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26 / Our Community

Toddler

Stress Woes

Children as young as toddlers are now dealing
with stress from parental expectations and

kindergarten hunting.

By Kayi Tsang

D r. Phyllis Chan Kwok-ling, head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of

Queen Mary Hospital, looks grave when asked about child anxiety.
In May 2018, Hong Kong Playground Group interviewed 3,279 youth
aged between 6 to 24 years old. Results showed that over 30 per cent had poor
mental wellness, nearly 70 per cent suffered from insufficient sleep and around
40 per cent had insufficient exercise.
“Overall, I think Hong Kong children’s stress is increasing,” Chan says,
“even to the point of juvenilization, meaning they start to suffer from stress at
a younger age.”
She says toddlers are stressed from interest classes and kindergarten inter-
views, citing the case of a boy who could not stop crying outside a kindergarten.
His mother tried to smooth talk him to go inside for an interview, telling him
that everything would be okay and it was just for fun. However, her actions,
such as dressing him in formal attire, revealed her expectations, and the boy
would not budge.

Why is mental health of Hong Kong children declining?
Chan blames fierce competition for making children become more stressed.
She says parents nowadays hope that their children can attain excellent achieve-
ments. They schedule many extra-curricular activities for their children so that
their curriculum vitae can be appealing and attractive. Competition among tod-
dlers for the admission of elite kindergartens is vigorous. The playtime and rest
time for children are curtailed with tight schedules and preparation for inter-
views.
“I think the consequence of having a competitive environment is that chil-
dren can learn of win and loss and sense the tense expectations, atmosphere,
and divide,” Chan says.
As the competitive atmosphere prevails at such an early age, children may
be more sensitive to winning and losing and become more aware of their own
performance. This also stems from the child’s ability to sense parental expecta-
tions. As a result, they often expect good performances from themselves to meet
those expectations, which adds to their anxiety.