Ok, so I come to live here in Hoi An with my Vietnamese wife, hearing stories about how strictly she was raised and how kids had to be well-behaved. Since I've been in Vietnam I've had a total of more than half a dozen small kids throwing rocks at me (as their parents/grandparents watch and smile) or hit me (at our regular market sellers booths) with no adult intervention. I've never seen anything like it and am learning lots of good ways to cuss out the adults from my wife so I'm ready for the next time. I called the last one (4-5 year old accompanied by brothers and sisters holding hands with grandpa who smiled and laughed when he threw the rock that hit my bike basket) this morning a bad little child and rude in Vietnamese, but that just made grandpa laugh even more.
It's gotten to the point where I'm watching kids hands to see if I need to duck or block something. No more smiles from my direction for sure.
Anybody else having this problem or is it just me? It seems that the kids don't expect any repercussions from the foreigners, but to be doing this in front of their parents makes me realize that either the parents are encouraging it or the new generation of parents have completely given up on disciplining their kids. My wife, as a native, is totally aghast as well.
Edit: my wife suggests I look "nice" so the kids are attracted to me, resulting in the bad ones acting out. Not sure I believe that explanation.