Experts Urge Care, Support After Two Student Deaths

Mental health experts have urged schools and parents to help children re-adjust to school life following months of closures due to the pandemic, after the deaths of two young students who fell from buildings this week.

A 13-year-old boy died after a fall on Sunday, as did a 10-year-old girl on Monday.

Students from primary four up to secondary two were the latest batch of children to return to school on Monday.

The head of the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Psychiatry, Eric Chen, said the tragic news of the deaths was “not unexpected” as young people have been under a lot of stress in the past year due to the social unrest in Hong Kong and then the coronavirus pandemic. He said there has been a “cumulative impact" on some children's mental health.

Chen said students might feel hopeless and confused about their future, while for some of them class resumption means they have to face problems at school again, such as bullying or learning difficulties.

However, he said the class suspension had made it difficult for teachers to keep track of the students.

Chen said young children nowadays are also exposed to information which only adults had access to in the past.

“Nowadays, with the generational changes in communication and access to information, we have to be aware that people of younger and younger ages are confronted with information that maybe … in previous generations, people did not have to confront."

Social work professor Paul Yip, meanwhile, said some students might be worried they are lagging behind in terms of their studies and could be anxious about upcoming tests and exams, while their families might be facing uncertainties as many people have lost their jobs.

Yip, who is the director of the Centre of Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong, suggested that schools could push back tests and exams so teachers can focus on monitoring students’ mental health and the children can find schools to be places of comfort and support.

“It might not be a bad idea if we can postpone the assessments for a bit longer just to ensure the students ... when they resume the classes, we can pay more attention to their mental well-being and understand their stress," he said.

Chen also said students should be given “flexibility” if they feel they are not ready for school yet.

“If there are some signs that some students are not ready to go back to school, the authorities should consider a more flexible process of returning to school, offering some support for a more gradual process."

He suggested that parents should create an atmosphere at home under which children know they can talk about any problem they have.

The Education Bureau said it was saddened by the deaths of the students. In a statement, a spokesman said the bureau had contacted the children's schools and provided counselling services and relevant assistance.

The spokesman conceded that the suspension of classes had been a challenge, adding that students regaining the interest to learn is more important than getting good academic results. He also reminded parents and teachers to show their care for the children and strengthen communication with them.