Cultivating compassion, repelling school violence

The recent incidents of school violence in many places are sounding the alarm about the educational environment and the deterioration in behavior of a segment of students. Although the education sector, families and society have made many efforts, the situation of students fighting, insulting each other on social networks, and even livestreaming violence has not been completely prevented.

Students visit the media corner on issues of prevention and response to school violence.

School violence is no longer a spontaneous, temporary conflict, but is hidden behind a lack of life skills, a lack of sympathy, sharing and gaps in personality education . School violence is caused by many factors: some students are under pressure to study, some lack parental attention, and some imitate deviant behavior online. When students lack orientation in life values, the schoolyard can become a place where deviant behavior arises.

From the school perspective, moral education and life skills in many places are still formal, heavy on slogans and light on experience. The coordination between families and schools sometimes stops at the exchange of information, failing to create a "common circle" to accompany and guide students.

Meanwhile, many parents tend to leave their children's education to the school, leading to a gap in management and psychological orientation.

Preventing school violence is not just about dealing with incidents when they occur, but more importantly, changing the approach, from prevention to prevention, from deterrence to education and orientation. Every life skills lesson, extracurricular activity or conversation between teachers and students can become an effective “vaccine”. When students are respected and listened to, they will also learn to respect and listen to others.

Along with that, it is necessary to promote the role of youth organizations and teams in building a friendly school environment, spreading good and humane behavior. Social networks should also have a positive space to spread kind stories, instead of promoting and sharing violent clips.

Education management agencies at all levels need to consider ensuring school safety as an important criterion in evaluating competition, and at the same time enhance the responsibility of leaders when serious incidents occur.

Another reason that is not paid much attention to is that the assessment of student training is still a formality. Many schools only evaluate at the end of the semester or year, with general comments and little participation from parents, making students think that just being good at studying is enough, and attitude and behavior are not important. If there were a specific set of criteria for qualities such as kindness, honesty, responsibility, and demonstrated clearly in behavior, the school would soon recognize deviations from standards and promptly help students adjust their behavior.

School violence shows that there are still “gaps” in character education. To “fill the gap”, we need to start by teaching students to love and be responsible for themselves and others. When education aims to foster character and not just impart knowledge, schools can truly become places to nurture kind people.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/xa-hoi/202510/boi-dap-nhan-ai-day-lui-bao-luc-hoc-duong-ebe745e/