'Hidden youth' and video-game addicts need more help, experts say
Social workers and academics want to see more resources to help the so-called hidden youth and the youngsters hooked on video games. A social welfare group says some 10 per cent of the youths it counselled had clashed with parents over playing games.
Social workers and academics want to see more resources to help the so-called hidden youth and the youngsters hooked on video games.
A social welfare group says some 10 per cent of the youths it counselled had clashed with parents over playing games.
Hsu Siu-man, a supervisor at the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups' Youth Wellness Centre, says it has helped about 120 young people addicted to video games in the past two years.
"Although 10 per cent is not high, the conflicts, if serious, could result in injuries. The situation warrants our concern," she said. Hsu proposes that the government introduce parent-child mediation to ease family disputes.
The federation has five or six mediators, who can, for example, help families negotiate how long children are allowed to play games for.
Hsu says the government only offers help through its integrated family service centres, which help deal with general family problems, but not specifically the problems of young underachievers including the hidden youth - people who spend three months or more cut off from society.