VietNamNet Bridge – Many Vietnamese parents believe that the virtual world on social networks is not a good environment for children.

Phan Thu Linh, 14, an eighth grader in Thu Duc District in HCM City, is one example of its deleterious effects.

She once was an excellent and obedient student.

However, things changed after he got a laptop from parents as a birthday present. Her scholastic achievements got worse, while she often used bad language during conversations with adults and prefered using slang words.

Tuyet, 38, Linh’s mother, was shocked when she realized that Facebook was the “culprit” that caused the changes to her daughter.

“She spent all of her time with her computers. She stayed in her room all day and accessed social networks,” Tuyet said. “When I asked what she was doing, she lied and said that she was doing school work. But I found out that she spent most of her time chatting with strangers”.

“I decided to stop using internet services. It was too dangerous for my daughter,” she said, adding that her daughter picked up bad habits from the virtual world on social networks.

Nguyen Thi Luong, 35, has been in distress for the last several months after hearing from the son’s teacher that the boy, Tuan, had often “exchanged blows” with classmates recently.

A schoolgirl complained on Facebook that she was regularly teased by the boys of the next class. Tuan and some classmates left comments saying that the teasers were the bad boys and should be expelled from school.

Meanwhile, the students of other classes commented that the schoolgirl deserved the tease because she was “sour and scornful”.

As the verbal battle on internet was unsettled, they decided to meet each other to find who would be the winners through fighting.

In another case, Manh Hung, an office worker, complained that his daughter, a third grader, does not have a “happy childhood” because of Facebook.

The girl does not spend her free time to play, help parents with housework or go out with parents. She would rather stay at home and chat with friends on Facebook.

“She gazes at the computer screen all day,” Hung complained. “She has become shortsighted, though she is just a third grader”.

“I cannot understand what is so interesting that she finds on social networks. I am afraid that she will become incommunicative, because she uses her hands more regularly than her mouth,” he said, adding that he considers prohibiting her from accessing social networks.

However, Phan Van Tu, MA, a lecturer at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said imposing a ban is not a good solution to settle the problems.

Tu said there are always two sides of a coin. If someone can use social networks in a reasonable way, he would get benefits from the networks.

Bui Hong Quan from the HCM City labor department noted that it is not feasible to prohibit children to access the internet and social networks because these are a part of the modern life.

“What parents can do is give advice to their children on how to use social networks in the most reasonable way,” Quan said.

Tien Phong