Media Coverage: Lots of anxiety for Hong Kong students, parents must reduce pressure - SingTao Education

2015/03/27

Lots of anxiety for Hong Kong students, parents must reduce pressure
A questionnaire poll on over 12,000 secondary students revealed that over 10 per cent of the respondents showed symptoms of anxiety. Over two per cent even wanted to commit suicide or harm themselves almost every day four weeks before the poll. As for those with slight to mild depression, they made up over 50 per cent. Actually it is not just with secondary students, the anxiety in primary students similarly needs to be addressed. Psychological stress even affects some kindergarten students. This has a lot to do with the social atmosphere overly emphasizing competition and parents' demands.

According to a study by a voluntary organization and the Polytechnic University School of Nursing, of the secondary students who experienced anxiety, 80 per cent said they often felt themselves not performing well, being a failure and disappointing themselves or family members. Such feelings are not limited to secondary students nor those with poor academic performance.

Two and a half years ago, a Primary Six girl student who had both good conduct and academic performance committed suicide soon after the start of the school year. The voluntary organization used a questionnaire based on Australia's Spence Children's Anxiety Scale to interview 1,600 P3 to P6 students and found that their anxiety level reached 30.4, higher than those in China, Holland and Germany by over 30 per cent on average. Study was the major cause of anxiety. Five per cent of the students had index levels above 45 and needed to be referred to social workers for emotional therapy.

Pushing starts at young age in fear of lagging behind
Many Hong Kong students who study in the UK and US have this same experience: the curriculum abroad is easier, hence it is easier for Hong Kong students to get to the top. Hong Kong's curriculum is so difficult that some parents have difficulty in handling the homework of even kindergarten kids. It shows how great the developmental environment pressure on local students is.

Some schools compete with each other in terms of the amount, depth and difficulty of their homework, partly caused by the push from parents who are afraid that their children will not be competitive enough, so they make comparison of different schools. When they find the school of their children "lagging behind" others or not having enough homework, they will point it out at parent's meetings or forums, causing pressure on the school. Germany does not encourage children under five to learn writing or use textbooks but Hong Kong parents do not think so.　　More parents exert pressure on their children. With the mentality of "diligence is rewarding, play is not", some parents have arranged tight schedules for their kids since a very young age, making them take "shortcut interview classes" even before they attend kindergarten. During schooling days, the kids also have to attend various interest and tutorial classes, which is not holistic education but only a pursuit of certificates and awards to create a good-looking curriculum vita for edging into an elite school. Youngsters have to face pressure from various aspects including academic performance, parental expectations and extra-curricular activities.

Free play helps relieve stress
The UNICEF urges parents to respect their kids' rights to play and ensure that each child has at least an hour's free play every day. A western proverb says: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". When children have free play, they are not only happy but it can also train them in their abilities to solve problems independently, socializing skills and confidence. In addition to reducing pressure, it will prevent prince and princess syndromes while the kids will not go for utilitarian effects in everything they do.

Various interest and tutorial classes have become an "industry". Learning to play the piano is for taking grading exams. Learning to draw is for joining competitions. But they may not necessarily suit the interests, talents and abilities of the children. However, some parents go after these because they themselves are also under great psychological pressure, reinforced by social environment pressure, while the anxiety in them will often affect the children and become the major source of pressure on them, which greatly increases the risk of "pulling up the seedling to help it grow". This is something that the education sector and parents must take heed and reflect upon.

Published in the Sing Tao Daily on March 26

Vocabulary

depression (n) —— 抑鬱症

psychological (adj) —— 心理的

emphasize (v) —— 強調

failure (n) —— 失敗者

disappoint (v) —— 使失望

conduct (n) —— 品行

curriculum (n) —— 課程

diligence (n) —— 勤奮

utilitarian (adj) —— 功利主義的

talent (n) —— 天分

Useful Terms

voluntary organization —— 志願機構

academic performance —— 學業成績

emotional therapy —— 情緒治療

holistic education —— 全人教育

socializing skill —— 社交能力

Did you know?
More than 50 per cent of secondary students show symptoms of slight to mild depression, with two per cent even having thoughts of suicide, a survey found. The Christian Family Service Centre and Hong Kong Polytechnic University questioned 12,518 secondary students from 2011 to 2014 about their anxiety and depression conditions. Most of them were unhappy about their grades and stressed over homework. "We found that students who usually have anxiety are also showing depressive symptoms more often than other students," said Mak Yim-wah, assistant professor at PolyU School of Nursing. She said these students felt they were losers and had disappointed their family. "They are usually down, sad, or even desperate," she said. Petsy Chow Sin-yee, head of adolescent mental health prevention and intervention at the service centre, said parents, teachers and others should pay attention to youth's psychological health.

