There are more and more problems Hong Kong needs to tackle. But how do these problems affect the lives of teenagers? And what can the teens do to prepare themselves well to face these problems? I would like to examine two problems, education and poverty problems, in this light.
It is obvious that our education system does not fit the ever-changing world and causes much trouble to teenagers like me. Our education system emphasizes rote learning and a spoon-feed mode of teaching. This not only exerts great homework and exam pressure on us, but also fails to equip us with critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Like machines, we memorize all the textbook content, and we do not know how to handle problems without textbooks. But once we go out for work, this society expects us to solve problems by ourselves. This education system does not match societal expectations.
The government need to bear most of the responsibilities for leading to this problem because of the improper education policy. To solve this problem, the government can weigh exam results less but school-based assessment more so that the study pressure can be eased. The schools should also change their ways of teaching to encourage reasoning and analysis of social issues to develop our critical thinking skill and social awareness.
Teenagers like you and me should also train ourselves to have critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. For instance, we can form a group to regularly discuss the pros and cons of particular social issues, their influence on different people and the solutions to these problems. Their skills can therefore be improved.
Another problem is the poverty problem. The income gap becomes wider and wider, and more and more people are under the poverty line. The underprivileged cannot afford daily expenditure including rent, money for meals and so on. The teenagers in underprivileged households may have hard lives because their family members cannot provide nutritious meals, or afford the skyrocketing textbook price. This may affect teenagers’ health and their schooling. They can only buy second-hand books if the new books are too expensive. They may also be teased by other teenagers because of their poor family background, which affects their mental health and growth.
The reasons for the poverty problem are that the income level of the underprivileged is too low to support a household, especially when the inflation rate and rent are soaring now. But usually, there is only one breadwinner, as one of the parents needs to stay home to take care of the family. The financial burden is then huge. This problem can be solved if the government issue living and rental subsidies according to the inflation rate. The social services can also expand day-care services so that both parents can go to work.
Teenagers who are in underprivileged households need to be hard-working at school in order to have a good job that brings in a good salary. More fortunate teenagers who are not faced with financial difficulties still have to be concerned and work to raise awareness of this problem in society.
We need readiness to face the challenges of social problems. We may encounter not only education and poverty problems but all kinds of problems! Just let us fight these problems. Are you ready?