Every week, Talking Points gives you a worksheet to practise your reading comprehension with exercises about the story we’ve written.
After-school tuition is common in many Hong Kong households. After all, the city is one of Asia’s most intense. There is constant pressure from schools and parents, fierce academic competition and rising anxiety and depression rates. But Hong Kong’s focus on school success is also creating another type of stress for students – financial guilt.
Andrew Stock is a clinical psychologist who has been based in Hong Kong for more than 15 years. He noted a troubling trend: students burdened by the belief that their education has placed a financial strain on their families.
Money on the mind
The guilt is fuelled by rising costs of tuition centres and cram schools. Many charge as much as HK$400 per hour for a single private tutoring session. This is not financially feasible for many families.
“When teenagers see their parents paying thousands of dollars for elite centres or private tutors, every hour of study and every exam point becomes monetised,” Stock said.
The psychologist is also the founding partner of Therapy Partners. He added that a poor test score could feel like a direct waste of the family’s hard-earned wealth, compounding the student’s guilt.
Stock shared that one of his teen clients’ tutors would regularly post students’ results in parent WhatsApp groups. When parents feel their child’s performance is not good enough, their solution may be to enrol them in more sessions.
This adds to financial stress. Under this pressure, teenagers feel they cannot afford to make a mistake. Their family cannot afford to waste more money.
“This is a form of emotional labour. A student is not just managing their own learning; they are actively managing their parents’ anxieties, self-worth and social standing,” Stock said.
Circling through stress and burnout
Peter Chui is a 17-year-old student at Maryknoll Fathers’ School. He said his peers would push themselves to do well at school to justify their family’s sacrifices.
“They are desperate to secure scholarships to ease their parents’ financial strain,” Peter said.
Long-term pressure increases cortisol, the “stress hormone”. High cortisol levels impair the prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain manages memory, emotions, complex problem-solving and how you get tasks done.
The guilt that motivates a teenager to study harder can also lead to burnout and poor concentration. Ultimately, the drive leads to a lower academic performance.
Peter also said he was concerned about how this stress and guilt would affect them later on in life.
Stock explained that students might seek high-paying careers as a financial safety net for their parents, rather than following their passion.
“This ‘play it safe’ approach can lead to long-term career dissatisfaction and resentment, which I’ve worked through with countless clients in their 20s, 30s and 40s,” the psychologist said.
Break the cycle of guilt
Stock urged students to have a heart-to-heart with their parents about money, pressure and guilt.
“You can focus on your feelings,” he said.
For example, you could say, “I know how much you both sacrifice to pay for my education. I want to make you proud and make your investment worth it, but I am putting so much pressure on myself that I am overwhelmed and struggling to cope.”
Stock stressed that rest is a “biological necessity” – not “a waste of money”.
