Child Raising, Hanoi Style

Item

derivative filename/jpeg

363-04770.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-04770

Title

Child Raising, Hanoi Style

Description

Article published in the New York Herald Tribune about childcare and education in North Vietnam, page unknown

AI Usage Disclosure

Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.

Transcript

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- Page 1
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By Beverly Deepe
A Special Correspondent
SAIGON.
The Communist regime be-
gins to rear a North Viet-
namese baby from the time it
is four months old.
From then on the Hanoi
regime, which came into
power 20 years ago, molds the
individual's life. This includes
the most personal details of
love, sex, marriage and the
family's worship of ancestors,
which had prevailed through
the past several thousand
years.
In an exclusive interview,
Nguyen Sang, a 28-year-old
defector, discussed the North
Viet Nam government's poli-
cies and practices on child-
birth, love, sex, marriage and
religion.
The expectant mother goes
to a government - operated
hospital or maternity clinic
and remains there for a week
to ten days after the baby is
born.
The family must report the
birth to government authori-
ties within a week, the defec-
tor said, so that the baby may
have its own rice and clothing
rations, instead of sharing
family rations.
AT HOME
For the next four months
the mother is allowed to
breast-feed the baby at home.
At the beginning of the fifth
month it is placed in a gov-
ernment-operated nursery and
the mother goes to work.
The mother, who generally
works near her house, takes
the baby home at lunchtime
and at night. When the baby
is one year old, the mother
gets a job farther from her
house, if the government de-
cides this is necessary.
At the nursery, run mostly
by women, the baby is first
taught to walk and then to
talk and then to sing and
dance. The child is taught the
Child Raising,
Hanoi Style
COct 10, 19657"
rudiments of reading when it
is five or six years old and is
then ready for formal kinder-
garten and schooling.
The most intelligent and
most obedient schoolchildren
under fifteen years of age are
selected to join the Red Ker-
chief organization, where they
are taught "the five com-
mandments of Uncle Ho."
These commandments include
being obedient to the family
and teachers, to be virtuous
and hard-working.
The children compete to be-
come Red Kerchiefs and reg-
ularly copy the five command-
ments and paste them in the
walls of their home. Those
who are selected proudly wear
red bandanas around their
necks.
Then the cream of the Red
Kerchief crop is selected for
membership into the Lao Dong
(Communist) Youth League,
where the members range in
age from 15 to 25. From 25
upwards, the best members are
then selected into the Lao
puritanical view towards illicit
sex relations.
If, however, a love affair
occurs and a baby is born
out of wedlock, a committee
judges the percentage of guilt
of the man and the woman,
and that percentage is applied
to the support of the child.
For example, if the woman
willingly submitted to the love
affair, then she must also help
support the child with her
food and clothing rations and
money; if, however, the man
imposed himself on the wom-
an, he is judged to be more
guilty and must contribute
more to the upbringing of the
child.
FAMILY
Traditionally, the Vietna-
mese family arranged and
dictated the marriages of
their children. In North Viet
Nam today, the party dedi-
cates marriages.
Usually, the couple submits
a request to be married to the
leading committee of the as-
Dong (Communist) party, sociation or organization to
which has become the new
elite.
CENTER
The party then becomes
the center of life, surpassing
even family relationships. If,
for example, a daughter and
her father sit together for at
a meeting of the government,
of the party or of government-
run associations, they address
each other as "dong chi"-
"comrade" instead of using
their names. However, outside
of working hours, the word
comrade is dropped and fam-
ily names are used.
The Hanoi regime has a
which they belong. This com-
mittee is dominated by the
Communist party cadre.
recom-
It studies the marriage
request and makes
mendations or suggestions.
The committee can approve or
disapprove of the request of
marriage, and in case of dis-
approval the couple can still
go ahead with the marriage
plan. But they will be in-
directly punished, usually
through economic discrimina-
tion in rations or government
housing.
The government may judge
the marriage unwise because
it desires to send the persons
to different parts of the
country.
Marriage ceremonies have
been drastically simplified and
standardized. The most impor-
tant traditional aspect of these
ceremonies in former times
was a giant feast for the
whole family, which might
number hundreds, including
aunts, uncles and great-
grandchildren.
Now, couples can still have
"collective celebrations with
songs," but there's not enough
food for the feasts. There are
no church marriages.
The ancient Confucianist-
Taoist worship of the ances-
tors, which had prevailed in
Viet Nam for several thousand
years, has also been changed.
The family altar, where the
ancestors and the dead were
traditionally honored, is now
called "the
altar of the
fatherland." On it are the
national flag, a picture of
Ho Chi Minh-and last, photo-
graphs of the ancestors and
the dead.
At best, the family can
afford to have a candle or
petroleum lamp to light the
altar and a few cups of tea,
a few fruits and flowers for
reverence. But even if the
family wants to and can afford
to buy the joss sticks and fake
paper money used as part of
the religious rites, the govern-
ment stores do not sell them,
except at special times such as
the lunar new year.
As in the case of marriage
ceremonies, the large family
banquets formerly held to
honor the dead can no longer
be held because of food
rationing.
The defector said he knew
there
was once a heavily
populated Catholic area in
Ben Thuy, near the city of
Vinh. But, he said, when he
visited Vinh, there was no
trace of the Catholics. He said
he never saw a person wearing
cross or a home with a
crucifix or a picture of Christ.
a

Date

1965, Oct. 10

Subject

Vietnam (Democratic Republic); Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Children; Communist education; Child care; Civilians in war

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Container

B4, F6

Format

newspaper clippings

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English