Anecdotal evidence suggests that many youngsters in tech-savvy Hong Kong are more proficient at interacting with electronic gadgets than they are at communicating with their fellow human beings. One aspect of this was highlighted recently in the South China Morning Post ('Alarm over child speech development', City, April 30).
It was reported that 1,878 cases of communication disorder were being handled by the Hong Kong Speech and Swallowing Therapy Centre. It said one cause was parents being 'too busy to talk to their own children', resulting in them not developing speaking skills well. This is one part of a much bigger and rather troubling picture.
A generation and more ago, larger families were the norm. Thus almost everyone had brothers and sisters to interact with at home. Now, single-child or two-child families are more common.
Especially for the only child, the development of inter-personal skills with peers is something parents need to take active steps to encourage. Having a child at home communicating only with the parents and maid is not enough.
Single children would benefit greatly from attending such organisations as the Girl Guides, Scouts or Cubs. There they can mix with many other children from varied backgrounds and so escape the 'preciousness' syndrome of an only child.
This too often gives them an exaggerated notion of their own importance, combined with a marked lack of inter-social skills with their peer group. After-school cramming institutes which aim to manufacture mini-swots are unlikely to help them much in terms of developing inter-personal skills.
