媒体报导: Lots of anxiety for Hong Kong students, parents must reduce pressure 港生焦虑多家长要减压

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) —— 强调

failure (n) —— 失败者

disappoint (v) —— 使失望

conduct (n) —— 品行

curriculum (n) —— 课程

diligence (n) —— 勤奋

utilitarian (adj) —— 功利主义的

talent (n) —— 天分

Useful Terms

voluntary organization —— 志愿机构

academic performance —— 学业成绩

emotional therapy —— 情绪治疗

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

港生焦虑多家长要减压
一项对一万二千多名中学生进行的问卷调查显示，超过一成受访者容易出现焦虑症状，超过百分之二更是在受访前四星期内几乎每天都有自杀或自残念头，而有轻微至中度抑鬱症状者更逾五成。其实，不止中学生，小学生的焦虑情况同样需要正视，精神压力问题甚至推前到困扰部分幼稚园生。这与过度强调竞争的社会风气和家长要求，有莫大关係。

根据志愿机构和理工大学护理学院合作的调查，情绪焦虑的受访中学生中，有八成经常觉得自己很差劲、是个失败者及使自己或家人失望。这种感觉并非中学生独有，亦非读书成绩差者才有。

两年半前有品学兼优的小六女生在开学不久即自寻短见，而志愿机构以澳洲研发的「斯宾思儿童焦虑量表」问卷，访问约一千六百名小叁至小六学生，结果发现学童焦虑指数达叁十点四，较中国内地、荷兰和德国的同级学生，平均高出叁成多，学业为主要的压力来源。当中有百分之五的学生指数高过四十五，须转介给社工接受情绪治疗。

怕落後竞争幼年已催谷
不少到英美升读中学的港生有共同经验，就是当地课程比较浅，港生因而轻易名列前茅。本港学校课程之深，有家长觉得自己连应付子女幼稚园的家课作业都有困难，可见本港学生成长环境压力如何大。

一些学校功课鬥多鬥深鬥难，部分原因却又是家长促成的。家长怕子女升学竞争力不足，比较不同学校的程度深浅，有家长如果发现自己子女学校程度「落後於人」，或者觉得学校功课不够多，即会在家长会或家长群组提出，对学校构成一股压力。德国不鼓励五岁以下幼儿执笔写字或用课本上堂，本港家长不吃这一套。

更多家长是对自己的子女施压。基於「勤有功、戏无益」的思维，有家长从子女幼年起即安排密密麻麻的活动，子女未入幼稚园已经要参加「入学鸡精班」，在求学时期还要参加种种兴趣班和补习班，非为全人教育，只为求取證书奖状美化履历来争入名校。青少年成长期面对学业成绩、家长期望和课外活动多重压力。

自由玩乐可纾缓压力
联合国儿童基金会呼籲家长尊重儿童的遊戏权利，确保孩子每日可以自由玩乐至少一小时。西谚指「只工作不遊玩令傑克变成呆子。」孩子有时间自由玩乐，高兴之馀还可培养独立解决问题的能力、社交能力和自信，减压之馀避免养成王子公主病，以及不致做每样事都求取功利效果。

各式各样的兴趣班和补习社已经成为一门「产业」，学钢琴是为了考级，学绘画是为了比赛，却未必真正照顾到子女的兴趣、天分和能力，可是不少家长趋之若鶩，原因是家长本身亦有相当大的精神压力，与社会环境压力互为因果，而家长的焦虑心态往往会感染子女，成为子女精神压力的重要源头，大增揠苗助长的风险。这是教育界和家长都要警惕和反思的。

刊於叁月二十六日《星岛日报》