Impact of Violence on Children

Violence is understood to mean “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse” (United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2011).

“Physical violence is the intentional use of physical force with the potential for causing death, disability, injury, or harm.” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007).

Nowadays, parents are as busy as a bee to bring home the bacon. This leads to the matter that children spend more time in pre-schools, schools or learning environments than anywhere else outside their houses. Thus, people who work in educational systems must take responsibility for safety and total development of children.

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However, are those educational environments as safe as parents usually think? In reality, UNICEF data points out that corporal retribution has been applied for 6 in 10 children from 2 to 14 years old (UNICEF, 2014). In the same trend, a lot of child abuse cases from baby minders have been reported on famous Vietnamese newspapers since 2008 although kindergarten is said to have best conditions for children growth. The news has caught attention from all social classes about the downgraded morality among a certain population of teaching staff working in pre-school level.

It is an urgent problem which should be publicized to people to enhance their awareness about consequences that children have to be suffered like psychology problems. “All forms of violence against children, however light, are unacceptable.” (United Nations Committee on the Rights of the child, 2011)

This essay will look into the physical violence against children from kindergarteners then suggest the solutions before evaluating the effectiveness of those.

The rapid increasing of population as well as more people likely moving to the cities have created a lot of problems for society and one of those are schools for children especially for infants. Each locality has an average of 1-2 public nursery schools which is not a small figure but this number still meets only 40-50% of citizens’ needs especially in industrial parks or considerable resident areas. Thus, public pre-schools are overloaded. To be able to send children to those, parents must satisfy many conditions that school as well as ministry of education and training launch as city registration book, priority candidate, …

This becomes more and more tense when parents don’t have time for their kids because their jobs take up most of the time and they have to afford to live. Those people even don’t have a day off for themselves. Therefore, founding a private school is indispensable when teaching staff will respond those parents’ demands such as looking after children from 6AM to 6PM everyday or even more with moderate price level. Generally, this establishment has reduced the overcharged case mentioned above as well as the pressure that most of the families having infants suffers but the article inquiring about the violence against children in kindergartens recently has constantly raised anxiety of people from all walks of life about safety issues in these schools. The big headlines are set at the first page of the newspapers, even in foreign newspapers let people worry much about poor quality as well as the downgraded in morality of the teaching staffs in kindergartens.

Taking care of 15-20 children in a day is a big pressure. Instead of improving quality, these people are chasing the profits and leaving their conscience so recently there have been a lot of violence against children cases investigated by police, journalists, reporters and even residents such as arresting the baby-sister who persecuted an 18-month-old to death (Tuoitre News, 2013), Maltreating preschool children (Tuoitre News, 2013), or The kindergartener taught her children by slippers, inox spoons (Tuoitre News, 2010),… “Educating children must be with love. Violence like those will impact deeply to a child’s lifetime” – said Ninh Thị Hồng – Member of the Standing Committee of Vietnam Protection of Children’s Rights Association. Violence against children in VietNam in private kindergartens is not just one individual’s responsibility, it’s an unit’s one.

State of violence against children originates from many different purposes. Firstly, mentioning is the role and responsibility of parents. Some parents don’t care much about the study of their children. Using cost-saving, temporary reasons to choose substandard environment is unacceptable. This choice led to many unfortunate consequences. Furthermore, pressure that parents put in caregivers is too considerable. Their requirement is that their children must attain certain weight and height. Hence, caregivers must do everything to make children develop in the way that their parents expect so that they can keep their salary.

Socializing pre-school policy has created good condition for establishing private schools satisfying minding children need of those families that don’t have enough terms for their adolescence to go to public schools. Howerer nowsaday, most pre-schools in Vietnam don’t meet the standard of material facilities or quality of teaching. Those places transform housing into teaching environment so they don’t have playgrounds according to regulations. Every classroom has about 30-40 children so it is difficult for every childminder to take care thoughtfully all of these adolescence. Hence, compelling children into order and discipline, teaching staff have to use physical methods. Furthermore, some caregivers choose teaching as a job to earn money not because they love children. Thus, violence is an action representing the powerless in teaching skill and lacking of scientific education methods.

But most, one of those reasons is the downgraded morality among a certain population of teaching staff working in the preschool level. Deeply, it is because the law is not enforced seriously. Beside the level of law of residents is poor while children rights are publicized and executed. This incidentally led to violence against children cases.

Consequences of child abuse are grave. They bequeath after-effects on adolescence’s brain and constitution. Physical impacts are the most obvious and may include serious wounds or deaths by homicide or suicide. Then, children can be retarded in the future.

Durrant JE (2005) suggests that children who have suffered corporal punishment tend to take part in aggressive behaviour such as hurting their families or friends in future. They can’t control their action correctly. “When children grow up they keep what was done to them in mind and in the end they also do the same to those younger than them, especially at school. Some people become mentally disturbed.” Said a boy -14 years old living in Eastern and Southern Africa, 2005.

Steven,D.(2014) states that abuse has a longlife effect on children’s mental and psychological development. Children who have suffered violence have 6% smaller brain than normal. Violence may lead to mental disorder or nervous disorder on children. Because the brains have similar patterns of activity to soldiers exposed to combat. Moreover, children may change their personality as taciturn, stubborn and strange activities.

Steven also confirms that victim may find it difficult communicating and set up relationship. This may make things worse.

UNICEF(2014) puts forward some strategies that are believed to reduce violence against children. The first method is enforcing laws and polices strictly. Government have the duty to forbid irrevocably violence against children by law.Children’s right has been publicized and executed for over 10 years. Child abuse cases such as PhÆ°Æ¡ng Anh kindergarten or teaching children by slippers and inox spoons must be judged strongly in order to awaken who used or have intention of using corporal retribution. People who have any action violating children’s safety must bear full responsibility for any damage and expiate behind the court of justice. Punishment suitable to the offence may prevent violent tendency to zero. Secondly, carrying out data collection and research is an appropriate way to expand knowledge based on the issue. This process let researchers, psychologists find the far-reaching cause of the violence then solving the problem to the every roots. Furthermore, releasing those documents will change people’s thoughts and action. They may have consciousness and be indignant of alarming child abuse situation. Last but not least, ministry of education and training must assume responsibilities that teaching methods and disciplinary punishment of all schools must not include threat, physical force, or humiliation . Administrators must ensure the implementation of related policies and procedures at the school level– specifically putting a stop to corporal punishment. Moreover, quality of teaching needs to be improved. Good teacher recruitment and training must one the most important strategies to reduce violence. All school staff must be well- educated and have good virtues. Those will create good environment – letting children be the center, listening to their needs and concerns and alleviating children’s opposing when adults compel them to do something that they dislike and deeply is violence. Related agencies ought to make an examination of valid papers to ensure that no educational foundations are set up illegally then bring forward standards every school needs to execute exactly. If those agencies don’t manage this closely, state of violence still happens.