School violence: What do psychologists warn?

TPO - Associate Professor Dr. Chu Cam Tho said that teachers should not be confident that all teachers know how to positively educate and respond to school violence. Associate Professor Tho's reminder is not only aimed at parents but also at teachers themselves, who are always considered the "masters" in the classroom environment.

Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam, Vice Principal of the University of Education (Hanoi National University) said that recent school violence has sounded the alarm about the breakdown of the teacher-student relationship in the modern educational environment, especially since the victims of school violence are no longer just students.

Students violently attacked teachers in class at Dai Kim Secondary School ( Hanoi ). An image of "one bad apple spoiling the barrel" was condemned by society. Photo: Captured from clip

According to Mr. Nam, not only Vietnam, but the world is also warning that the young generation's life skills such as emotional control are getting worse. Especially teenagers, have poor patience, poor ability to delay behavior, and are easily agitated; especially when they feel their rights are violated or they are in an uncomfortable situation.

Students lack role models for respectful and socially acceptable behavior in public places. There are few lessons or teachings about gratitude and respect for parents and teachers. Things that are the foundation of traditional morality.

According to Mr. Nam, the current generation of Alpha students is suffering from duck syndrome. Just like the outside of the water, the duck is completely normal, but underneath the water, its inside is full of worries and confusion, like the duck's feet are kicking frantically to keep its child afloat.

Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam said that the new circular on the code of conduct for teachers by the Ministry of Education and Training is a step in the right direction, an effort to re-establish the prestige and position of teachers, but only solves half the problem. Without consensus from families, support from policies and participation from the whole society, “teachers are teachers – students are students” will just be a slogan.

Education cannot only teach students to be good people, but must first teach them to be good and civilized people. And that responsibility cannot be placed solely on the shoulders of the teacher or the school.

Regarding the school and teachers, Mr. Nam said, it must be said that many situations have not been handled well by teachers. Confiscating dangerous toys is correct, but the method may not be sensitive and psychological enough, not only to calm the situation but also the tone, non-verbal language, and threats may have triggered negative emotions in students. Therefore, parents and teachers do not recognize the signs of hurt or hidden inhibitions of each student.

Teachers help students change in a positive direction

Psychologist Ngoc Anh sees from a pedagogical perspective that the 7th grade student in the recent incident in Hanoi is facing psychological difficulties. Excessive condemnation of wrongdoing can lead to a complete failure in educating this student. Perhaps, we should reconsider the educational methods of the family - school - society so that the young generation in general and this student in particular do not commit similar acts because violent behavior often stems from the following basic causes:

Firstly, most children in puberty often have to go through a crisis, psychological instability that they themselves do not want. They are very sensitive, easily angered, easily have attitudes, behaviors that are not standard towards everyone around them without being able to control. Meanwhile, parents and teachers are too impatient, want to rush the stage, want children to change quickly, so sometimes they are caught up in the children's deviant behavior and cannot control negative emotions, have actions or words that can hurt children, make children feel miserable, depressed and cannot find a suitable solution, so they turn into violent behavior.

Second, the family environment greatly affects the development of a child's personality. The behavior of parents in the family and living environment is a practical lesson for children to learn and follow. Excessive indulgence, lax management when children interact with false and negative information sources on the internet; unhealthy habits and routines of children in daily life without timely and regular education from parents have caused children to lose direction, thereby tending to choose violent behavior to resolve conflicts with people around them or can lead to self-harm.

Third, a school environment lacking cooperation, solidarity, and mutual care and support among students in the classroom can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and discomfort due to isolation in students, which is the cause of violent behavior.

Therefore, the general code of conduct for teachers to maintain standards and achieve educational effectiveness, according to expert Ngoc Anh, is that teachers need to have a positive mindset towards students, care, listen, understand, respect and always move towards students' progress, not towards perfection; regularly sow positive thoughts for students to reap positive behavior in students.

In the ever-changing context of present and future societies, creating a violence-free school environment is a long-term solution that requires changes from teachers and parents.

In fact, students can change in a positive direction if teachers always have faith, tolerance is always a solid spiritual support when students encounter difficulties in school life; always respect, treat fairly, equally and humanely, promote democracy and create conditions for students to develop their qualities and abilities. Teachers build a healthy classroom environment, with solidarity and cooperation so that students feel safe and ready to confide their psychological difficulties to receive timely support from teachers and classmates. Regularly pay attention to and grasp the situation of students in the class to promptly detect signs of potential violence or violence, thereby having appropriate handling methods according to the psychological characteristics of each student; help parents improve measures to control and discipline their children; increase parental participation in educational activities of the homeroom class and school.

Dr. Chu Cam Tho, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Educational Psychology Association, warned against being subjective about school violence and aggressive children. She said that teachers should not be confident that all teachers know how to educate positively and respond to violence. Many children with behavioral disorders and possibly “aggressiveness” are studying in class. These children will sometimes have abnormal behavior. And that is a “source” for violence! Many families do not care about teaching their children properly. They will tolerate substandard behavior. Therefore, violence occurs. Second, do not be confident that all teachers are exemplary. Some of them can also cause violent behavior. - … Be alert to love but must start by protecting the right, preventing evil! And please do not widely share “violent scenes”.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/bao-luc-hoc-duong-chuyen-gia-tam-ly-canh-bao-gi-post1780153.tpo