School disciplines students through books

The school in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 has been applying the new solution for the last month to students who show up late, dye their hair or fail to wear the school’s uniform properly.

Instead of old-school punishments such as writing standards, cleaning the classroom or rest room, the school has students who misbehave read books in the library under the supervision of a teacher.

In most cases, the school has recommended books in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” collection, but students can also choose other books.

After finishing reading, the students must write short essays about what the book they read made them feel.

Principal Huynh Thanh Phu said old methods such as cleanup and writing standards don’t change students’ perceptions the way reading books does.

“When they have the right perception they would choose to do the right thing,” said Phu.

“Many students have submitted feedbacks that are quite profound about the books they had read.”

Phuong Ha, a 12th grader, said she agrees with the method after being made to read for showing up late to school several times.

“The purpose of such a punishment is to make students aware of their mistakes and avoid committing them again, and the method of reading books and writing feedback is gentle yet effective,” said Ha.

Van Phuc, a 10th grader, said the new method is “more humane,” but he is not sure if it will be effective.

“Some students just simply use ChatGPT or Google to give feedback about the book they are made to read,” he said.