Sex education gap?

TPO - The incident of two ninth-grade students throwing the body of a fetus in an empty lot has caused many people to question the role of schools and social organizations.

TPO - The incident of two ninth-grade students throwing the body of a fetus in an empty lot has caused many people to question the role of schools and social organizations.

The place where the fetus was abandoned in an empty lot. Photo: Lao Dong

The incident of two 9th grade students in Ho Chi Minh City abandoning their fetuses in an empty lot has shocked public opinion. In addition to raising many questions about the responsibility of families and schools in educating children about sex, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam - Vice Principal of the University of Education, acknowledged that this is a very heartbreaking and regrettable incident that forces us to reconsider the serious gaps in sex education; in the gap between parents and children as well as the ineffective functioning of the social support system for adolescents.

Associate Professor Nam analyzed that, from the perspective of sex education, we have paid attention to investing but it is inconsistent, unsystematic and unsustainable. When there is an issue, we will implement it, otherwise, we will prioritize other issues.

“Education is basically too late compared to the child’s developmental age, heavy on theory and lacking in practice. In my experience, many schools only focus on biological knowledge, lacking practical lessons on emotions, responsibility, and understanding of the law in handling situations,” Associate Professor Nam shared.

At home, parents basically still consider this a sensitive issue, avoid mentioning it or mention it in a threatening way, causing students to basically not discuss it with their parents but instead learn about it themselves from dark websites.

“We need to quickly deploy complete lectures and spread them to students sooner; integrate content about what is healthy friendship, what is healthy love; what are the limits that should be maintained and the bad consequences; issues of legal and emotional responsibility according to each age group,” Mr. Nam said.

According to Mr. Nam, lectures integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) will create an open environment for students to ask questions and seek advice scientifically but without being judged. At the same time, it will present many real-life situations and ways for students to react in dangerous situations such as being abused, unwanted pregnancy, or emotional manipulation, which are difficult to implement in a direct educational environment due to the fear of all parties.

Where has the family been?

Also related to this issue, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam said that many people will feel shocked because they do not understand where the family and parents were when a 9th grader got pregnant and gave birth at home without being recognized.

Why would a ninth grader hide her pregnancy for nine months? And why would the child be able to hide it successfully when there would certainly be signs of weight gain, fatigue, prolonged mood swings, and other physiological changes of pregnancy?

“Is it the busyness and neglect of the whole family? If so, this is also a form of violence. It is cold violence/neglectful violence in which the student is the victim. And we need to consider handling the case of the perpetrators of violence as well,” said Mr. Nam.

On February 5, people discovered the body of a fetus in an empty lot on Nguyen Huu Dat Street, Tay Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City and immediately reported it to the authorities. Upon receiving the news, Tan Phu District Police arrived to collect information, take the body to the morgue and urgently investigate the case.

Tan Phu District Police have identified the two subjects who committed the above acts as two 9th grade students. It is known that after becoming pregnant and giving birth at home, realizing that the child was no longer breathing, the two students threw the body into an empty lot.

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Source: https://tienphong.vn/hoc-sinh-lop-9-nem-thi-the-thai-nhi-o-bai-dat-trong-lo-hong-giao-duc-gioi-tinh-post1716427.tpo