Promoting the role of law in forming and developing moral awareness for students in the current period

Do Thi Minh Thu, thudtm@dainam.edu.vn

Dai Nam University

Article published in Industry and Trade Magazine, No. 16 - July 2020. Download article content here .

Summary

In society, in order for people to voluntarily comply with the law, it is necessary to make them understand the necessity and social benefits of legal regulations. For the law to be effective and efficient, in addition to the power of public authority and coercion, it is also necessary to mobilize the power of thought and spirit. The law must be perceived by people as necessary and well-founded, and must create trust and respect for the law. That is also the purpose and basic requirement of legal education for all individuals in general and students in particular.

Keywords : Role, law, ethics, students

1. Problem statement

In the current conditions of market economy and globalization, the requirement for the law is to have a positive impact on the morality of society. The economy operates according to the market mechanism, requiring each individual in his or her activities to closely calculate objective conditions and economic efficiency. When economic and social life has undergone great changes, the relationship between people cannot be just "a direct, emotional relationship, mainly still governed by the principles and standards of moral development". [2] as before, but it needs to be supplemented with new standards and values, such as economy, efficiency... Even ethical evaluation needs to be based on those new criteria, in addition to the existing measures.

For our country today, strengthening the role of law and creating a favorable environment for the formation and development of moral awareness has become one of the urgent requirements. The process of building and developing a market economy, a socialist rule-of-law state as well as civil society... requires us to be more active in bringing law into life, forming and developing legal awareness; at the same time, socializing knowledge, raising the intellectual level of the people, creating a basis for raising morality to the level of legal and scientific rationality; changing the habit of adjusting society according to "customs", mainly sympathy, to adjusting society by law on the principle of social justice and equality. In the concept of value standards and moral evaluation, objectivity, science and rationality replace arbitrariness based on experience, sentimentality and sentimentality. Social regulation by law enables every member of society to freely develop their creativity in a healthy environment - an environment that operates in an orderly, disciplined and disciplined manner in a dynamic, developed and civilized society. That is also the emotional need, responsibility and ethical requirement for every citizen, especially students in the new period.

1. The reality of forming and developing moral awareness for students through legal education

In fact, in recent years in Vietnam, the legal system and law enforcement have had a clear impact on social life. The provisions in the Constitution, laws and sub-law documents always "promote humanity and humanity, ensuring the constitutionality and legality of the state in which the people are the masters and by the people" [3]. That is the legal system serving the implementation of basic human interests, especially the interests of workers. Therefore, the guiding principles for building the content of the legal system, such as fairness, humanity, for the progressive development of people and society, ... are also the basic ethical principles that progressive humanity has been, is and will be aiming for. It can be said that the law will contribute greatly to forming the awareness of respecting and complying with common norms, helping people to have civilized behaviors, in accordance with the progressive development trend of the times. In recent years, the authorities have made great efforts to inspect, discover and publicly try many serious crimes, resolutely punish criminals, and recover a large amount of assets for the country. This work has not only received public approval, support for what is right and good, condemnation of what is wrong, and elimination of evil, but also demonstrated the extremely important role of the law in protecting morality and improving social life. It can be said that in the process of national renewal, the law has contributed to accelerating the pace of economic development, maintaining and creating a number of positive changes in society, contributing significantly to consolidating national defense potential, maintaining political security and social order and safety, creating the position and strength to gradually integrate our country into the world. We are also gradually building, amending, supplementing and perfecting the legal system to suit the new situation and tasks. Many legal and sub-legal documents have been issued and are being put into practice, meeting the people's aspirations. This further confirms the fact that if the law is increasingly improved, legal propaganda activities are more widely disseminated and implementation is increasingly strict, legal awareness will be enhanced, and behavioral guidance for all citizens will also be better.

However, in reality, our State's legal system still lacks necessary regulations in the field of economic management and regulations on basic rights of citizens. The dissemination and education of law has not been focused on, if not neglected. The inspection, examination and supervision of law enforcement by competent agencies still have many shortcomings; the experience in building a legal system and managing society by law is still limited. The mentality of small farmers and the habits of small producers make many people still carry the idea that "the king's law is weaker than the village's custom". That explains why in social life there are still many people who do not have the habit of living and working according to the Constitution and the law. In addition, the team of officials directly enforcing the law is not really impartial, strict and exemplary in complying with the law and the situation of laxity in the law has created conditions for unethical phenomena to appear, negatively affecting the building of healthy and progressive social relations. The law does not exclude anyone and does not discriminate against anyone. The situation of law violations and ethical violations by students is increasing in both quantity, nature and consequences. One of the reasons is that the work of legal education, ethical education and especially life skills education is still weak. Lessons on ethical education in schools are still heavy on theory, not closely linked to real life and often follow a monologue style, students have to learn by heart in a constrained way, thereby creating a mentality of disinterest and little practical meaning. This issue has now begun to receive more appropriate attention. Recently, the Education Trade Union launched a contest with the theme "Legal and ethical situations" to create a positive change in the awareness and actions of teachers and managers towards legal education and ethical education in schools, improving the quality of this work.

