Hong Kong's parents raising 'spoiled brats', warns study
"Monster" parents in Hong Kong are turning out a generation of spoiled brats who have an inflated view of their abilities and may resort to aggression to get ahead, a City University study warns.
"Monster" parents in Hong Kong are turning out a generation of spoiled brats who have an inflated view of their abilities and may resort to aggression to get ahead, a City University study warns.
Annis Fung, associate professor in the department of applied social studies, said Hong Kong children rated themselves a lot more highly than youngsters in the West - to an extent that some are at risk of developing disorders that could turn them into violent offenders.
"The city is at high risk as it is producing spoiled children who are overconfident about themselves," Fung said yesterday.
The city is at high risk as it is producing spoiled children who are overconfident about themselves
She tested 9,400 pupils with an average age of 11 using an antisocial process screening device (APSD) - a questionnaire that detects antisocial traits. The average level of narcissism displayed by youngsters in the city was 3.89 on a 14-point scale - higher than the 2.9 for children in the United States, 2.36 in the United Kingdom and 2.81 in Australia.
The test measures children's self-regard and their views of the outside world, as well as their means of achieving their desires.
Fung said she was worried because 16 per cent of children showed signs that they were aggressors or tended to bully, while similar studies in the US found about 10 per cent of children with such a tendency. This category of children had an APSD score of 6.23, similar to that of adolescent criminals in the US and Canada.
"Action must be taken. We don't want murders," she said, adding such children may try to achieve their goals without thinking of the consequences.
