不論是在職家長或全職家庭主婦，每天都忙於工作、做家務和照顧子女等等。孩子每天放學後亦忙於做功課、補習和溫習默書考試，玩樂時間也不多，便要上床睡覺了。精神科專科黃宗顯醫生指出：「香港的家長和學生都很忙碌，但我們要學習在情緒或壓力爆發前『預先處理』，好好建立親子關係，家長每天設有親子時間好好與子女溝通，家長亦應照顧自己情緒，更有助子女表達內心。」
在忙碌的日常生活中，家長要先好好照顧自己，才能更好地照顧子女。黃醫生提出：「比起出現情緒問題才處理，『預先處理』更為重要。家長可與子女一起建立健康生活習慣，要有充足的休息時間。不少學生放學後仍要補習，又要溫習做功課，但適量的娛樂也是非常重要。如上述所言，每天親子溝通時間亦是必須的，一起做一些有趣的事情，例如一起做運動，不但可以建立優質親子時間，更能改善情緒。」
黃醫生表示：「家長應檢討自己的管教期望，按著子女的能力調適管教方法，以免讓孩子感到壓力。家長要明白每個孩子都會長大，想獨立自主，有自己的想法。家長可以了解孩子行為的背後原因，例如孩子不想上學或成績每況愈下，家長應了解背後會否是學習壓力過大，或孩子在學校面對了甚麼問題，與校方多溝通，嘗試為孩子的學習作出調整。」
Whether parents are working or full-time homemakers, they are busy every day with work, household chores, and taking care of their children. After school, children are also busy with homework, tutoring, and reviewing for exams. Leisure time is limited, and bedtime comes early. Dr. Wong Chung Hin, a specialist in psychiatry, points out, “Parents and students in Hong Kong are very busy, but we need to learn to ‘preprocess’ emotions or stress before they erupt, and establish a good parent-child relationship. Parents should set aside dedicated parent-child time every day to communicate with their children. Parents should also take care of their own emotions, which will help their children express their inner feelings.”
In the midst of busy daily life, parents need to take good care of themselves first in order to better care for their children. Dr. Wong suggests, “Rather than dealing with emotional problems after they arise, ‘preprocessing’ is more important. Parents can establish healthy habits with their children, ensuring they have sufficient rest. Many students have tutoring and homework to do after school, but a moderate amount of entertainment is also crucial. As mentioned earlier, daily parent-child communication time is necessary. Doing fun activities together, such as exercising, not only builds quality parent-child time but also improves emotions.”
Dr. Wong emphasizes, “Parents should review their disciplinary expectations, adjust disciplinary methods according to their children’s abilities to avoid putting too much pressure on them. Parents need to understand that every child will grow up, want to be independent, and have their own thoughts. Parents can understand the reasons behind their children’s behavior, such as not wanting to go to school or declining academic performance. Parents should investigate whether the underlying cause is excessive learning pressure and communicate with the school to make adjustments to their child’s learning.”
事實上，子女的情緒亦會受到家長自身情緒所影響。黃醫生解釋：「孩子出現情緒問題，部分可能是家族史影響。但從不少個案可見，出現情緒問題的孩子，其家長的情緒亦較差。家長要時刻留意自己的狀態，以免不適當地表達情緒，例如當家長不滿孩子的行為時，可能會情緒爆發破口大罵，這不但會影響親子關係，令孩子無所適從，往後害怕與父母溝通，更會影響家長自己的想法，負面定性孩子的行為是『唔聽話』、『扮嘢』及懶惰等。」
家長最常面對子女「叫極唔聽」，都會忍不住發怒。但黃醫生提醒：「在這些時候，家長不宜正面面對孩子，可找一個空間先冷靜自己，例如做一些慢呼吸練習，舒緩情緒。當家長冷靜過後，再面對孩子，了解孩子行為的背後原因。若家長無法控制情緒，反而會令事情更複雜，便很難再有機會與子女溝通。」
In fact, children’s emotions can be influenced by the emotions of their parents. Dr. Wong explains, “When children have emotional issues, it may be partly influenced by family history. However, in many cases, children with emotional problems have parents with poorer emotional well-being. Parents should always be aware of their own emotional states to avoid expressing emotions inappropriately. For example, when parents are dissatisfied with their children’s behavior, they may burst out in anger, which not only affects the parent-child relationship, making the child at a loss and afraid to communicate with their parents, but also influences the parents’ own perceptions, negatively characterizing the child’s behavior as ‘disobedient,’ ‘pretending,’ and lazy.”
Parents most commonly face the situation of children “not listening at all” and may find it hard to refrain from getting angry. However, Dr. Wong reminds, “During these times, parents should not confront their children directly. Instead, they can find a space to calm themselves, for example, by doing some slow breathing exercises to soothe their emotions. Once the parent has calmed down, they can then address the child and understand the underlying reasons for the child’s behavior. If parents cannot control their emotions, it will only complicate things and make it difficult to have a chance to communicate with their children.”
黃醫生建議：「每人性格都不同，處理壓力的方法亦不同。家長可與子女共同建立處理壓力的方法，不論是做運動、畫畫或聽音樂，好好休息，放鬆一下。但當家長發現子女情緒問題已持續一段長時間，或已影響日常生活，甚至出現傷害自己或萌生輕生念頭，家長應盡快帶子女尋求專業人士協助。」
黃醫生最後寄語家長：「現時很多家長都要上班工作，家長可以考慮每天放下工作片刻，將時間留給孩子，好好建立親子關係，享受親子時間。家長從而亦能留意孩子心理及情緒的轉變，遇上問題亦能及早察覺，以免誘發抑鬱症或焦慮症等情緒問題。」
Dr. Wong suggests, “Everyone has a different personality, and the methods for handling stress also vary. Parents can work together with their children to establish stress management methods, whether it’s through exercise, drawing, listening to music, taking a good rest, or simply relaxing. However, when parents notice that their child’s emotional issues have persisted for a prolonged period, or have started to affect daily life, and especially if there are signs of self-harm or suicidal thoughts, parents should seek professional assistance for their children as soon as possible.”
Dr. Wong concludes with a message to parents: “Many parents are currently juggling work commitments, but it’s important for parents to consider setting aside a moment each day, putting work aside, and dedicating time to their children to build a strong parent-child relationship and enjoy quality time together. This way, parents can also pay attention to any changes in their children’s mental and emotional well-being, detect problems early, and prevent the development of emotional issues such as depression or anxiety.”
