More than half of Hong Kong’s underprivileged children spend more than two hours a day on electronic devices, many of them turning to screens as cheap entertainment despite problems with their eyesight, attention, sleep and addiction, a survey by a community group has found.
The Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), which released the findings on Sunday, urged authorities to keep students on campus for longer, introduce full-day kindergartens and subsidise more extracurricular activities for underprivileged pupils.
Wong Chi-yuen, assistant director of SoCO, said 52 per cent of children spent more than two hours a day on devices, a high proportion, and that their screen time far exceeded the government’s guidelines for six- to 12-year-olds.