In a remote Vietnamese town, parents put their children in plastic bags to cross a river to get to school. Parents do this to protect their children from the water so they can arrive dry and not wet, so they can have a perfect school day
Thursday, 13 Mar 2025
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My mom said this sort of thing would kill you.
Please do not spread misinformation if you do not know the truth. I am a Vietnamese journalist and have been here before. This village is extremely poor and located far from the city center. There is a 20km-long road for students to reach school, but they can only walk, making it incredibly difficult for the children.
During the dry season, students can cross the stream using a temporary wooden bridge, but during the rainy season, the strong currents wash it away. Since students stay at school for the entire week and return home on weekends, their parents help them cross the stream this way because it is the fastest option—though, of course, very dangerous.
After these images went viral, a bridge was built. Currently, children are no longer taken to school in plastic bags.
Anyone claiming that the village could have pooled money to build the bridge does not understand how poor they are. The bridge cost around 6 billion VND to construct, while each villager sometimes has only 50,000 VND per month to live on.
This could be completely false and I’d never know.
And I thought my commute to school sucked. Props to those parents, that’s dedication.
Decades back in some places in India, this used to be normal. But not exactly the same way; kids will strip off, put all their clothes in a plastic bag, tie it around their neck, and swim to the other side. They get dressed for school on the river bank, and repeat the process on the way back.
Get your shoes on Vu! You’re going to be late for the bag!
“Everybody has the same opportunities in life”, they say
Would suck being the no-plastic household, only paperbags.
Seems like there’s an easier way to go aboat this but I can’t figure it out.
Dry AND not wet? Wow.
Blows my mind the lengths some parents (if true) would go to for their kids to have the potential for a better life, and here we’re attacking the education system left and right.
Quit bitchin’ about the pick up line, Derrick. It’s 10 minutes and you’re sittin’ in your G Wagon. Put Hunter in a bag and swim his annoying ass to school. Let’s see that Big D!
Boy – “Mum, where’s our school to?”
Mum – “3 rivers and 1 stream away”
Boy – “Can we move to a closer school?”
Mum – “None in our catchment area”
Boy – “Dafuq”
Please do not spread misinformation if you do not know the truth. I am a Vietnamese journalist and have been here before. This village is extremely poor and located far from the city center. There is a 20km-long road for students to reach school, but they can only walk, making it incredibly difficult for the children.
During the dry season, students can cross the stream using a temporary wooden bridge, but during the rainy season, the strong currents wash it away. Since students stay at school for the entire week and return home on weekends, their parents help them cross the stream this way because it is the fastest option—though, of course, very dangerous.
After these images went viral, a bridge was built. Currently, children are no longer taken to school in plastic bags.
Anyone claiming that the village could have pooled money to build the bridge does not understand how poor they are. The bridge cost around 6 billion VND to construct, while each villager sometimes has only 50,000 VND per month to live on.
upstream both ways
Are boats not a thing there?
When I was a kid, we went upstream to school, both ways….
The use of “perfect school day” is funny to me and I’m not sure why
That kid in the bag looks 19 😂
So in 2080 we will still have people telling how hard their toad to school was
Why does that kid look like he is in his 29s
Me looking at the one other dry kid in class knowing we bag brothers
After they cone back the same way, some brain cells would be lost.. the passage has its toll
When I’m in Vietnam I shower in my clothes sometimes when it’s hot, they are completely dry in no time when you go outside
That’s just sad.
That is sad…but how do the children breath properly
This is one of the countries pointed out for being unfair on trade to Trumps wallet. America owes Vietnam. Kind of a courtesy thing but Oompah Loompahs don’t get that.
If it’s something that you have to do every day, wouldn’t it make sense to eventually upgrade to anything besides a plastic bag? I mean, seriously. Maybe a plastic bin or something.
“In my day, we had to go to school *upstream*, both ways! *In a bucket!*”
the dad is thinking about all the microplastics his son is ingesting
I want to know where they buy their bags from. All the bags I buy at the grocery store leak..
Vietnam… one of the few places when their grandparents parents brag about walking uphill for 20 miles, with bare feet… you better believe it’s true.
That kid looks 35, he’s just lazy
Dry AND not wet? Damn. Good for them.
It’s very easy to google is this true or not, or why they keep doing it (poverty). Why do people keep asking why and question if this is true? People are not stupid to risking their lives for nothing. Education can change their life. If they find another safer way, they have done it already.
[One source](https://laodong.vn/giao-duc/hoc-sinh-phai-chui-tui-nilon-den-truong-lanh-dao-dia-phuong-noi-gi-629373.ldo), Summary: `In Huổi Hạ village, Điện Biên province, approximately 40 students must cross a dangerous river by clinging to inflated plastic bags to reach school due to the lack of a proper bridge. This perilous journey is necessary because the usual makeshift wooden bridge is washed away during the rainy season, and the children cannot swim. Local authorities have proposed building a permanent bridge and road, but funding and challenging terrain pose significant obstacles.`
Not sure if it still happens now though.
If only there was some kind of floating device!
Imagine this: a stick on either side of the river with a rope spanned across and barrels tied together with wood and rope… I will call it a RAFT. I also heard about this new technology called a boat, freaking amazing!
Jokes aside, I’ve been to Vietnam, they have boats.
“I used to ride in a plastic bag to get to school”
“Ok, Grandpa, let’s get you to bed.”
This the stupidessss thing i heard in a long time
Every time they step out of that airtight bag they forget the previous day’s lessons
This really makes the bargaining power unfair for the child 😂
*Oxygen Not Included* – IRL version
Maybe im missing something but wouldnt a Brigde or a Boat be more suitable?
Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag
The kid will have a legit “back in my days, i had to cross the river just to get to school” story.
And what about ventilation..?