Scheme slated for Tin Shui Wai, which has highest rate of domestic violence A scheme to use computer games to identify children at risk of domestic violence is set to be launched in July in Tin Shui Wai, a district with the city's highest rate of child and spouse abuse. Under the two-year project organised by the Hong Kong Student Aid Society, young children will also be taught how to interact and communicate with bad-tempered parents, according to Peter Kwan Kin-shing, the director of the organisation. The $1.18 million project, funded by donations, plans to cover 1,840 families in north Tin Shui Wai, accounting for about 6 per cent of the area's households. Over the next two years, the agency will approach children and their families through three kindergartens and two primary schools to join the scheme. The organisation's assistant director, Jackey Lo Chiu-kwan, said Polytechnic University had designed a set of computer games as an assessment tool to help identify young children at risk from domestic violence. 'For example, the games will show different scenes, such as a couple having a big fight, and then ask whether the young children have witnessed similar situations at home. 'Children will also be asked to choose the modes of punishments from their parents in the form of animation,' Mr Lo said. Polytechnic University applied social sciences associate professor Chan Yuk-chung said his team started to design the computer game in September in the hope of exploring common parenting methods in Hong Kong. Mr Kwan said the agency would take follow-up action - such as home visits and guidance for parents - for families that are identified as high risk. But he admitted that the agency was still seeking legal advice about the circumstances under which children would need parental consent to join the scheme. 'Due to the constraints of our resources, we can only cover 6 per cent of the families in the area. We will be happy to share our programme model with other agencies if the scheme is found to be effective in preventing family tragedies,' Mr Kwan said. Legislator Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, chairman of the welfare services panel, welcomed the scheme. Mr Cheung said he believed the computer game would be an effective tool in early identification of families at risk. The lawmaker also called on the government to provide financial support to the agency to expand the scheme if it proved successful. The problem of domestic violence in Tin Shui Wai shocked the community when mainland mother Kim Shuk-ying, 31, and daughters Li Yin-li, six, and Li Tsz-wan, five, were chopped to death at their home two years ago by Kim's husband Li Pak-sum, 44. The man later died of stab wounds. The Coroner's Court in September found the mother and twins were unlawfully killed and the husband committed suicide. The Social Welfare Department announced last month that it recorded 763 child abuse cases last year - 23 per cent more than in 2004 and 145 per cent more than in 1996. The number of spouse-battering cases rose to 3,598 last year, a 7 per cent rise from the 3,371 in 2004 and 256 per cent more than the 1,009 cases in 1998. Yuen Long - which includes Tin Shui Wai - topped the list, with 133 child abuse and 581 spouse-battering cases last year. Two images from the computer game that aims to identify children at risk
