Primary school students smoking in schoolyard: Principal takes responsibility

The principal of Le Hong Phong Primary School (Long Xuyen City) took responsibility for the incident where a group of primary school students were found smoking after school.

The above content was emphasized in the report of the Departmentof Education and Training of Long Xuyen City on April 2.

Accordingly, the incident occurred at around 4:20 p.m. on March 27 at Le Hong Phong Primary School (Long Xuyen City) after school hours. Among them, 4 students were smoking, including: D.MH (born 2013), NPQ (born 2014), HNH (born 2014) and NTTK (born 2014). Three other students were in the video but did not smoke.

Students pooled money to buy cigarettes at a grocery store near the market, about 100m from the school. Notably, among the smokers, one student was in particularly difficult circumstances, lacking attention from his family and at risk of dropping out of school.

"The school principal took responsibility for shortcomings in management, affecting the reputation of the industry and the locality," the report stated.

A group of female primary school students smoke in the school yard in An Giang . (Screenshot)

After the incident, the school's Board of Directors held a meeting with the parents of the 5 students involved, with the participation of representatives from the Department of Education and Training of Long Xuyen City. In which, the school and parents agreed on educational measures such as: strictly managing the children's time and activities, regularly communicating with the children to promptly detect unusual signs.

The school also commits to promoting propaganda about the harmful effects of tobacco, coordinating with homeroom teachers to closely monitor students, and organizing extracurricular activities to help students have a healthy playing environment.

The Department of Education and Training said it will direct the supervision of the incident to prevent it from happening again at the school and in the area. At the same time, it will coordinate with the People's Committee of My Thoi Ward to strictly control the sale of cigarettes in areas near schools.

Previously, a clip appeared on social media recording a group of elementary school girls smoking in the schoolyard. The incident quickly attracted public attention and caused many conflicting opinions about the morality and awareness of young students as well as the school's responsibility in managing and educating students.

The clip shows students holding cigarettes and puffing like adults, while there is no supervision from teachers or adults around. Many people expressed concern when witnessing this scene, saying that this is an alarming sign of children being exposed to unhealthy habits at an early age.

After the clip was widely circulated, many opinions said that the school and family need to intervene to promptly correct and educate children about the harmful effects of tobacco as well as awareness in the school environment.

Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals, affecting almost every organ in the body. Using it changes the skin, yellows teeth, reduces fertility, increases the risk of many heart and lung diseases.

According to the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund (Ministry of Health), Vietnam is among the 15 countries with the highest number of smokers in the world, the smoking rate among young people is increasing and getting younger.

Hoang Tho

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/nhom-hoc-sinh-tieu-hoc-hut-thuoc-trong-san-truong-hieu-truong-nhan-trach-nhiem-ar935355.html