Many teachers, educators , artists, and others have collectively spoken out, calling for the protection of the female student who allegedly wrote a 21-page essay on literature and was subjected to online harassment and attacks.
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| From an exam paper reportedly 21 pages long, the female student became a victim of cyberbullying on social media. (Illustrative image) |
The incident has been causing a stir for days, following the news that Nguyen Tran Ban Mai, a female student in Ha Tinh province, wrote a 21-page essay on literature for her 10th-grade entrance exam, which received a score of 9.75.
With a math score of 8.5, an English score of 8.25, and a score of 9 in her specialized subject, this female student became the top-scoring student in the entrance exam for the specialized literature class at Ha Tinh High School for Gifted Students.
The detail that attracted much attention was the 21-page essay (more than 5 sheets of exam paper). From curiosity, surprise, and questions like "what did she write that much for?", negative comments about the essay appeared online, and personal attacks were launched against the 15-year-old student for being "too wordy".
In particular, an article by an elderly doctor and university lecturer about the 21-page exam targeting the top-scoring female student sparked outrage.
Based on the observation that the 21-page essay was written "as fast as an automatic typewriter," this doctor used many insulting words and assumptions about the female student, such as "brainless," "her hands faster than her brain," "born into a life of bragging," etc., and posted them along with a picture of the girl.
Notably, like many other incidents posted on social media, the post that was sarcastic, critical, and personally attacked the 15-year-old girl received much support, encouragement, and even "contributions" in the form of comments and remarks.
Thousands of likes and hundreds of comments, including those from adults and many intellectuals, freely criticized, ridiculed, and attacked an innocent child.
Following that attack, many teachers, educators, artists, and others spoke out in defense of the female student.
Educator To Thuy Diem Quyen, who was selected by Forbes Vietnam as one of the 20 most inspiring women in 2023, said that constructive criticism is about contributions from diverse perspectives, helping someone to re-evaluate their work in order to improve or correct it better.
Ms. Quyen stated that no one has the right to criticize other people's opinions or impose their own views.
However, when commenting on someone else's "private property," you should use a gentle and objective tone. Using harsh, derogatory language is inappropriate, especially for someone in the education field.
This teacher also wondered when people started giving themselves the right to judge others in such a harsh and biased way.
She also mentioned a Microsoft survey which showed that Vietnam is currently among the top 5 countries with the least civil behavior on social media worldwide .
"Even intellectuals are slandering a child to show off like that, so it's no wonder so many people are willing to resort to insults and threats against each other just because of differing opinions," Ms. Quyen shared.
Taking a photo of the article by the doctor who attacked the female student, writer Nguyen Thi Viet Ha, former principal of a school in Ca Mau, said she was hesitant whether to take a photo of the entire article, including the picture of the child or not. The purpose of taking the photo was to show the cowardice of adults when attacking a child. But in the end, she still decided to cut out the picture of the girl.
According to her, the sarcastic, biting, and derogatory language that the doctor had spewed out could not be directed at the child again.
Ms. Ha asserted: "If I were the child's mother, I would sue this person in court for insulting and humiliating another person's dignity."
The female writer analyzed the information regarding the child's 21-page essay and its quality, stating that the 9.75 score was not chosen by the child. No one is qualified to insult the child or use her as "bait" online.
Ms. Ha said she wanted to directly express her opinion under the article attacking the child, but the author disabled comments.
"We need another voice, another protest, to protect Ban Mai from the discriminatory remarks of an adult in education who has 3,700 followers on their personal page and over 100 comments criticizing and insulting the child," the female writer said angrily.
On social media, many people have also spoken out, calling for the protection of Ban Mai. This is because the little girl is being abused and humiliated by many adults who consider themselves superior and more talented than others, trampling on and insulting others.
Some people have exclaimed that these are envious, petty older people who cannot accept that younger people are more capable, more talented, and different from them...
According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Toan, a literature teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, there are no regulations prohibiting students from writing essays of one or 50 pages in exams, and the exam questions do not limit this. Therefore, the least we can do is respect the students.
When adults fail to do even this most basic thing, what needs to be re-examined is not the essay or the student, but the petty, distorted adults themselves.
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