Vietnam News – The fear of being beaten prompted 25 students of Tran Quoc Tuan Secondary School to take cough capsules to make themselves sleepy and dizzy.

The students believe that when they feel dizzy or sick, they can leave classes for the school clinic, which can help them avoid teachers and lessons.

 

“Students who do not learn their lessons will get five strokes of a whip. Some of my friends even got slapped in the face,” disclosed a student of Tran Quoc Tuan school.

 

L.T.H, a 6^th grade student, also reported that geography and history teachers use rods to beat students who do not study their lessons. H. herself received a slap on her face from her geography teacher. Therefore, H. and other friends have become afraid of the teachers and frightened of classes.

 

H. heard that her classmates purchased the cough medicines Recotus and Eugica because the medicine is believed to cause sleepiness, giving them the “stick” to keep away from lessons.

 

In his report to the school’s leadership, D.T.T.A, a student of 7A6 class, wrote that he took three tablets of Delutut (sic Recotus) because he feared that he would be beaten by his teachers.

 

Pham Trong Hai, the superintendent of the school, who discovered the problem first.  He explained that on October 19, the school’s leadership received a report from teachers that they had many drowsy students during classes.

 

The school, after investigating, found out that the students took medicine that caused drowsiness.

 

According to Hai, from October 19-24, the school ascertained that over 25 students took this kind of medicine, mostly aiming to avoid classes.

 

Tran Ngoc Van, Headmaster of the Tran Quoc Tuan Secondary School told Tien Phong newspaper reporters on November 11 that the students took the capsules because they wanted to avoid answering teachers.

 

Van also asserted that the students who took the medicine were mostly students with low capability who regularly did not study or complete homework.

 

He added that school leaders talked with the students’ parents and the practice has been halted.

 

On November 13, Cao Van Bien, the geography teacher acknowledged that he sometimes caned students, but only those who were disrespectful and regularly failed to study their lessons.

 

Ngo Xuan Diep from the HCM City Children’s Hospital No. 2 argued that teachers should not beat students because this will frighten them and make them lose eagerness for learning.

 

VietNamNet/TP

Source: http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/11/corporal-punishment-leads-to-student-pill-popping.html