Summer Student Management: What is the Solution?

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - The end of a school year is also the time when families with school-age children worry about how to manage their children and create a safe and useful playground for them during the summer.

Children playing at Quang Phu ward stadium.

Summer vacation is always a big challenge for families with preschool-age children. At this age, children are not yet aware enough to take care of themselves and lack the skills to recognize danger, so they always need close supervision from adults. Usually, every summer, many families choose to send their children to their grandparents' hometown. This not only helps save on babysitting costs, but also allows grandparents to be closer to their grandchildren, but also poses many potential safety risks. Elderly people have difficulty keeping up with the activeness of young children, while children do not have the skills to protect themselves. Accidents such as drowning, burns, choking on foreign objects, etc. can occur, especially in unsupervised environments. Ms. Tran Thi Huong (Ham Rong ward) shared: “At first, my husband and I sent our child back to the countryside with his grandparents, but there are many lakes in the countryside, and the grandparents are old, making it difficult to keep an eye on the child. Therefore, my husband and I decided to send our child to a private nursery with flexible pick-up and drop-off times, suitable for both of our shift-based jobs.”

Unlike preschool children, students in primary, secondary or high school have a higher ability to be independent. However, independence does not go hand in hand with safety, they can still be at risk, especially for children from the end of primary school and above who are easily affected by cyberspace. Cyberspace during the summer vacation is likened to a "double-edged sword". If not guided and supervised, children can easily access harmful content such as: violent games, offensive clips, and social networks full of temptations. Many children are lured into participating in dangerous challenges, imitating deviant behavior, and even self-harm. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tram (Quang Phu ward) said: "Every summer, my family sends our children to life skills classes to relax after hard days of studying, and to gain more experience in life. This year, my family sent our children to swimming lessons at a swimming facility near our house. In addition, my husband and I agreed to guide and help our children learn and get used to small but meaningful tasks, such as: watering plants, cleaning the house, folding clothes for their parents. Buying books that are age-appropriate for our children to create a reading habit for them... avoiding too much exposure to TV, phones, and cyberspace."

Not having the conditions to send their children to gifted, skill, and foreign language classes, Mr. Nguyen Van Luu (Hoang Giang commune) and his wife have spent a certain amount of money to buy general science books, stories, drawing tools, and toys for their children to entertain themselves during the summer. In addition, to ensure that their children do not forget their knowledge during their time off at home, every morning before going to work, he assigns homework for them to study. Mr. Luu shared: “Parents are often away from home and cannot closely control them, so the children are easily drawn into the TV and phones, which makes me really worried. Therefore, during the children's summer vacation, I spent more time playing and accompanying them, both to create a bond between family members and to manage the children better.”

Summer vacation is a time for students to rest and relax after a stressful year of studying. However, if not well managed and oriented, this is also a time that poses many risks to safety, ethics, health and living habits. In order to strengthen student management during the summer, so that students can have a safe and rewarding summer vacation, before the end of the 2024-2025 school year, the Prime Minister issued Official Dispatch No. 61/CD-TTg, dated May 10, 2025, requesting the Ministry of Education and Training to direct and guide localities and educational institutions to implement management and education measures and strengthen coordination between schools and families to create conditions for children and students to have fun, participate in cultural and artistic activities, physical training, and practice life skills during the summer; manage children and students to prevent accidents, injuries, and drowning.

The People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities shall direct and guide relevant agencies and organizations, closely coordinate with the Youth Union and mass organizations to create an environment for children to have healthy entertainment; practice life skills, participate in foreign language, cultural, artistic, physical education and sports activities, and develop physical fitness. Increase investment in facilities to serve the organization of clubs for children to participate in physical education and sports activities; practice life skills, foreign languages, arts, organize swimming lessons ineducational institutions...

The Prime Minister's telegram is not only an administrative directive, but also a strong reminder of the responsibility of the whole society towards future generations. A safe, healthy and rewarding summer for students cannot depend on just one side but requires the joint efforts of schools, families and the community.

Article and photos: Phong Sac

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/quan-ly-hoc-sinh-dip-he-dau-la-giai-phap-253953.htm