Kenny Lam

Opinion | Let’s listen well to Hong Kong students’ mental health woes

A student advisory council in every secondary school would let young people be heard. We don’t need to settle for reductive understandings

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Students of a secondary school in Hong Kong react to their DSE results on July 17. The annual “grand reveal” is a stark reminder of the intense academic pressures our young people face. Photo: Eugene Lee

Kenny Lam

Published: 4:30pm, 20 Jul 2024

As the dust settles after the release of Hong Kong’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) results, the city finds itself at a critical juncture – not just for the thousands of students applying for university but for our society. The annual “grand reveal” is a stark reminder of the intense academic pressures our young people face.

There’s no escaping the need to scrutinise troubling connection between these pressures and mental health.

The statistics are alarming. At least 31 students in Hong Kong were suspected to have taken their lives last year. A recent survey revealed that over 4 per cent of primary and secondary students had contemplated or attempted suicide. Perhaps most tellingly, in the Hong Kong Christian Service survey of students last year, over 70 per cent cited “academic issues” as the primary driver of suicide.

These figures paint a grim picture but also risk oversimplifying a complex issue. As a former secondary school teacher turned researcher focusing on youth issues, I have learned that adolescence is a period of nuance and complexity. If we settle for the reductive understanding that academic pressure leads to mental health challenges, we hobble our ability to develop deeper insights. It could lead to well-intentioned but misguided solutions.

To combat this, I propose the establishment of student advisory councils in every secondary school in Hong Kong. These councils would be where young people’s voices can be centred in discussions about their well-being.

As educators and parents, we often labour under the illusion that we understand our children’s lives very well. Researchers, however, might disagree.