Half of Secondary Students Depressed

Half of secondary students are depressed and stressed out

 

It's not surprising to find that secondary students in Hong Kong are stressed out. This was confirmed by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups that half the students surveyed are feeling stressed, and about the same amount are having symptoms of depression.

Federation says pupils can't concentrate, sleep

The federation conducted an online survey, with questionnaires given to 3,600 students in October. 

The results revealed 49 percent reported suffering from high levels of stress. While this is four percentage points lower than the result of a similar survey last year, it is still higher than before the coronavirus pandemic started.

In addition, 52 percent of pupils reported depression symptoms, such as trouble concentrating and sleeping, the federation said.

Deputy executive director Hsu Siu-man said although these students may not actually have depression, the situation is still concerning.

She said the students' stress was mainly related to academics, but some were also struggling to adjust to full-day in-person classes again, after the pandemic earlier forced students to attend classes online. 

Difficulties adjusting to in-person class

"Some tell us that they do not have enough rest time, because when they go home, it is already evening. Although this kind of situation is quite similar to that before the pandemic, they have spent already nearly two years [having] online classes or in hybrid mode... When they resume back to 'old normal' they have to spend their whole day at school, they need to adjust," she said.

Hsu also said pupils were having to adjust to a wave of emigration from Hong Kong, with some losing their friends.

"When they went back to school, many students found that quite a lot of classmates had disappeared...  they had moved with the whole family to other countries," she said.

Unfortunately this is the new reality in Hong Kong -- young people and their families moving away from the city which has a big psychological impact on them, and on top of it the pandemic social distancing measures and borders being closed have not been helpful for anyone, let alone students.

Classmates leaving also affects students

It is also difficult for them to deal with what has happened to Hong Kong in the past two years politically, socially and economically, and seeing the direction the city is going doesn't give them high hopes for the future.