'Children Getting Counselling After Police Searches'

The association of the Heads of Secondary Schools has warned that police stopping and searching children on the way to school could damage students' confidence in the force and society in general.

Photos of children in school uniforms being forced to line up against MTR station walls by riot officers sparked outrage on social media this week.

Michael Wong, the association's honorary executive secretary, said on an RTHK programme on Thursday that students caught up in the police action had told their teachers they had done nothing wrong and were just heading to school.

Wong said some of the students reported being made to wait for half an hour while police searched through their belongings, adding that some of the children involved are now getting counselling.

He said nobody wants to see the personal growth of students being affected by such actions, and the police tactics could lead young people losing trust in the force.