The happiness of Hong Kong kids is at a three-year low, and guess what’s being blamed? You got it (or read the headline), Occupy Central.
The survey of more than a thousand youngsters from Primary 3 (eight to 9 years old) to Secondary 4 (16 to 17 years old) found they rated themselves an average of 6.43 out of 10 for happiness during 2014, down from 7.23 for the year before.
The study, which saw children asked a number of questions about their school, friends and family, was carried out in September and November last year, at the height of the Occupy Central protests.
It only makes sense, therefore, for Ho Sang-lok, professor Centre for Public Policy Studies at Lingnan University, which conducted the study, to attribute the children’s unhappiness to the pro-democracy movement.
Although admitting he had no supporting evidence, Ho said “After taking out all [other] factors, we can’t see there are other reasons.”
How very scientific!
The kids interviewed, however, cited the adverse effect of academic pressure on the family as a cause of unhappiness, although friends, good teachers and good sleep contributed to better scores.
