Watching TV 'better than talking to parents'
Young people spend long hours at home but rarely communicate with their parents, a survey has found.
They spend six hours at home on weekdays on average and nine hours on weekends. But many spend only 15 minutes talking with their fathers and 30 minutes with their mothers.
More than 1,000 secondary school students and more than 300 parents participated in the Federation of Youth Groups survey.
It found that more than three-quarters of the students liked to stay at home.
Nearly 80 per cent spent most of their time doing homework, followed by watching television or listening to music (66 per cent) and making phone calls (32 per cent).
Although many said they helped with domestic chores, almost half believed they did not share feelings or emotions with their parents.
This alienation was caused by both parents and children, who become too occupied with their work, said Justina Leung Ngai Mou-yin, director of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong.
'Most parents are busy with their work, and most children come home with lots of homework,' she said.
'Parents often prefer to have their children studying or talking about schoolwork rather than sharing their feelings. It is more task-oriented talk.' Although most parents said they had opportunities to communicate with their children, more than half admitted they seldom or never guided their children's daily lives.
