TNAG-1856-FCO40-2631-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 186

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

28 June 1989

香港立法局

———————一九八九年六月二十八日

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We also know that because the child's most intense contact is, first, his parents, and later on his teachers and his peers, he is more than anything else influenced by his experience with these individuals.

In the case of broken homes or problem families, the ongoing discord and disharmony create an acute stress on the child which leads potentially to his social disorders.

I understand that the Social Welfare Department and voluntary welfare agencies provide counselling and assistance to parents and children suffering from family problems through 53 family service centres. No doubt these are very valuable services. But I often wonder how many people with marital problems are motivated enough to seek help from these services, and how many unhappy children even know about these centres. And indeed, is it practical to think that

young children would, on their own, seek these services?

Teachers

If we forget about the problematic parents for a moment, the other adults who are in constant contact with the child are his teachers. I believe that the teachers have a lot to do with whether the child can successfully overcome his emotional problems, and, on the other hand, teachers who are insensitive may even aggravate the child's problems.

Teachers need to understand the psychological needs of the child. They need to realize that their jobs are not just to impart knowledge, and that their attitudes to their students have strong and lasting impacts on their development.

Teachers serve as models of behaviour to their students. If teachers are harsh, intolerant, bad-tempered and abusive, they are likely to encourage similar behaviour in the children.

This gives rise to the question whether our teachers, especially those who have been in service for some time, are sufficiently trained in child psychology to take care of the children under their charge.

Training course for teachers

Government provides opportunities for management courses to civil servants on administrative posts; and recently the Finance Committee approved the expenditure for teachers to go on refresher courses on their skills in English.