Monster parents breeding brats in HK; “The city is at high risk as it is producing spoilt children who are overconfident about themselves”

Monster parents breeding brats in HK

“The city is at high risk as it is producing spoilt children who are overconfident about themselves,” said Associate Professor Annis Fung from City University of Hong Kong. -ST

Tue, Apr 30, 2013
The Straits Times

HONG KONG – “Monster” parents in Hong Kong are turning out a generation of spoilt brats with an inflated view of their abilities and who may resort to aggression to get ahead, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Wednesday, citing a latest study.

“The city is at high risk as it is producing spoilt children who are overconfident about themselves,” said Associate Professor Annis Fung from City University of Hong Kong.

“Monster” parents, who practise an authoritarian education style and over-emphasise children’s academic performance, could increase their children’s complacency, reported the Wen Wei Po newspaper on Wednesday.Prof Fung’s study found that Hong Kong children rated themselves a lot more highly than youngsters in the West – to the extent that some are at risk of developing disorders that could turn them into violent offenders. She tested 9,400 pupils with an average age of 11 using an antisocial process screening device – a questionnaire that detects antisocial traits.

The average level of narcissism displayed by children in the city was 3.89 on a 14-point scale – higher than the 2.9 for children in the United States, 2.36 in the United Kingdom and 2.81 in Australia.

The test, the first of its kind in the city, measures children’s self-regard and their views of the outside world, as well as their means of achieving their desires.

Prof Fung, who is in the department of applied social studies, said she was worried because 16 per cent of children showed signs that they were aggressors or tended to bully, while similar studies in the US found about 10 per cent of children with such a tendency, reported the SCMP.

“Action must be taken. We don’t want murders,” she said, adding such children may try to achieve their goals without thinking of the consequences.

Children from affluent families with a monthly income of at least HK$30,000 (S$4,800) are more narcissistic than those from low-income families, as they tend to be over-served at home by maids, and they perceive themselves to be “dominant in their social group”, The Standard reported on Wednesday.

Registered social worker Cecilia Ng Kam-kuen said Hong Kong’s outcome-based education system encouraged people to be more selfish and “look only at the results”. Such a culture is likely to influence children and make them self-centred.

Prof Fung said: “Parents should focus more on developing their children’s ethics and empathy so that they will learn to appreciate and respect others, and understand their needs and feelings.”