Student beaten in dormitory: School must seriously review!

Information about the incident

On the evening of May 28, a video clip appeared on social media recording the scene of 3 male students beating another male student right in the dormitory. Information accompanying the clip said that the school violence incident took place in the dormitory of the Quy Hop District Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School.

Student Dinh XH was beaten by 3 classmates in the same room. Photo: Clip

On May 29, the Quy Hop District Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School reported that the incident occurred at 7:20 p.m. on May 11, 2018. The three students who beat their friend were Bui TA, Cao TT (class 9C) and Mac LN (class 9B). The student who was beaten was Dinh XH (class 9C).

The school only knew about this incident on May 12, 2018 when Mr. Dinh Van Tan - Dinh XH's father wrote a petition and requested the school to handle the case.

After receiving the request from Mr. Dinh Van Tan, on the morning of May 14, 2018, Quy Hop District Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School held a meeting to handle the incident. The meeting included the school board, dormitory manager, homeroom teacher, 2 student guards, parents, and the students who beat and were beaten.

At the meeting, the school proposed a disciplinary action against the students who beat their classmates, including a week of boarding labor and a reduction in conduct to average. All families of the students who beat and were beaten agreed with this direction of action.

However, after directly watching the video recording of his child being beaten, recorded by another student in the dormitory room on his phone, feeling sorry for his child and realizing the seriousness of the incident, at 4:00 p.m. on May 28, 2018, Mr. Dinh Van Tan continued to submit a second request to resolve the incident.

The principal of the Quy Hop District Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School, teacher Nguyen Duc Duc, received the petition and promised to resolve the case on the morning of May 29, 2018. However, on the evening of May 28, 2018, at 9:46 p.m., a video clip of 3 students beating a friend was posted on social media and received a lot of attention, shares, and comments.

A dormitory block of the Quy Hop District Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School. The dormitory rooms are currently very cramped, with 14 students sharing a room. Photo: Thanh Chung

On the morning of May 29, 2018, the Quy Hop District Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School invited the students' families to a meeting. The principal of the Quy Hop District Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School decided to establish a Disciplinary Council and prepare a disciplinary case file for the three students who beat their friend.

At the meeting, the parents of the students met, discussed, and analyzed the situation in a spirit of empathy and agreed to reconcile and handle the situation internally between the families. The three students who beat their friend realized their wrongdoings and sincerely apologized to their friend; the parents of these three students also apologized to Dinh's family. XH, and at the same time wrote a commitment to educate their children well and not let similar incidents happen again.

Mr. Dinh Van Tan, father of the beaten student Dinh XH, also wrote a commitment to reconcile the student fight and not ask the school to continue handling the case.

Head of Education Department apologizes to family

Although Quy Hop Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities had a detailed report stating that the incident had been resolved, on the afternoon of May 29, 2018, Mr. Ho Binh Minh - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Quy Hop district requested the school's Board of Directors to directly visit student Dinh XH at his home in Lau hamlet, Ha Son commune.

Head of the Department of Education and Training of Quy Hop district, Ho Binh Minh, apologized to Dinh XH's family. Photo: Nhat Lan

Here, on behalf of the Education Department of Quy Hop district, Mr. Ho Binh Minh apologized to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Dinh Van Tan - Nguyen Thi Tinh and Dinh.XH. Because as he said: "When a school violence incident occurs, not only the school but also the Department of Education is at fault."

At the same time, he pledged to his family that he would build a healthy educational environment in his district, not allowing similar incidents to happen; hoping that Dinh.XH would stabilize his mental state to continue studying well.

At this meeting, Mr. Dinh Van Tan confided his frustrations when he heard that his child was beaten by a friend, especially when he saw the video clip. Mr. Tan said: After watching the video clip, the family really wanted the school to take a very strict disciplinary action. However, when talking to the school, we found that the principal did not fully understand the situation, so we were very upset. However, during the meeting on the morning of May 29, when the school had taken appropriate measures, our family sympathized with the rashness of adolescence, creating conditions for the children to correct their mistakes...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tinh, mother of Dinh XH, also confided: This is the first time the children have made a mistake, so the family only suggests appropriate punishment for them. We only hope that through this incident, the children will learn a lesson and try to study hard and be good…

The school must seriously review!

For the past few years, the issue of school violence has been on the rise, causing public opinion to be extremely concerned, requiring the education sector to find effective solutions to prevent it. Therefore, in recent National Assembly sessions, the issue of school violence has always been of concern to delegates, discussed, and questioned the responsibility of the head of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Dinh XH said: My friends apologized to me. Photo: Nhat Lan

Learning about the incident that occurred at Quy Hop Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, we found that although the school had taken appropriate measures, it is necessary to seriously review the responsibility. Because the students are studying in a boarding school, under the strict management of the school during and after school hours.

The incident of a group of students beating up a friend in the dormitory without the school being able to promptly grasp and handle the situation; and only finding out when parents filed a report is reprehensible, showing the lack of thoroughness in the school's dormitory management.

Talking to us about this issue, Mr. Vo Sy Son - Vice Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee said: As soon as we received information about the incident, we requested the Department of Education and Training to urgently inspect, have a detailed report on the incident and handling measures. In any case, the district's Boarding Secondary School is responsible for letting this incident happen, so it must be seriously reviewed. We will direct the Department of Education and Training to clarify the responsibilities of the relevant collectives and individuals to rectify and prevent the recurrence of school violence./.