I TOTALLY agree with the last sentence of the letter written by S. Ma (South China Morning Post, September 16).
What we are able to achieve in the future depends on what we do now. The academic performance of students in Hong Kong is declining.
It can be attributed to the fact that there are so many different forms of entertainment which distract students from their studies. For instance, it is not uncommon to see teenagers, especially girls, waiting outside a television station for their pop and film idols.
They recklessly spend a lot of money buying them bouquets to give to these people. Some of them hang around the TV stations for hours just in the hope of catching a sight or getting an autograph.
They buy compact discs and pin-up pictures and they memorise the pop stars' songs.
While still not mature, many young people, influenced by what they see on television, in the cinema and what they read in magazines, become involved in romantic relationships. You see couples as young as 14 walking hand in hand.
It is no coincidence that along with these trends, we see a rise in the number of teenage pregnancies and teenage suicides.