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‘No sense of belonging’: Hong Kong children’s social skills are suffering post-pandemic – expert tips on how parents can help them communicate better
- Hong Kong’s young people are suffering from mental health issues in the wake of the pandemic, which left them feeling ‘disconnected’ and lacking social skills
- A son and father talk about their own experiences, while an expert offers parents practical tips to better communicate with and support their children
Reading Time:5 minutes
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Hong Kong’s young people are suffering in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A study published by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in November painted a bleak picture of their mental health: nearly one in four children and adolescents aged six to 17 had experienced at least one mental health issue in the past year, and more than 8 per cent of secondary school students had thought about suicide.
The most common sources of distress include study-related pressure, family relationships and interpersonal issues. And while Covid-19 restrictions are well behind us, the negative effects of the pandemic are still obvious – particularly when it comes to students’ social skills.
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“Even after classes resumed, they may still not be used to being with others face to face, and may have not been able to adapt to processing emotions or communicating normally in a classroom environment,” says Professor Alex Chan Chi-keung, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Tung Wah College and consultant to charity Save the Children Hong Kong.
“This may lead to anxiety and physical symptoms.”
The pandemic certainly was a challenging time for 11-year-old Colin Choi. He says that while taking online classes from home, he felt he was not learning much. Worse, he had a strong sense of being disconnected from others.
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