Vietnamese family values in the new context

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education 

Along with schools, mass media, and offices, the family is an enormously significant institution in society.

Each individual’s family values

Family life is extremely important in shaping each individual's valued personality and noble elements, consequently contributing to the development of values and culture for society. We always hope that the family, as a social cell, will convey the finest ideals and provide the healthiest environment for each individual to exercise and develop moral character. That is why, in addition to creating national values, cultural values, and Vietnamese human standards, we believe that family values must play a crucial role in building and growing Vietnamese culture and people in the present and future.

However, this is really difficult because the family is currently dealing with a lot of internal issues, like changing with the times and raising a family in a new period.

There are relatively few large traditional families surviving, and they are mostly nuclear households with just parents and children. Work, life pressures, and the fast advancement of science and technology, particularly social media, cause family relationships to deteriorate.

Statistics show that parents only spend around an hour a day with their children, but most family members interact much with other people in society, at school, at work, or in other settings. When we don't spend much time together, family education, which is regarded as exceptional education, suffers considerably.

Furthermore, the market economy has a significant influence on family education. In the market economy, in addition to positive factors that help us develop our lives both materially and spiritually, there are also negative factors such as personal selfishness, a focus on material things that causes people to think about themselves more than the community or others. This has a significant impact on the members of the family. Disputes of opinion in the family not only exist between generations, but also are conflicts of interests and various aspects connected to the bad side of the market economy, all of which contribute to significant rifts in the family.

Internationalization has a detrimental influence on family culture as well. Young individuals in the family, particularly young children, have been exposed to a great deal of Western culture, which includes numerous behaviors and lifestyles that are incompatible with the family lifestyle. Approaching foreign ideals that do not suit  family culture creates conflicts that lead to additional family illnesses.

The effect of the media, particularly social networks, is also becoming increasingly essential. Family members have spent more time online, on things in another world, in another space, than they have with their own loved ones.

The 2nd Hanoi City "Typical Cultural Families" Festival

We've seen several photographs of people "plugged in" to their smartphones during meals and family events. All of these things combine to make creating a family culture today a challenging endeavor. These obstacles may be known, but there are also challenges that we have recently met and do not have the experience to address, causing us to encounter little crises in the family and so impacting the overall crises of society.

It is vital to construct, consolidate, and firmly build family values in order to create direction for building personality, lifestyle, and ethics for each family member from the family values.

Family values in Vietnamese culture

We must consider family from the perspective of a larger culture, specifically Vietnamese culture. Many good attributes in Vietnamese culture may be entirely inherited, crystallized, and created by families, such as patriotism, solidarity, or values of happiness, creative values, or values of sharing love.

All of those values are not only specific to the family, but also common to the country. However, in each family, we can express them with different marks and characteristics, allowing the family values to shine through the country's values and create common strength for the country's culture.

Family culture is incredibly significant; it is a home, a cell of society, a place where love takes flight and relationships are extremely precious. We constantly return to our family when we need a home and affection, hoping that such principles would assist culture in general thrive as a result of the cherished family values.