Letters | Give young Hongkongers room for failure

Readers discuss ways to build resilience in students, colon cancer rates among the young, and how to have a good Christmas

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Students go to school in Wan Chai on September 2, the first day of the academic year. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 11:30am, 22 Dec 2024

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I was recently invited by a friend to co-lead a group of scouts on weekends. During these sessions, I observed that my friend’s teaching style was notably hands-off.

One weekend, he decided to teach the scouts how to set up a tent. Rather than start with detailed instructions, he let them figure it out on their own first. They proceeded to assemble the tent upside down. When I moved to correct them, my friend held me back: he wanted to give them the chance to realise their error before we stepped in.

Intrigued, I asked why. His laid-back answer that “it’s not a big deal if they set up the tent upside down” made me reconsider my way of dealing with errors, especially with those I guide.

How young people view mistakes has much to do with their resilience. Studies connect poor emotional resilience with youth suicide, a concern particularly relevant in Hong Kong, where students are frequently criticised for their inability to cope with failure. Some schools have introduced “failure week” programmes to foster an environment more accepting of mistakes. But how ready are we to really give our children room to fail and learn from the experience?

At home in Hong Kong, children are often scolded for making errors in schoolwork, housework and other tasks. Mistakes are still often seen as harmful to academic performance or efficiency, resulting in criticism and discouragement. As an accounting tutor, I myself emphasise meticulous instruction due to the critical nature of the Diploma of Secondary Education examinations.