning of two female students from Quynh Vinh Secondary School (Quynh Luu). At around 8am on May 23, a group of 7 female students from Quynh Vinh Secondary School went swimming in the river. After a while, the female students panicked and called for help after 3 of them slipped and fell into a deep creek. People living nearby rushed to help rescue them, but only 1 student was lucky enough to be saved, Tran Thi Lien (born 2001). The remaining 2 female students died. The identities of the deceased victims were identified as Cao Thi Linh (born 2001) and Bui Thi Anh (born 2000), both living in Hamlet 4, Quynh Vinh Commune, Quynh Luu.



Children bathing in ponds, lakes, rivers and streams is the leading cause of drowning. (Photo taken in Dien Yen, Dien Chau)

According to preliminary statistics from the Department of Child Care and Protection, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, in the first 5 months of 2013, there were 14 drowning incidents in the province, killing 20 children (including 16 high school students and 4 kindergarten children). Currently, Nghe An is one of the provinces with the highest number of child drowning deaths in the country. The situation of child drowning has been warned many times by the mass media and authorities, but it seems that those warnings are not strong enough. The number of children dying from drowning continues to increase, becoming a pressing social issue. Drowning not only causes children to lose their lives but also brings great pain to their families and relatives.

Summer vacation is approaching, children are free to play, without supervision and management from school, accidents and injuries are very likely to occur, in which drowning is a high-risk group.

Need a safe environment for children...

Mr. Bui Quoc Dung, Head of the Department of Child Care and Protection, said: "The reason why children drown is because they do not know how to protect themselves when they encounter dangerous situations in water. However, the main reason is still because parents do not care and cannot protect their children; meanwhile, education and training for children in drowning prevention is limited and a safe environment for children is lacking, danger is always lurking, threatening them."

Lack of attention to young children, not supervising children, and carelessness in letting children play in unsafe areas have led to their tragic deaths. Most of the children in primary and secondary school age are even less supervised by parents, thinking that their children are old enough, especially in rural areas. In the above accidents, most of the children went swimming in ponds, lakes, and rivers without adult supervision, so when drowning occurred, they drowned.

Since 2011, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has implemented the model "Safe house to prevent and combat injuries for children". Thereby, helping parents and caregivers recognize and eliminate dangers that can cause injuries to children around and inside the house, minimizing injuries to children at home and in the community caused by daily activities. This model has been built in 13 communes in Hung Nguyen, Quynh Luu, Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong Anh Son, Tan Ky, Nghia Dan, Que Phong, Quy Chau, Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Thai Hoa Town, Cua Lo Town and in 2013, it continued to be built in 4 communes of Nam Dan, Dien Chau, Do Luong, Con Cuong. The effectiveness of this model has been clearly seen, having a positive impact on parents' awareness of ensuring safety for children and minimizing injuries to children, especially drowning.

However, after 3 years of implementation, this model is still only at the "pilot" level, one commune per district and has not been widely replicated. The reason is due to lack of funding, lack of attention and direction from local authorities. Ms. Nguyen Thi My Luong, specialist of the Department of Child Care and Protection, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: "Each year the Department directs the pilot model in one commune, prioritizing communes with high risks. When implementing, propaganda is carried out, training funding is supported... After that, the commune maintains this model itself. According to the policy, it will direct the pilot and then replicate, but up to now, the number of communes implementing this model has only stopped at the communes where the Department is a pilot...".

Starting from 2012, the Department of Child Protection and Care has also coordinated with Do Luong and Anh Son districts to open a number of training classes on swimming for 300 cadres and teachers and swimming for 200 children. According to the plan, in 2013, swimming lessons will be implemented for the Team leaders and the team working on children's work, and students in Thanh Chuong district; Maintaining volunteer teams at ferry terminals and river sections such as Thanh Chuong and Do Luong districts; directing subordinate units to organize summer volunteer teams to organize summer activities for children, including instructing children on safe games, knowing how to prevent common injuries in children such as burns, traffic accidents, drowning... to equip them with basic knowledge to prevent and protect themselves... However, training courses like this are just "a drop in the ocean", while in schools, teaching and learning to swim is only "on paper", due to lack of funds to build swimming pools in schools, lack of swimming teachers...

Although the slogan “Children today, world tomorrow” is widely propagated everywhere, but with the increasing number of children drowning, society seems to be confused in joining hands to reduce this accident. Unfinished traffic works, manholes, ditches, and pipelines that are not managed by any authorities are real threats to children. Of the 14 drowning cases above, 5 were caused by children falling into ponds, or deep holes in old brick kilns, after digging the soil was not returned to the ground, there were no warning signs and no cover.

These old causes that have existed for a long time are directly affecting the lives of tens of thousands of children, causing new pain for hundreds of families. It is thought that the time has come for the whole society to join hands to resolutely push back the drowning situation in young children. The solution that brings high and quick efficiency is for the Department of Education and Training to focus on closely directing schools to organize swimming lessons for students; at the same time, bring swimming back into the competition in the Phu Dong Sports Festival at all levels from school to province as in the 90s of the last century to create a swimming movement among students.

Thanh Phuc