Vietnamese parents now tend to award children with money | Look At Vietnam

Vietnamese parents now tend to award children with money

April 13, 2012

LookAtVietnam – A debate has been raised by VietNamNet’s readers about
whether to give money to children to reward for children’s efforts.

A lot of Vietnamese parents nowadays believe that giving money to children is
the best way to ask the children to do the things they want.
When asking the son, a 3rd grader, to go to the shop near his home to buy a pack
of cigarettes, Kien in Hoai Duc district in Hanoi, said: “Go and buy. I will
give you 5000 dong.”
The boy immediately left for the cigarette shop, without any words. 5000 dong is
the sum of money he always receives after fulfill a thing as requested by the
parents. Therefore, he believes that paying money is a must when someone is
served.
When asked why Kien promised to give the boy 5000 dong, Kien smiled and said
that if he had not offered the “award,” the boy would not have left for buying
cigarettes for him. As such, Kien now can earn his money by providing services
to his father.
Hue, a mother in Thanh Tri district, also thinks that it would be better to
encourage children with money. Every time when her child cries or refuses meals,
she would promise to give the child money.
“My child suffers from the anorexia. Therefore, I have to promise to give her
2000 dong to persuade him to eat meat,” she said. “Sometimes I have to give 5000
dong.”
When asked if this is a good way to use money to educate children, Vietnamese
parents all have a common voice that this should not be an education method.
Surprisingly, both Kien and Hue do not agree to the education method. However,
they still use the way every day to seek their wishes fulfilled.
Educators have warned the parents who try to use money to educate children that
the cash bonus would “harm” the children. They would always bargain with parents
about the sums of money the parents need to give them when asking them to do
something. Especially, they would not understand the value of the money, and
that their parents can only earn money from sweated labor.
Ha, the man in Quoc Oai district in Hanoi, related that one day, she asked a
niece to go buying a pack of cards for the guests to play after the family
party. As the niece said she did not want to go under the sun, Ha gave 2000 dong
to the girl, saying that this is the award for her.
However, to Ha’s surprise, the girl did not accept the “gift.” “You cannot buy
anything with 2000 dong now,” the girl said. Finally, she only left for the pack
of cards after Ha gave her a 5000 dong bank note.
“Instead of using money to stimulate children, why don’t parents think of
bringing the kids to the parks or buying the toys they like?” Huong, a parent
whose child goes to the Song Phuong Primary School questioned.
In the eyes of international labor managers, Vietnamese people keep a
combination of odd features: they are both frugal and squandered.
While the students in 1990s were told that money would associate with crimes,
the students in the 21st century believe that everything can be bought with
money, while they would not go to school if the parents to not give them money.
Nowadays, in many families, money is given to children when they fulfill normal
duties such as doing home exercises, cleaning rooms, washing dishes or taking
care for younger brothers.
Nguyen Hien