Conflicts arise as Hong Kong parents struggle to control children’s use of gadgets
About 28 per cent of parents say their children’s use of electronic devices resulted in verbal insults, physical threats or unreasonable punishment
Hong Kong parents are finding they are unable to control their children’s use of electronic devices, resulting in hostile relationships, a survey has found, with nearly 30 per cent of them resorting to insults and physical threats.
Social worker Wu Yan-yan, acting supervisor of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Integrated Centre on Addiction Prevention and Treatment, said on Thursday that increased use of gadgets during the Covid-19 pandemic had continued.
“If the children’s use of electronic devices worsens into internet addiction, this won’t just affect them, but also cause serious problems for the mental health of their family members and the relationships with their family,” Wu said.
The centre polled 712 parents of Primary One to Form Six pupils between last September and December, with 28.5 per cent of respondents saying they had overreacted to their children’s usage of electronic devices with verbal insults, physical threats or unreasonable punishment.
Thirty-five per cent said there had been heightened family conflict from their children’s use of electronic devices, while half of the respondents had yielded an unsatisfactory mental health score in the survey.
