Warning Against the 'Special Child' Myth: Vietnam's Parenting and Education Challenges

David McCullough Jr., an English teacher with 26 years of experience at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts, USA, delivered a commencement speech in 2012 that is now resonating with parents in Vietnam. McCullough argued that today's children are a generation "cuddled like fragile eggs," whose parents' excessive attention and praise can inflate their sense of self-importance and blind them to the reality that "if everyone is special, then no one is." He urged students to climb mountains to see the world, not to be seen by it, and emphasized that the true purpose of education lies in intellectual curiosity and character development, rather than material gain. Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh, the author of this article, shares her own experiences with her daughter, who moved to the US for high school at age 15, and expresses empathy with McCullough's message. She reflects on the importance of parental support while her daughter learned to live independently from a young age, and simultaneously recognizes the concern that children might be overly protected. Binh touches upon school events in Vietnam, particularly the opening remarks by principals at the start of the academic year. She advocates for messages that not only summarize achievements and express expectations but also address the individual emotions and anxieties of students. She argues that true education fosters universal values such as honesty, cooperation, responsibility, and compassion for the less fortunate, beyond mere academic achievements. She further suggests that schools should be places where students feel secure to express themselves and connect with others, not just venues for pursuing results. McCullough's message at graduation, "The great and strange truth of life is that it is better to give than to receive, and that is the greatest thing you can do for yourself," is, according to Binh, a message that should be directed not only to graduating students but also to Vietnamese children embarking on a new academic year.