Lam 1

Child Abuse
Patricia Lam
Period: 1
World History
29 May, 2013

Lam 2

Patricia Lam
World History
Mr. Anderson
29 May, 2013

Part 1:
Society has been constantly improving itself since the dawn of time. People have
invented new products, designed important tools, and acknowledged our well being. Although
the United States seems to be in good hands, other third world countries, such as Vietnam, are
not. While the United States boom with futuristic materials, that is all people direct their
attention to; they lack the knowledge of problems occurring elsewhere. A small third world
country in Asia, named Vietnam, is heavily conflicted with child abuse and poverty, yet very few
are aware of this. There are many courses of actions we can take to help their developing
country, but again, very few are even aware of the situation. Vietnam is battling with child abuse
and the first step to support them is awareness.
Vietnam is a fairly small country, located along the border of China, Laos, and Cambodia.
It was actually split into North and South when communist North invaded the South; it took
place from November 1955 - April 1975. The Vietnam War caused everyone and everything to
become helter-skelter, or disorderly. Due to being an undeveloped country, people are not
educated about morals nor their well being. Unlike the United States, Vietnam has very limited
laws that protect their people. In most countries, suspicions of any kind of child abuse, let alone
such a horrific case, would rouse a small army of social workers and police. Vietnam, however,
has no such public system and only loose laws protecting children and other vulnerable
people(Overland).
The morals in Vietnam are taught far more differently than it is in America. For example,
When Tran Van De strikes his grandchildren, he says he does it out of love. "I know it hurts; it
hurts me too," says the 68-year old retiree, a grandfather of four. "But it helps them become good
citizens. That was the way I was taught when I was a child. It's not abuse. I love my
grandchildren. How could I abuse them?"(Global Movement for Children). Although they abuse
their children to keep them in shape, they dont have any boundaries or limits. Not only do
parents and grandparents abuse children, babysitters do as well. There are many daycare centers
in Vietnam that pay no attention to the children. Left alone to use the toilet, he slipped on the
slippery floor, fell into a basin of water and drowned(Global Movement for Children).
Surprisingly, many deaths go unnoticed in Vietnam; they just dont care. During an interview,
Thy Tran, a woman in Vietnam, had described the death of a toddler. The young girl was
wandering the street when a motorcycle nonchalantly, or casually ran her over and continued to
drive along. Her thighs were torn open. Her blood and flesh was all over the ground. People
walked by and acted as if nothing had happened. No one helped her. No one called for help,

Lam 3

They told the interviewer. Because child abuse is happening all over Vietnam, there are no
specific perpetrators; anyone could be one. Parents abuse their children and the tradition will
carry on to the next generation. A five-province survey conducted by Vietnam's Committee for
Population, Family and Children in 2006, indicated that 58.3 percent of children interviewed said
they were reprimanded with curses, insults or slaps(IRIN).
Part 2:
There are a handful of people who are trying to raise awareness of child abuse and
because of their strength to stand up, many organizations have been created these past years. An
organization named VNHELP, which stands for Vietnam Health, Education, and Literature
Projects states that they are a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian and
development assistance to Vietnams poor. We focus on community building by tackling the key
health and education needs of children and the disadvantaged. Our goal is to realize a Vietnam
where every individual, regardless of background or standing in life, can achieve self-sufficiency,
self-determination, and self-confidence(VNHELP). They had started off with one project, now
there are on-going projects in more than 32 provinces. Theyve made a huge impact and so far
theyve sponsored 200 street childrens and orphans annually, built more than 45 schools, granted
4,000 university scholarships, and even distributed 3,000 wheelchairs.
Although there are many organizations dedicated to help Vietnams child abusing, the
toughest challenge is spreading awareness. Because we live in America, there are hardly any
news reports or news article about the happenings in Vietnam. The stories and videos come from
people whove actually witnessed the scene. I find that spreading awareness is a huge way to
help the cause. People dont acknowledge whats going on thousands of miles away, therefore
those children are left unheard. The childrens stories are left untold.There are various
organizations that reach out to other peers and encourage them to help with volunteering and
supporting events.
Another way to support the cause is to learn the effects. When a child has been physically
abused, there will be physical marks on their body. The child could have unexplained burns, cuts,
and bruises. The bruises could also take shape of the object they were abused with. The child
could develop a fear of adults and start to become antisocial. In some cases, the child may lose
their appetite because the physical abuse affects their ability to eat. Besides physical effects, they
will have many different mental effects as well. The child will become antisocial, due to the fear
of others finding out the situation. Some people may notice that a child who is being abused isnt
wearing the right clothing for the weather, or theyre not eating lunch at school. There are many
factors that help determine which child is being neglected. If we come together and support the
cause, we can provide a better future for the children and future generations of Vietnam.