Many parents who have failed to prevent their children from falling into bad habits have sent them abroad to study in the hope their behaviour will improve.

Exploiting his family’s wealth, Dung in Ha Dong District, Hanoi, has frittered away his family’s money. Despite only being a high school student he’s racked up impressive achievements already when it comes to gambling and partying. He regularly plays truant, skipped exams and got involved with fights with his friends on numerous occasions. His parents regularly have to visit police stations to get his bike released after it has been impounded for street racing.

Many parents send their addicted children to abroad for rehabilitation, but it has proved useless.

When running out of money, Dung will pawn his motorbike and then get his parents to pay off the debt. He even hired a person to break into the family safe.

His parents claim they are too busy earning money to look after him.

Before he took the graduation exam, his parents thought of sending him abroad to study because they were certain he would fail his university entrance exam.

Mrs. Ha, Dung’s mother, said, “It costs just a few tens of thousands of USD to study abroad and any cost is acceptable. I don’t care about the money.”

Initially, Dung opposed his parents’ decision, but later, he was happy as it meant he could spend money beyond his parents’ control.

Studying abroad

Despite using different ways to get Khanh to give up using drugs, his parents admitted defeat. Khanh’s father is a provincial official, and feared to send his son to a local rehabilitation centre for fear that it would affect his promotion chances.

Finally, his parents decided to send him to the UK to study and to try and ensure their son would be separated from his friends. They sought help from their relatives to help find a place for the son to live.

After graduation Khanh left Vietnam for the UK. However, instead of focusing on learning a foreign language, he made friends with local addicts quickly. He said, “Without the control of my parents, I can use drug comfortably. If money runs out, they continue sending me more. It is very comfortable to live here without constantly being spied on my parents.”

Many parents send their addicted children to abroad for rehabilitation, but it has proved useless, as lots of students are expelled from their foreign universities after just a few months of studying due to their drug use.