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Hanoi parent mad at child’s suspension over negative Facebook post about teacher

Hanoi parent mad at child’s suspension over negative Facebook post about teacher

Wednesday, November 11, 2015, 20:04 GMT+7

A parent in Hanoi has recently sent a letter to the capital’s education department expressing her dismay over her daughter’s suspension from school after the student posted a negative status update about her teacher on Facebook.

In her letter to the department’s director, Vu Thi Ha Phuong, mother of N.T.V.Q., a 12th grader from Le Loi High School, said the 10-day suspension the school has imposed on her daughter is too heavy.

According to Phuong, her daughter is a good and dynamic student, but her literature teacher became punitive toward her because she did not take after-school classes at her home.

Stressfully, Q. wrote a Facebook post expressing her disappointment.

Phuong said that after the incident occurred, the head teacher of Q.’s class, who is also her literature teacher, scolded the student and forced her to admit that she had offended the teacher before bringing the case to the school’s disciplinary board.

The mother added though the Facebook post did not mention any specific teacher and was not as serious or offensive as the school thought, Q. had to admit the “teacher offense” act and accepted the suspension from her school because she was forced to.

During the process of Q. explaining the incident to the school, the head teacher did not inform her family, the mother added, saying she only knew about it when the teacher contacted her to notify her of her daughter’s suspension.

According to Phuong, her daughter has had to undergo psychological treatment for shock over the incident.

In a conversation with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Le Loi High School’s leaders said it was unexpected but necessary to implement the penalty in order to deter students from violating the school’s regulations, as well as warn those who go against the tradition of respecting teachers.

The school added that although the student apologized for her act, the penalty has still been applied in accordance with existing regulations.

According to the school managers, the negative impact of the post spread widely among students, so the strict punishment is necessary so as to deter other students and prevent similar incidents from recurring.

Virtual world and real life impact

The incident has not only influenced insiders but also drawn the attention of the wider community, especially other students.

Many of them told Tuoi Tre that Facebook is a virtual world that has a big influence on real life.

“We should think carefully before posting anything on Facebook,” 12th grader Minh Tu commented.

A number of students also agreed that it is necessary to implement the suspension.

Pham Cung Thinh, an 11th grader, said there was nothing unfair about a student who gets temporarily dismissed from school after committing offensive acts against teachers, while 12th grader Hoai Thuong stressed that only unethical and disrespectful students say bad words about their teachers and dismissal is a reasonable penalty to prevent others from following suit.

“Facebook is people’s personal space but when things like teacher offense occur, it impacts society, especially the educational environment,” Hoai Thuong added.

In addition, 10th grader Phuong Uyen agreed that sometimes she also gets dismayed by her teachers, however, posting Facebook statuses to offend them is not what she stands for.

“No matter what happens, we are students and that kind of act is not appropriate in the Vietnamese educational environment,” she said.

Meanwhile, some said the 10-day suspension is quite heavy.

“If the school suspends the student for 10 days, does it mean she has 10 days to do anything she likes? Could she continue to say bad words about the teacher?” 10th grader Hoang Giang said. “Why didn’t the school have a better solution than suspension?”

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Two youngsters play games and use Facebook on a train. Photo: Tuoi Tre

What do teachers say?

Aside from students, many teachers have also felt involved and expressed their thought.

Truong Quang Ngoc, principal of the Hong Bang middle and high school in Ho Chi Minh City, said no matter where and how students offend teachers, schools need to refer to their regulations to handle them.

“All forms of discipline are to deter students,” Ngoc said. “If they do not change their attitude after a light penalty, harsher punishment needs to be applied.”

“Suspension is a very strict penalty but schools need to implement it if necessary,” he added.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, chairman of the Hanoi Education Psychology Association, said the teacher will also suffer a psychological impact.

“It has to be done when students start using Facebook to offend teachers,” Dr. Lam stated. “Students have other channels to express their frustration, but not on social networks.”

“They could talk to their school’s management board or to the teachers they are disappointed with to solve the problem,” he said.

Ngo Thi Tuyen, deputy director of the Vietnam Education Publishing House’s Educational Technology Center, said she did not agree with the 10-day suspension.

Students in violation of the rules need the school’s education, she said, adding that expelling them means taking away their chance to be educated and that is not what education is about.

“The penalty might deter other students, but could be unconvincing to the violating student,” she analyzed. “She will not only miss the knowledge at school during the suspension, but also could become oppositional, hard to educate and always have a barrier toward adults.”

Meanwhile, there is currently no official regulation in the educational system over students’ behavior on Facebook, however, many schools in Hanoi have prepared their own rules related to using the social network, and offending teachers and other people is completely prohibited.

According to Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong, chairman of the management board of the Hanoi-based Luong The Vinh High School, one of the first schools to create a list of “don’ts” as regards students using Facebook, risks could stem from social networks and it would be hard to solve problems if those risks are not prevented beforehand.

“Many students think Facebook is a place where they can say anything so they are sometimes careless in the way they express their feelings and thoughts,” the professor said. “They should understand that from what they post on Facebook, people can get to know their knowledge and nature so they have to be very careful.”

He also said that his school’s list of “don’ts” on Facebook has been offered as advice, not regulations.

Students need to be aware of their every online behavior, he concluded.

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