Ensuring students’ health and safety

Each autumn, as the sound of the school drum signals the start of a new academic year, millions of students across the country return to school filled with excitement. Yet behind that joy, the beginning of the school year also brings with it a range of risks to students’ health and safety. From infectious diseases and food hygiene to traffic accidents and school violence, all pose potential threats if there is a lack of attention and close coordination among families, schools, and society.

With high student density and frequent group activities, schools can easily become an “ideal environment” for the spread of infectious diseases. Not a few students have had to miss school for days, even be hospitalized, due to illness right at the start of the academic year. At the same time, traffic safety remains a constant concern for parents. Numerous tragic accidents involving students have occurred on the way to or from school, leaving heartbreaking consequences for families and society.

In addition to disease outbreaks and traffic accidents, school violence remains a serious issue that continues to trouble students, parents, and educators. Despite various preventive measures, recent incidents have seen students fighting, recording videos, and sharing them on social media, negatively impacting students’ mental health and character. Violence can arise not only from peers but also from academic pressure, family neglect, or harmful influences from the online environment.

Ensuring students’ health and safety is not the sole responsibility of any single party but requires the joint efforts of families, schools, and society as a whole.

For schools, beyond teaching, special attention must be given to school health services: maintaining classroom and restroom hygiene, strengthening supervision of boarding meals, promoting and educating students on the habit of washing hands with soap, and maintaining personal and environmental hygiene. At the same time, it is essential to foster a friendly and healthy school environment, preventing all forms of physical and psychological violence.

For families, parents should take an active role in monitoring their children’s health, keep them at home if they show signs of infectious illness, and maintain close coordination with teachers in managing and educating their children. It is also essential to equip children with knowledge and skills to prevent traffic accidents and to handle situations of bullying.

For society, authorities and functional sectors need to step up food safety inspections in schools, ensure traffic infrastructure, organize traffic flow around schools during peak hours, strengthen communication campaigns, and issue timely disease warnings. They must also strictly handle acts that jeopardize student safety.

Ensuring that students can learn in a safe, healthy, and supportive environment is, ultimately, contributing to building a strong foundation for the nation’s future.

By: Minh Ngoc