Children enter parliament to offer suggestions for protecting themselves.

On the morning of September 10th, in the presence of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and leaders from various ministries and agencies, the first mock "Children's Parliament" session took place in an impressive and insightful manner. During the session, the children presented numerous solutions to protect themselves from social issues facing them.

The risks children face include violence, abuse, and injuries.

At the plenary session, the child delegates played the roles of members of parliament and key leaders of the National Assembly and the Government to propose solutions not only as elected representatives but also as leaders of ministries and departments.

In this play, Dang Cat Tien plays the role of the Chairperson of the "Children's National Assembly"; Le Quang Vinh plays the role of the Standing Vice Chairperson of the "Children's National Assembly"; and the Vice Chairpersons of the "Children's National Assembly" include Dam Ha My, Kieu Quang Huy, and Nguyen The Manh.

The simulated National Assembly delegates expressed their wishes and proposed solutions for protecting children in cyberspace and preventing accidents, injuries, and school violence.

Currently, the incidence of injuries, violence, and abuse against children is on the rise, becoming a pressing and worrying issue for society as a whole.

Child delegate Hoang Tra My, from the Nghe An Provincial Children's Delegation, delivers a speech. Photo: Minh Duc/TTXVN

Speaking during the discussion, Child Representative Hoang Tra My, from the Nghe An Provincial Child Delegation, shared the results of a survey conducted before the session with over 41,000 child voters. The survey revealed that 11.96% of children believe that child sexual abuse occurs occasionally. Abusive acts such as slapping, punching, kicking, and insulting one's honor are considered to occur at an exceptionally high rate, exceeding 30%; 44.5% of children resort to violence to resolve conflicts; and 44.6% of children who suffer injuries are due to being lured into unsafe activities by their peers.

Representative Tra My pointed out that the main causes of the above situation are children's lack of understanding of violence and child abuse; their lack of understanding of the risks leading to accidents and injuries; and their lack of awareness to prevent them. The system of signs and warnings about safety risks is inadequate and not regularly updated. Children have not had access to communication programs on accident and injury prevention. While there has been considerable communication on accident and injury prevention, violence, and child abuse, it is not tailored to students' interests and preferences; the formats are not innovative or engaging; and communication in noisy schoolyards causes children to only talk and not pay attention. Many children are unaware of television programs or are broadcast while children are attending extra classes, thus lacking knowledge.

Furthermore, sex education in schools for children has not received sufficient attention. Many teachers are hesitant or avoid the topic, leaving students without enough knowledge to understand themselves and prevent the risks of sexual abuse. Many students are afraid to report incidents for fear of retaliation. Many students are unaware of the national child protection hotline 111.

Based on these reasons, Child Representative Hoang Tra My proposed that local authorities should pay attention to equipping swimming pools, intersections, and crossroads in villages and hamlets with warning signs about safety risks for children. Authorities and schools need to strengthen communication and raise awareness and skills in preventing accidents, injuries, violence, and abuse more frequently through appropriate and engaging methods for children, such as interactive plays, skits, games, and poster drawing competitions. At the same time, schools should focus on incorporating sex education into the curriculum, regularly integrating it into various subjects; teachers should be more open in discussing these issues with students. Children should also be guided on how to report incidents to relevant authorities.

Agreeing with this point, Child Representative Pham Nguyen Gia Han, from the Da Nang City Children's Delegation, stated: "Many children are hesitant to share their problems with teachers and friends, so it would be very difficult to get them to participate in talk shows to express their concerns. Therefore, it is necessary to develop school psychological counseling centers in all schools, staffed with professional psychologists to help students resolve their difficulties."

How to create a safe environment for children when they participate in online activities?

Speaking at the session, Child Delegate Khuc Tra Giang from the Hai Phong City Children's Delegation pointed out the reality that children today are exposed to a lot of social media, with content mainly attracting them from drama stories, games, and trends such as taking photos and transforming them into anime, etc. Alongside the practical benefits, there are negative impacts from harmful and toxic information spread online. Potential risks and traps are difficult to recognize because children lack the skills to protect themselves when participating in online activities.

Child representative Khuc Tra Giang stated that when violence occurs, children are afraid to report it to adults. In reality, in many cases, even after being punished for bullying, the perpetrators still return to seek revenge.

Based on this reality, Child Representative Khuc Tra Giang suggested that schools incorporate online safety content into subjects such as civics and computer science. Schools should also focus more on equipping children with digital knowledge and skills appropriate to their age so they can protect themselves and interact safely online; and provide training programs for parents on online safety and skills for managing their children's internet use.

In addition, the dissemination of legal policies needs to be innovative, using short posts, short stories, vivid illustrations, and concise, easy-to-understand dialogues so that children can learn more about the laws. Schools should have training programs for parents on online safety and skills in managing their children's online use.

For children, it's necessary to create a suitable schedule, control their own phone usage time; participate in school activities, and limit excessive phone use. They should raise their awareness and protect themselves from harmful situations online; they should not create personal accounts on social media but only use the internet for research, learning, and acquiring life skills.

Child delegate Ngo Thi Kim Cuong, from the Tay Ninh Provincial Children's Delegation, stated that families, especially parents, are the "shields" for children. Therefore, they need to proactively learn about and apply digital technology solutions to control children's personal information, guide children with basic knowledge such as: not clicking on strange links, knowing how to provide information correctly, and providing guidance to help their children interact healthily and safely in the online environment.

Child representative Ngo Thi Kim Cuong also suggested that parents should understand their children's relationships to know who their friends are. At the same time, they should research and install applications to block access to harmful websites, helping their children avoid the risks of accidents and abuse from the internet.

Child representative Ngo Thi Kim Cuong also suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training should increase the teaching and learning time for computer science, in addition to basic application knowledge such as Word and Excel, to equip students with skills for safe internet use. The Civic Education subject should include content on preventing and combating online abuse.

National Assembly Chairwoman Dang Cat Tien, a 9th-grade student from Thai Nguyen Secondary School in Khanh Hoa, also suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training should strengthen education and raise awareness about online safety for children. Specifically, she proposed integrating online safety education into school curricula to create a generation of young people who are knowledgeable, confident, and know how to use the internet safely.

Meanwhile, the Standing Vice Chairman of the "Children's Parliament," Le Quang Vinh, suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training should coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to integrate into the curriculum, especially in computer science, skills so that children have sufficient knowledge to protect themselves in the online environment and know how to control their personal information.

The first mock session of the Children's National Assembly in 2023 featured eight speeches and two debates. The Minister of Children Affairs of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Minister of Information and Communications, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government concerned with children addressed and clarified issues of concern to the child delegates.

At the conclusion of the session, the child delegates adopted the Resolution of the First Mock Session of the Children's Parliament, 2023. This resolution is considered a special petition report from constituents to the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on issues related to children.

Chairwoman of the National Assembly for Children, Dang Cat Tien, affirmed that the session was a great success, with many innovations and creative approaches that better met practical requirements. 266 child delegates spoke at 8 group discussion sessions and the plenary session. The opinions of the child delegates were thoroughly considered and addressed by representatives of the National Assembly and the Government.

According to VNA/News Agency

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