When the curtains close in the classroom

TP - A two-minute video clip, recording a 7th grade student in Hanoi grabbing a teacher's hair, pinning her head down on the desk, and then knocking her down, has shocked the entire country in recent days. But perhaps what is more haunting than the violent act is the attitude of his classmates.

Some children walked around the classroom, some sat still as if nothing had happened. No one intervened, no one called for help, but quietly… drew the curtains. A small gesture, but enough to make adults shudder: indifference had crept into the place that was supposed to be the purest, most loving environment – ​​school.

The culture of respecting teachers is challenged

For generations, the morality of “respecting teachers and valuing education” has been the foundation for Vietnamese people to grow up. In the eyes of many generations, teachers are the ones who support knowledge, guide personality, and teach the way of life on behalf of parents. However, in just a moment, that image was torn apart: a teacher was knocked down by violence, under the indifferent gaze of the students she was caring for.

Dai Kim Secondary School, Hanoi - where the incident occurred

That pain does not only belong to a teacher, to a school, but also to society. When students no longer see teachers as a support, when respect is replaced by challenge, then the bond between knowledge and morality is shaken.

More worryingly, mitigating language such as “inappropriate behavior” or denial of the truth has unintentionally reduced a school violence incident to a trivial matter. Such language not only smooths over the wrongdoing, but is also dangerous in that it obscures the nature of the serious behavior that violates the safety and dignity of teachers.

Where does apathy come from?

We have talked a lot about “happy schools” and “friendly, safe environments”. But a harsh truth is emerging: many schools still focus on achievements, valuing scores over character education ; while the psychological counseling system is just a formality, not strong enough to accompany teachers and students.

Students are at a fickle, impulsive age, subject to academic pressure and psychological fluctuations. Lacking family attention and the ability to control emotions, they are prone to extreme reactions.

What is scary is not just one violent student, but an entire group choosing to remain silent, even drawing the curtain to “hide” the truth. That indifferent attitude is the dangerous disease, silently eroding the cultural foundation from school to society.

Here, strictness is needed to affirm the red line: violence against teachers is an intolerable act. At the same time, compassion is needed to pave the way for students who make mistakes to have the opportunity to correct themselves, so that families and schools do not turn their backs on their own children. Strictness and forgiveness must go hand in hand, like two hands that both support and guide, both tolerant and firm. And above all, forgiveness.

Sharp objects brought to class by 7th grade students. Photo: PV

Learn to be a good person

On September 20, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a document requesting the Hanoi Department of Education and Training to report the entire incident, and at the same time requested the city to direct the relevant agencies to verify and strictly handle the case according to the law to ensure the safety, honor and dignity of teachers while performing their duties. The Ministry assessed this as a serious incident.

The important thing is that after every self-criticism or apology, we must return schools to their true mission: to nurture decent people. Decent people must first of all know how to respect, protect the truth, and fight against wrong and evil.

Strictness is needed to assert the red line: violence against teachers is an intolerable act. At the same time, compassion is needed to pave the way for students who make mistakes to have the opportunity to correct themselves, so that families and schools do not turn their backs on their own children. Strictness and forgiveness must go hand in hand, like two hands that both support and guide, both tolerant and firm.

Education cannot stop at numbers and test scores, but first of all must teach students to respect, to love, and to courageously stand up to defend what is right.

Perhaps, schools from primary level should promote and restore the slogan “First learn manners, then learn knowledge” as an educational philosophy. Schools need to teach students about morality, manners, how to behave and act as good people, before teaching knowledge.

An education system cannot stand if the cultural values ​​of behavior and the tradition of respecting teachers are reversed. It is time for schools, families and society to join hands: to restore seriousness to education, to restore protection to teachers, and to restore the right of students to study in an environment that is not only safe but also warm and loving.

Mr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers, Ministry of Education and Training, said that this is a serious incident, affecting the safety and health of teachers; negatively affecting the educational environment and the nation's tradition of "respecting teachers and valuing education"; contrary to the regulations of the Government and Ministry of Education and Training on building a safe, healthy, friendly pedagogical environment, and preventing school violence.

Because education, in the end, is not to create machines that can do math or write, but to form hearts that can be moved by beauty and feel pain for the pain of others.

Tomorrow, those seventh graders will grow up and enter the world. If today they choose to draw the curtain instead of stopping evil, then tomorrow they will draw the curtain to the pain of society.

And that is the biggest fear.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/khi-nhung-tam-rem-khep-lai-trong-lop-hoc-post1780375.tpo