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February 18, 2004

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The wrong thing to do in the morning is to read the newspaper. Stories breakdown into three categories:
1. The Political (i.e. what the CCP thinks is best)
2. The Worrying (i.e. what is the latest disease, or that HK may recognise China's medical qualifications)
3. The Rest (i.e. what people really care about)

The ESF school system is a shambles; it turns out the Health Department dilly-dallying on SARS made things worse; the Jockey Club is offering new soccer betting options; the population of HK hits 6.81 million. Just the regular cacophony.

But there's one story today that did not surprise. From the SCMP comes the news

The average primary school pupil in Hong Kong gets an hour less sleep than they need, a survey has found.

Children aged six to 13 slept an average of eight hours, 47 minutes a day, according to the study conducted by Kwong Wah Hospital.

Paediatrician Daniel Ng Kwok-keung said a 10-year-old needed 10 hours sleep, while younger children needed more...

Many families ate dinner late and children often had a lot of homework to do. Afterwards, they were kept awake by such distractions as television, computer games or surfing on the internet.

It is not an uncommon sight to see toddlers running around at 11pm at night. In Hong Kong sleep deprivation is a way of life, even for the very young. I don't understand why. Kids need sleep; little kids need more sleep. But it seems the thing to do here is drag kids along and make them suit the parents' lifestyle. It means there are plenty of bleary eyed children walking around in a daze. Where I really don't get it is that many families have access to babysitting either via helpers or family, especially amongst Chinese families where grandparents often live with the family.

There really is no excuse. Put your kids to bed.

 posted by Simon on 02.18.04 at 12:51 PM in the




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Slice of Hong Kong Life
Excerpt: An interesting blog, called SIMON'S WORLD, by an Aussie living in Hong Kong, has a story that comments on newspaper reading, and the sleep habits of HK kiddies. Stupor And here I thought only American kids stayed up until...
Weblog: Sneakeasy's Joint
Tracked: February 21, 2004 01:48 AM


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