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

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Letters

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.

Suspending classes could scar Hong Kong students for life

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.

A survey of students during lockdown in Britain by the Children’s Commissioner in 2020 found that 41 per cent became more stressed about school work, with 50 per cent more stressed about their social relationships. In Hong Kong, the latest suspension of in-person classes can only imply a deepening crisis for our children.

Parents can give their children emotional support by providing social-emotional learning at home. Two years ago, I created affirmation cards with child-friendly illustrations and motivational messages to encourage the expression of emotions and development of a positive mindset, while also encouraging parent-child communication and bonding. I’m sure that there are many other social-emotional learning resources available in the market.

Parents’ role as active listeners, communicators and positive influencers in this process can encourage a healthy discussion of mental health care and ease the pandemic-induced social-emotional concerns.

Given Hong Kong’s situation, parents should be prepared to provide social-emotional learning at home, in consideration of their children’s mental health and personal growth. Despite it being a fairly new concept, the outcomes will prove worthwhile. The increase in readily accessible online resources providing parenting guidance on children’s mental health and emotion management can help make possible more creative and personalised ways of social-emotional learning at home.

Marina Watt, doctoral student in education, University of Bristol

Customised learning? Start with open textbooks

I refer to Dr Simon Wang’s views on e-learning (“Online learning has exposed flaws in traditional teaching – a return to classrooms would be a step backwards”, February 4). I agree that promoting blended learning should be the priority for local schools and universities as traditional lectures, whether delivered online or in person, fail to offer the personalised learning experience that students need.

In the application guideline for the Quality Education Fund for e-learning projects, the Education Bureau states that proposals will be assessed, among other criteria, on whether they leverage its resources or those provided by other government bureaus or departments.

A noteworthy example of such resources includes the Open English textbooks for primary and secondary schools developed by the Hong Kong Metropolitan University with support from the Jockey Club Charities Trust. Not only are the textbooks featured in the list of Education Bureau recommended textbooks, these open textbooks are also available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence, which means teachers can freely adapt the materials without copyright restrictions. Yet, it is not clear how many local schools actually adopt these free textbooks.

It is hoped that, with the support of the Quality Education Fund for e-learning, resources like open textbooks can be turned into customisable materials to facilitate personalised learning for schoolchildren.

Mengqi Wu, Kowloon Tong

Tennis court should not be a priority right now

Critical as I am of the government, I was taken aback by the letter “What a tennis court says about the Hong Kong government” (February 15) lamenting the dilapidated state of the tennis court at the chief secretary’s residence.

Over the last three years, Hong Kong has faced challenges not seen by any previous government. It would be highly inappropriate to waste public resources on trivial leisure activities for a few government officials.

I would suggest that your correspondent walk along Shanghai Street. He will find issues that better deserve the government’s attention.

Daniel K. Ng, Kowloon City

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