On August 7, the Central Youth Union and the Central Council of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization held a meeting with 73 children from 43 provinces and cities across the country, who represent Vietnamese children to attend the 7th National Children's Forum 2023.

The meeting had the participation of Ms. Nguyen Pham Duy Trang - the Secretary of the Central Youth Union, Chairman of the Central Council of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization and Mr. Vu Vinh Nam - Deputy Director of the Department of Children under the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

At the meeting, children presented their opinions and interests, of which the most prominent were ideal education, lifestyle ethics and child protection in the cyberspace.

According to the report made by the children, children are greatly affected by social networks such as verbal violence, information, and images through attacks and obscene and disparaging content about body shape; cheating, harassment and abuse; and deviation information.

A child representative said that when searching for information online, bad and toxic information often appeared. Meanwhile, many people, especially children in disadvantaged circumstances or with disabilities, found it difficult to access healthy information.

Mai Quynh Anh from Lao Cai Province said that harmful information and attacks from social networks greatly affect young people. "We really need the companionship and support of adults, of the Youth Union and the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization to stabilize our psychology in the face of bad and harmful information on cyberspace," Quynh Anh said.

"Do the Youth Union and the Central Council of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization have any activities to help children have the knowledge to protect themselves?", asked Tuyet Anh from Dong Thap province.

Children's representatives also proposed many solutions to protect children in cyberspace, such as promoting propaganda work, improving capacity, skills, knowledge, and psychological support. In particular, they emphasized the need to have a fan page on social networks to propagate, share knowledge, and prevent bad behavior, with group members including children and parents, representatives of the Youth Unio and the establishment of the "Child Protection Angles" Club.

They expressed their wish that the Youth Union and the Central Council of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to detect and handle harmful content and issues in cyberspace for children; to create opportunities for ethnic minority children, disabled children and children in difficult circumstances to access useful information and life skills online.

They suggested that relevant agencies to invite famous people and psychologists to talk with children as a way to educate them about traditions, to give them safe interaction skills; to organize online competitions on the topic of child protection on cyberspace; to organize attractive, interesting, and educational playgrounds, competitions, games, and theatrical performances at schools and in the community, ensuring that children with disabilities can participate, so that children have a healthy environment. 

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Le Hai Long, Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Central Youth Union's Children's Work Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Central Council of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization said that there is a lot of unsafe content in the online environment. The Central Youth Union and the Central Council of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization have been doing many things, determined to get the best for the children.

The Youth Union and the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization have coordinated with agencies, departments and branches to equip children with essential skills. Among these are the programs such as: Vietnamese children study well and do exercises well; Vietnamese youth practice virtue and talent... in order to help children improve their soft skills and their physical health.

According to Mr. Long, children are developing both physically and mentally, so they should not be exposed too much to the online environment. They need to go to the real playground to have physical and mental health.

“You should limit your participation in social networks because there is a lot of bad and toxic information that leads to fraud and abuse. At the same time, it is necessary to raise awareness and share with teachers, the one who is in charge of the child affairs, and parents to find solutions," Mr. Long said.

Besides the issue of cyberspace safety, many children shared their concerns and difficulties in expressing their feelings. Nguyen Ngoc Tuong Vy from Dong Nai Province, said: "During puberty, some people encounter problems in life, have emotional disorders, are sometimes rude and are considered disrespectful to their parents. This is a quite dangerous situation, but it's quite difficult to talk about, I don't know who to confide in."

Some children also mentioned the problem: "Currently, many parents still teach their children according to the old view that using violence is good for children. They think that if children are stubborn, they should be beaten. Is this method still suitable today?

Nguyen Van Hieu Nghia from Nghe An Province said that his childhood was full of sadness and tears because of being abandoned, abused and discriminated against. He now has a better life, living and studying in an environment with love from his teachers and friends, but he is often haunted by childhood memories, so he often falls into boredom. The question "How can I overcome unpleasant memories?" raised by Nghia received a lot of sympathy and sharing from the participants.

Noting and appreciating the opinions and suggestions of the children at the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Pham Duy Trang said that children today are very confident, intelligent, bold, and brave enough to express their opinions. mine. "Children not only give their opinions to their aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters, but also suggest solutions on what they will do, showing responsibility for children's problems," Ms. Trang emphasized.

Ms. Trang hoped that, with confidence and bravery, after participating in the activities of the National Children's Forum 2023, the child representatives will become young propagandists to spread useful information and positive values to their friends.

In particular, Ms. Trang welcomed the idea of ​​establishing the Child Protection Warriors Club and hoped that child representatives would unite and join forces to successfully build and develop this club in their localities.

“You must act, must be brave warriors in protecting children and protecting yourself. The Youth Union and the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization will coordinate with the authorities to help children have the best, safest, and healthiest environment for comprehensive development," Ms. Nguyen Pham Duy Trang affirmed.

Quynh Nga