Q&A
1. The word _____ in the second paragraph is the opposite of "success".

2. Hong Kong's _____ is more difficult than that of other countries.

3. In the passage, the word _____ means "treatment".

4. Some schools compete with each other in terms of the amount, depth and difficulty of their homework partly because of ____________________.

5. According to the last paragraph, the _____ in parents will show in the children.

Answers

1. failure

2. curriculum

3. therapy

4. the push from parents

5. anxiety

港生焦慮多家長要減壓
一項對一萬二千多名中學生進行的問卷調查顯示，超過一成受訪者容易出現焦慮症狀，超過百分之二更是在受訪前四星期內幾乎每天都有自殺或自殘念頭，而有輕微至中度抑鬱症狀者更逾五成。其實，不止中學生，小學生的焦慮情況同樣需要正視，精神壓力問題甚至推前到困擾部分幼稚園生。這與過度強調競爭的社會風氣和家長要求，有莫大關係。

根據志願機構和理工大學護理學院合作的調查，情緒焦慮的受訪中學生中，有八成經常覺得自己很差勁、是個失敗者及使自己或家人失望。這種感覺並非中學生獨有，亦非讀書成績差者才有。

兩年半前有品學兼優的小六女生在開學不久即自尋短見，而志願機構以澳洲研發的「斯賓思兒童焦慮量表」問卷，訪問約一千六百名小三至小六學生，結果發現學童焦慮指數達三十點四，較中國內地、荷蘭和德國的同級學生，平均高出三成多，學業為主要的壓力來源。當中有百分之五的學生指數高過四十五，須轉介給社工接受情緒治療。

怕落後競爭幼年已催谷
不少到英美升讀中學的港生有共同經驗，就是當地課程比較淺，港生因而輕易名列前茅。本港學校課程之深，有家長覺得自己連應付子女幼稚園的家課作業都有困難，可見本港學生成長環境壓力如何大。

一些學校功課鬥多鬥深鬥難，部分原因卻又是家長促成的。家長怕子女升學競爭力不足，比較不同學校的程度深淺，有家長如果發現自己子女學校程度「落後於人」，或者覺得學校功課不夠多，即會在家長會或家長群組提出，對學校構成一股壓力。德國不鼓勵五歲以下幼兒執筆寫字或用課本上堂，本港家長不吃這一套。

更多家長是對自己的子女施壓。基於「勤有功、戲無益」的思維，有家長從子女幼年起即安排密密麻麻的活動，子女未入幼稚園已經要參加「入學雞精班」，在求學時期還要參加種種興趣班和補習班，非為全人教育，只為求取證書獎狀美化履歷來爭入名校。青少年成長期面對學業成績、家長期望和課外活動多重壓力。

自由玩樂可紓緩壓力
聯合國兒童基金會呼籲家長尊重兒童的遊戲權利，確保孩子每日可以自由玩樂至少一小時。西諺指「只工作不遊玩令傑克變成呆子。」孩子有時間自由玩樂，高興之餘還可培養獨立解決問題的能力、社交能力和自信，減壓之餘避免養成王子公主病，以及不致做每樣事都求取功利效果。

各式各樣的興趣班和補習社已經成為一門「產業」，學鋼琴是為了考級，學繪畫是為了比賽，卻未必真正照顧到子女的興趣、天分和能力，可是不少家長趨之若鶩，原因是家長本身亦有相當大的精神壓力，與社會環境壓力互為因果，而家長的焦慮心態往往會感染子女，成為子女精神壓力的重要源頭，大增揠苗助長的風險。這是教育界和家長都要警惕和反思的。

刊於三月二十六日《星島日報》