With the "gen Z" generation growing up in a digital society and digital technology, the expression and preservation of national cultural traditions such as Tet Teacher's Day also has many changes.

This year’s Tet is also the first Tet for Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong (Hai Duong) as a university student. A week before Tet, Duong and her friends’ social media chat groups were bustling with plans to visit high school and university teachers to wish them a happy new year.

“For university teachers, because they live far away, I will send messages and call to wish them a Happy New Year. As for high school teachers, before Tet, my class made a plan to invite each other to go and wish them a Happy New Year.

According to tradition, every year my friends and I visit our teachers on the third day of Tet. For me, this year's Tet is more special than previous years when I officially enter a new level of education. To make that transition, we cannot do without the guidance, teaching and companionship of our teachers throughout our years of high school. This is also an opportunity for us to express our feelings and gratitude to our teachers."

As a “true” Gen Z, Thuy Duong believes that, whether in the past or present, the Tet Teacher custom is still a cultural beauty, educating generations of students about gratitude, the tradition of respecting teachers, and remembering the source of the nation. Growing up in the context of a digitalized society and the development of information technology, the way Gen Z like Duong wish Tet is also different from previous generations.

“In addition to visiting our teachers in person, we often send text messages and emails to wish them a Happy New Year. This method is not only convenient but also makes it easy to express our feelings that we are usually shy to say to our teachers.

In addition, you can also create short, creative videos with New Year wishes, memorable moments during your study time or sing a New Year song to your teachers. Or instead of buying ready-made New Year greeting cards, you can also make your own online New Year greeting cards or make handmade cards to send to your teachers.

I think that with just a smartphone, we can send our sincere feelings to our teachers in the most authentic way possible," Duong shared.

On the second day of Tet, having just returned to her maternal hometown with her parents to wish her grandparents and relatives a happy new year, Bao Anh (born in 2006, in Hanoi) still took the time to make a short tiktok clip recording images of herself and her homeroom teacher over the past year to send to her on the third day of Tet.

“Every year on the third day of Tet, my class makes an appointment to visit our teachers to wish them a happy new year. We don’t have the financial means to buy expensive gifts, so we often bring flowers, small fruit baskets, or handmade items to give to our teachers. Sometimes, it’s online gifts like a few short tiktok clips recording memorable and impressive moments between our teachers and us, or more simply, online wishes via Facebook or Zalo.

These holidays are an opportunity for us to express our feelings and gratitude to the teachers who have guided and taught us throughout the year," Bao Anh shared.

As for Nguyen Tri Thanh (a 12th grade student in Hanoi), Tet is a special day, when teachers and students do not have to worry about homework, tests, or exams, and can freely share everyday stories.

“Every time we visit our teachers, we are very happy, all the pressure of studying is relieved and in many of our teachers’ stories, we are also given more motivation to study. My homeroom teacher is quite young, different from the strictness in class, when he comes home, he is very relaxed and youthful.

There were years when he came to wish everyone a happy new year, he invited the whole group to drink milk tea, or eat hot pot or barbecue so that they could have more time to talk and confide in each other. From then on, teachers and students understood each other better, and teaching and learning also improved.

Many people think that the more modern society becomes, the more "bland" Tet becomes, but for me, Tet is still the most special holiday of the year, when everyone can return home, gather with family and loved ones, when we can say loving wishes, the most sincere thanks and gratitude that we are sometimes shy to say," Thanh shared.

Nguyen Trang (VOV.VN)