Why is there no solution to limit drowning in children?

On the afternoon of July 11, within the framework of the 9th session of the 17th Provincial People's Council, a question-and-answer session was held with the Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on issues related to child protection, care and education; child drowning; child abuse; child trafficking; children in violation of the law...

71 cases of child abuse are close to reality?

Reporting at the questioning session, Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: Currently, according to incomplete statistics, there are up to 71 cases of child abuse and violence; 17 cases of child trafficking; 22 children were trafficked.

Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs explained at the meeting hall. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Immediately after the report of the Department Director, Ms. Lu Thi Thin, Que Phong delegate, expressed her opinion: Currently, there are many agencies and units with the function of managing, protecting and caring for children, but in reality, no agency is primarily responsible for the increase in child abuse cases. So is the number of 71 child abuse cases true?

Nghe An students share skills to prevent abuse. Photo: Archive

Mr. Doan Hong Vu said: "These figures are based on statistics of cases of the Provincial Police, while the data through other channels are not compiled by the departments and branches". Mr. Vu said that we have issued many prevention solutions, but the most important thing is still timely information from the grassroots level; and coordination between inter-branch agencies to have more immediate solutions.

Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training answered questions about school violence. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The hall was heated when the report of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: In the school years from 2016 - 2018 and the first 6 months of 2019, the whole province had 14 cases of students fighting inside and outside of school, some of which were dangerous and caused injuries. Mr. Tran Van Huong, a delegate of Nam Dan, wondered: "The cases of school violence were all reported by students and there was no information channel from the school, so what is the opinion of the Department of Education and Training on this?".

Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training said: "Whether the incident happened inside or outside the school, the responsibility still belongs to the education sector. The Department and the sector are very heartbroken and would like to accept responsibility". Mr. Thanh also said that up to now, the Department has built school psychology consulting teams to promptly support and intervene in students' abnormal psychology. However, the effectiveness of these consulting teams is not high, because the capacity of the team members has not met the requirements.

Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Committee responded to comments on child marriage. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The parliament was also heated by the information that there are currently 182 children in early marriage and 179 couples in early marriage. Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Thuy, delegate of Thai Hoa Town, questioned: There are currently 182 children in early marriage, what solutions have the relevant departments, branches and sectors had, and is this number accurate?

Responding to this issue, Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Committee said: Partly because of customs, but partly because our management is not strict enough, there are no strong enough sanctions, many couples do not report to the commune authorities. There are even many people who are commune officials, chairmen of the commune Women's Union, but their children still get married early.

Drowning on the rise due to lack of swimming pools

Regarding children's addiction to games and the many consequences that come from it, Mr. Doan Hong Vu said: The Government's Decree is not yet strict enough, for example, the game shop must be 200m away from the school gate, which is not feasible, or the punishment of network operators is not enough to deter and prevent this situation.

Children addicted to games will cause many unpredictable consequences. Photo: Archive

Mr. Le Ba Hung - Director of the Department of Information and Communications said: Currently, there are 360 ​​licensed and operating network operators, but there are up to 500 million social network users. Currently, children really like to access small and medium-sized network operators, because these networks are very attractive to them.

However, Regulation 72 of the Ministry of Information and Communications on the Internet still has provisions that are inconsistent with reality. "In fact, we have punished 3 Facebook accounts and 2 Zalo accounts for malicious games" - Mr. Hung said.

Mr. Doan Hong Vu said: "A hundred leaflets and a hundred propaganda forums are not equal to one "propaganda" through game channels. Therefore, the prevention of harmful games needs to be strengthened."

The hall was also heated with opinions surrounding the organization of Children's Forums; how have children's opinions been resolved through the forums? Or "Are there any gaps in the responsibility for protecting and caring for children, due to funding or incorrect assignment of responsibilities, when state management agencies have issued more than 109 documents on children's work but the effectiveness is not high" - Quy Hop delegate, Ms. Vo Thi Minh Sinh expressed her opinion.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Doan Hong Vu said that up to now, the whole province has 5,914 cadres working with children in villages and hamlets. If they fulfill their responsibilities, there will be no loopholes.

More than 200 children in Hoa Binh town and neighboring areas of Tuong Duong district are taught swimming for free. Photo: Dinh Tuan.

Regarding the increasing situation of drowning in children, many delegates said that the model of "The whole school knows how to swim, the whole commune knows how to swim" has not been implemented. Mr. Thai Van Thanh said that partly because of the lack of facilities, the whole province only has 200 swimming pools, of which only 150 are fixed swimming pools. "Currently, the Ministry does not have a set of swimming teaching materials in schools, there are no swimming teachers, only part-time teachers. In the near future, the Department will promote the socialization movement to build swimming pools." Mr. Thanh also said that, to let the situation of drowning increase, we are clearly subjective.

Ms. Cao Thi Hien - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Concluding the question and answer session, Ms. Cao Thi Hien - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council requested: In the coming time, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs needs to coordinate with related departments to review the implementation of the 2016 Law on Children and the programs and projects of the Central and the province on child care and protection to develop, amend, supplement and implement with the highest efficiency.

Innovate the form of propaganda on legal knowledge, life skills education for those at high risk of violence, abuse, early marriage... At the same time, focus on communication campaigns on drowning... Research to promote socialization of activities to protect, care for and educate children. "To ensure that all children are protected and have the opportunity to develop physically, intellectually and spiritually" - Ms. Cao Thi Hien affirmed.

Thanh Nga