26-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong must act to protect youth from digital overload
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In June, Secretary for Education Christine Choi pointed to the
'bad impact' of the online world as a key driver of Hong Kong's youth mental health crisis. I appreciate her emphasis on a whole-school approach – but we must take the next step. Awareness is not enough. We need boundaries.
As co-founder of Just Feel, a non-profit working with primary schools to support emotional well-being, I witness the impact of digital overstimulation daily: students struggling with sleep, focus, anxiety and social connection. Phones, games and social media are reshaping childhood – often in harmful ways.
This isn't just a parenting issue; it's a policy issue. Mainland China has limited
online gaming for minors. Australia is banning phones in schools and restricting social media for under-16s. Hong Kong should act now.
Science supports this. Angela Duckworth's research has shown that phones impair student focus. Jonathan Haidt's book, The Anxious Generation, links rising anxiety to screen-based childhoods.
Reading their work, I saw myself. Even I struggle with unconscious phone use. But I have started putting my phone in my backpack instead of on my desk, and I already feel more present and less distracted.
