Hong Kong Monster Kids Phenomenon

Introduction

The “Hong Kong Monster Kids” phenomenon arose in 2009, and the term “Kong Kids” refers to those born in Hong Kong after the 1990s who, are overly dependent, have low emotional intelligence and are vulnerable to adversity (W. Tsang, 2010). A survey was recently carried out and the aims were to find out the general understanding, identify the possible causes and solutions as well as investigate the public opinions on the phenomenon. This report will summarize the findings, draw conclusions and make recommendations to alleviate this social issue.

Methodology

During the survey, a total of 115 responses were collected via electronic questionnaires. Among which, 14.8% were born before 1990, 41.7% were born between 1990-1999 and the

16 (13.9%) agreed that academic-oriented nurturance is to be blamed, 6 believed that being a single child leads to such a situation with the rest considering a high living standard or the employment of a domestic helper as the main cause(s) (3.5% each). There were also 3 participants who thought that there are other reasons, such as a lack of motivation.

In correspondence to the main cause, participants were asked to select a solution for the issue. Less overprotection was considered the most effective way to alleviate the problem (49.6%), followed by a change in the exam-oriented education system (21.7%) and more involvements in family and/or social activities for the kids (17.4%). Meanwhile, 6 participants believed that less materialism would help tackle the problem, and 2 thought that a change in university admission standard would be effective. There were also others (4.3%) that believed solutions from different aspects are needed in order to solve the

The society needs to work together to thoroughly alleviate the problem, and in order to do so, it is necessary to first raise people’s awareness of the issue. From the results of the survey, it is evident that though many have heard of the term “Hong Kong Kids Phenomenon”, only a minority of the public have the idea of preventing such phenomenon from occurring in the next generation. By promotion, parents will hopefully have a better understanding of emergence and prevalence of the issue. Through further education, they can learn more about different parenting styles and recognise the importance of helping their children develop correct moral values.

Additionally, the Education Bureau should also review the current education system. Instead of focusing so much on academic, more elements of personal development can be added to balance the syllabus, allowing students to participate in more family and social activities. In the current society, as homework are considered to have a greater importance, children seldom have to take responsibility at home (H. Parry, 2013) and this leads to their lack of self-care skills.