Wealth Blog | Discovery Bay teens – Discovery College principal’s view

The recent piece on Discovery Bay teenagers and the issue of underage drinking and drug taking by kids as young as 13 prompted considerable reader reaction, for which many thanks. This is an important topic for many people, so I will address your concerns in two parts. Today we hear from the Principal of Discovery College, Mark Beach, where many, but by no means all, DB teenagers go to school. Tomorrow it’s the turn of the drug education NGO Kely Support Group and the kids themselves.    
 

Many opinions

Many of you voiced different opinions regarding the cause of under-age drinking and drug-taking in DB, ranging from lax parenting to insufficient recreation and sports facilities, to “there’s a drug problem everywhere, not just DB.” Much of it, many of you agree, centres in or around the Plaza. One reader pointed out that ironically, the Plaza is also where many of the parents of these latchkey teens can often be found, relaxing of an evening.
 

Principal’s view

First of all, Beach says he feels he’s not in a position to answer my questions about teenage drinking and drug-taking with evidence, because he does not live in DB. “And so although I am aware of drug and alcohol use in DB, I cannot say whether it is a greater or lesser problem than in other areas of Hong Kong,” he says. Many people wrote parents are very relaxed because they feel DB is safe and so do not monitor their kids’ whereabouts as closely as they would elsewhere. Mr Beach agrees. “Certainly I believe that the "safe" nature of DB does mean that many of our young people enjoy greater freedoms of movement, and at a younger age, than perhaps would be possible on Hong Kong Island or Kowloon.”
 

More facilities not the answer