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Hong Kong students sit the first of their 2021 school-leaving exams on April 26. The coronavirus pandemic and social movements experienced by Hong Kong have aggravated emotional stress levels and need for support for all ages. Photo: POOL
OpinionLetters

Letters | To nurture mental health in Hong Kong, start young

  • While the Education Bureau has introduced a training programme on mental health for teachers, this should be supplemented by boosting awareness among pupils at an early age
Mental health
Letters
Letters
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The coronavirus pandemic and the social movements experienced by our city have aggravated levels of emotional stress and need for support (“Memory loss, depression plague some recovered Covid-19 patients: Hong Kong study”, July 12). At the grass-roots level, there has already been a rise in conversations and projects which aim to destigmatise illness. Now it is time to scale this positive change up to the policy level and collectively reassess what can be done to improve societal well-being.

In the 2017/18 school year, the Education Bureau introduced a foundational psychological training course, “Professional Development Programme for Mental Health”, in the training curriculum for primary and secondary teachers. This three-to-five-day training course fosters mental health awareness in teachers and imparts an understanding of basic wellness and attention-requiring mental health symptoms.

This important and fundamental step allows for healthy student development, and for teachers to better support and nurture their students’ and their own mental well-being. But the impact of this one action is not strong enough.

Mental well-being training for teachers would be further supported by the incorporation of mental health education in the school curriculum. Globally, the World Health Organization has found depression to be a leading cause of disability, and suicide to be among leading causes of death among 15- to 29-year-olds.
In Hong Kong, one in six people struggle with diagnosable mental health issues at any given time. This demonstrates the need to nurture mental health knowledge and resilience in students beginning from primary school.

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How stressed out are Hong Kong’s students?

How stressed out are Hong Kong’s students?

Understanding and accepting one’s emotions, especially when encountering hurdles and setbacks, are skills with lifelong applications. Just as physical health is supported through physical education in the curriculum, mental health education should be part of the course as well.

Health is twofold: mental and physical. One complements the other. We should start destigmatising mental health issues through the actions and concrete policies proposed above. As a youth in Hong Kong, I hope there will be more policies that make me proud of this city.

S. Ching Choi, Admiralty









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