Letters | With Hong Kong schools shut, here’s how parents can help children cope with pandemic-related stress

Readers discuss the emotional and social learning toll on students as schools stay closed, the potential of open textbooks in customising learning, and criticism of the maintenance of the chief secretary’s tennis court

Reading Time:3 minutes

A primary school student crosses the street in Hong Kong on January 11. Photo: AP

Published: 2:30pm, 21 Feb 2022

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Hong Kong’s Covid-19 situation has worsened to the point where medical experts are strongly urging the authorities to impose even more severe social distancing measures.

This is fear-inducing – expected to be reflected in waves of panic buying – and raises concerns about the mass socio-emotional impact. This is particularly alarming for students, whose well-being and mental health have already taken a beating from prolonged school closures, the loss of social contact and disrupted daily routines.

Experts are also concerned about the adverse impact that class suspensions could have on children’s development of self-control, social competence and logical deduction among other cognitive abilities, and how this could make it difficult for them to cope with the mounting pandemic-related and social-emotional stress. This is why social-emotional learning at home is crucial.

Social-emotional learning is a process by which a sense of self-awareness and self-efficacy is developed, allowing for the attainment of a positive problem-solving mindset that is important in areas such as relationship building and emotion management. But school closures deprive students of this opportunity, disrupting their development of social awareness and making it hard to develop relationships with their peers.

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.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | With Hong Kong schools shut, here’s how parents can help children cope with pandemic-related stress

Letters | With Hong Kong schools shut, here’s how parents can help children cope with pandemic-related stress