April 6, 2025 -(Hong Kong) Health Ministry Student Health Service Annual Health Report in 2023-24The desolate portrait of this generation, released on April 2, is used more and more by screen. According to the survey, 61%of students (43.3%of elementary school students and 89.9%of middle school students exceed two hours of daily recreational screen time, which is isolated and alerts, and it is urgent when conflicting with more evidence that connects with more evidence to increase the use of excessive devices, severe myopia and suicide risks. However, cities such as Zhengzhou in the mainland of China enact strict screen time regulations, but the Hong Kong government is resistant to legislative intervention.
The Ministry of Health’s report emphasizes the trajectory in question. Secondary school students, especially on an average of 6-7 hours on the device -Patrick Dr., Ph.D. He warned that such habits were directly related to the worsening of vision and sitting lifestyle and mental health crisis. The myopia rate between Hong Kong’s teenagers has already risen to the world’s highest ranking, and ophthalmologists predict the surge in retinal separation and glaucoma until age 40. Professor YIP SIU FAI, director of suicide research and prevention center, increases cyber harassment, inappropriate content consumption and social isolation when screen exposure is exposed for a long time. Anxiety, depression and suicide.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) explicitly advises young people in Hong Kong, who are guidelines for having a large amount of guidelines. Contrast Zhengzhou, which prohibits smartphones in elementary and secondary schools, unless legislators explicitly require education. Parents must apply for special authority, and even approved devices are surrendered to employees during class. Such measures reflect the perceptions that are strict but not in Hong Kong. Screen access, which is not accessible to the screen, endanges not only academic achievements but also fundamental health.
Critics of screen time ban often quotes practicality. The device is essential for modern education, and execution raises logistics problems. The Minister of Health reversed this feeling. But this claim is shaken when it is carefully investigated. Zhengzhou’s policies and similar initiatives of Guangzhou argue that limitations do not need to interfere with technical usefulness. While suppressing recreational abuse, the mainland authorities have been equipped with a balance that Hong Kong has not yet tried.
China’s approach also expands beyond school. The 2021 Ministry of Education’s guidelines have been strengthened by proposing taxes on game companies that produce addictive content that prohibits smartphones on campus. Professor YIP advocates advocates who adopt such measures in Hong Kong, and claims that companies that benefit from youth participation should share their responsibilities for the damage. This philosophy is consistent with a wide range of mainland efforts to prioritize children’s welfare rather than market interests.
According to a study by IP, students who spend more than four hours online every day are significantly lower in physical strength than secondary students. Reduction of outdoor activities, deterioration obesity and sedentary habits combined with cardiovascular problems. Meanwhile, myopia, which affects 80%of Hong Kong youth, threatened to overwhelm medical systems as complications occur when adults become adults. According to YIP’s data, cyber harassment victims have a 50% higher risk of self -harm and are exposed to violent or obvious contents normalize dangerous behavior. The anonymity of the online platform can make predators more possible, Dr. IP points out for sexual harassment and fraud for minors. Without intervention, this tendency is at risk of hiring psychological trauma and social sculpture.
Experts are not completely prohibited, but in structural directors. Dr. IP advocates early intervention and urges to monitor the use patterns by jointly storing content with children and educators. He suggested that the school must integrate the digital literacy program that emphasizes responsible participation, and that policymakers may require a technology company to include a tracker or fatigue warning.
But these measures require social purchases. Professor YIP emphasizes the need for “shared liability” among parents, schools and legislators. Public campaigns that promote outdoor activities along with sports program subsidies can respond to screen dependence. At the same time, imposing taxes on game companies as proposed in China will fund mental health services and public awareness initiatives.