1. Promoting the role of law in forming and developing moral awareness for students in the current period

3.1. Raising awareness of the role of law in building a socialist rule of law state .

Fully recognizing this issue is a difficult and long-term process. Through the practice of building socialism, the 8th National Party Congress emphasized that it is necessary to "strengthen the legal system, build a socialist rule-of-law state in Vietnam. Manage society by law" (6). Recently, the 10th National Party Congress affirmed that we need to "Build an operating mechanism for a socialist rule-of-law state, ensuring the principle that all state power belongs to the people; state power is unified, with division and coordination among agencies in the exercise of legislative, executive and judicial powers" (7). That shows that building and gradually perfecting a rule-of-law state is becoming a truly urgent issue in the new conditions and development requirements of the country. Because this is an issue that not only contributes to strengthening the legal basis for people to exercise their right to mastery, but also creates favorable conditions for the formation and nurturing of new moral consciousness.

3.2. Continue to build a synchronous and complete legal system.

The guiding principle of our Party is: "Perfecting the legal system, increasing the specificity and feasibility of regulations in legal documents" (8) . This issue is closely related to the study of values, especially traditional values. Through that process, we can choose appropriate standards and values to legalize them, turning them into common social norms that every citizen is obliged to fully and seriously implement. It can be said that this is an important and truly urgent issue in the process of building a progressive and civilized society in our country today.

3.3.To strengthen the role of law, law enforcement must be strict and fair .

Before the law, all citizens, including students, are equal in both rights and obligations. All acts of violating the law must be strictly punished. Previously, President Ho Chi Minh emphasized that the law is only effective when everyone strictly complies. In law enforcement, on the part of the state, the organization and implementation must be strict, rewards and punishments must be clear; on the part of citizens, everyone without exception has the obligation and responsibility to comply with the law and consciously respect the law.

3.4. Organize and effectively implement the application of law to life through legal education activities.

In reality, a complete legal system cannot be highly effective if its provisions are not put into practice by everyone. Previously, President Ho Chi Minh once reminded: the promulgation of a law is not the end, but long-term propaganda and education are required to implement it well. According to him, legal education is one of the most important "stages". It not only helps raise people's legal awareness, but also creates the ability to form new needs, emotions, and standards; at the same time, contributes to strengthening the sense of moral obligation and responsibility; prevents manifestations of infringement on the legitimate interests of others; encourages legal and ethical behaviors.

In addition, to create a favorable environment for the formation of moral awareness, it is necessary to further promote socio-economic programs, such as hunger eradication and poverty reduction, job creation, and public health care; to overcome shortcomings in socio-economic management policies; to continue to supplement and perfect legal documents to suit the requirements of the country and the international context. On the other hand, it is also necessary to further strengthen the forces, means, and funding for law enforcement agencies, to build these agencies to be truly clean and strong.

1. Conclude

To innovate legal education to improve the quality and effectiveness of forming and developing students' moral awareness, first of all, we must promote the role of law. In addition, we must rebuild and innovate current legal and moral education programs and combine them with knowledge of life skills and legal and moral situations.

References

1. Le Thi Tuyet Ba (2006), “The role of law in the formation and development of moral consciousness in our country today”, Journal of Philosophy, No. 10(185).

2. Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1992. Truth Publishing House - Legal Publishing House, Hanoi, p.13.

3. Communist Party of Vietnam (1996). Documents of the 8th National Congress of Delegates. National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, p.45.

4. Communist Party of Vietnam (2006). Documents of the 10th National Congress of Delegates. National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, p.125.

5. Communist Party of Vietnam (2006). Documents of the 10th National Congress of Delegates. p.125.

6. Communist Party of Vietnam (2006). Documents of the 10th National Congress of Delegates. p.45.

7. Le Thi Phuong Nga (2010), Legal education, moral education and life skills for children in our country today, Journal of Legislative Studies, October 2010 issue.

8. Pham Thi Ngoc Tram (1995). The transition and relationship between the values of “truth” and “goodness” in the current market economy in our country . Journal of Philosophy, No. 1, p.25

Promote the role of law in forming and developing ethical consciousness for students in the current period

Abstract

In society, in order for people to obey the law voluntarily, they need to make them understand the need and social benefits of the law. The law wants to be effective and effective, besides the power of public authority, by coercion, it is necessary to mobilize both the power of thought and spirit, the law must be perceived by people as necessary and fundamental, must create trust and respect for the law. That is also the purpose and basic requirements of legal education for all individuals in general and students in particular.

Keywords: Role, law, ethics, students, students