What is done on school forums?

VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of school forums have been set up in the Internet-boom period. However, experts have called for stricter management of them.

The forum of Vietnam-Germany School's students

Lan Dung, a former student of Tran Phu High School, related that she accessed the school’s website and attended the school’s forum eight times a day, though sometimes she did not see any news on the forum.

Like Dung, many other students of the modern age also have the habit of logging into websites, reading stories, discussing, and… spamming.

However, they are sometimes unhappy with what they see on the forums. “A friend of mine posted the pictures we took on an excursion. Several days later, my friends invented stories that I was a ‘call girl’,” said Ngoc Mai, a member of Quang Trung High School’s forum.

The situation was more serious with Tra My, a member of Tran Phu School’s forum. After My posted pictures, another member tried to disgrace her. My’s boyfriend, who is now studying in the US, got angry because his girlfriend was offensive and called his friends in Hanoi, asking the friends to ‘get revenge’.

Luckily, the case was settled after adults interfered.

Forums to be put under school management, why not?

Though regrettable cases have been happening, forums are still not being strictly managed to develop in a healthy way.

Only a few forum administrators like HAO (the Hanoi-Amsterdam Students’ Association), TPO, and VDO (Vietnam-Germany School) ask members to declare their names, schools and classes for verification before they can activate their accounts. Meanwhile, as for other forums, participants only need to choose a nickname to activate their accounts.

To date, very few forums are recognised by schools. HAO is one of the few. Meanwhile, most forums have been built by students themselves and the money to run the forums is being paid by students. Schools are not involved.

Bui Hoai Nam, the administrator of Phan Dinh Phung High School, related that five years ago, he once asked the school’s Youth Union and Management Board to support the school’s forum. However, Nam said there is a big gap between oral and legal approval.

Meanwhile, Bui Minh Nga, Deputy Head of Tran Phu High School, who is very interested in the school’s forum, said that the issue was once discussed by the teachers of the school. However, no final decision was made as teachers all believe that it is really very difficult to manage the forum.

What do parents say?

Most parents encourage their children to attend forums, if the forums are ‘clean’.

Being a university lecturer, Pham Thi Hong, 46, said that forums are good environments for children to exchange views and shape their personalities.

Meanwhile, Pham Thi Minh, 52, in Thanh Xuan district in Hanoi, said that the forums allow her to better understand her daughter.

However, all of them think that the forums need to be put under strict management. They all believe that schools should be involved in management.

Ngoc Khanh