RCHK Students Face Common Social Challenges

By Kiwi Cheung

Students at Renaissance College Hong Kong (RCHK) often face common social challenges, such as making friends, handling exclusion, and navigating friendships and romantic relationships. These issues are particularly relevant among Year 7 students who are still adjusting to secondary school life, significantly impacting their emotional well-being and overall school experience. Two Year 7 students, Amy Eastment and Edna Leung, along with their Head of Year 7, Miss Austin, shared their insights on these social hurdles and the school's efforts to provide support for its diverse student community.

Amy Eastment, student at Renaissance College Hong Kong (RCHK), being interviewed about facing Common Social Challenges in RCHK 4th floor SS 410 Hub

Amy described the difficulty of forming new friendships by saying, “Some people can just go up to someone and say Hi without a doubt, and someone could overthink it and still say Hi, and like be really nervous and scared about it.” these words capture the anxiety that many people feel when dealing with social interactions.

Edna added, “When people are playing games like tag, and they tag someone but they don't want to be it, and they start a fight, soon they are excluding each other from playing games with them.” This illustrates how seemingly minor conflicts can lead to social exclusion.

Miss Austin explained that making new friends is a challenge for people for all ages. She said, “It's never an easy, straightforward process that's the same every time. It requires us to be quite vulnerable and put ourselves out there, and kind of sit in that feeling of being a little uncomfortable while you get to know new people. It also makes you a little nervous because you don't know what the outcome might be from these social interactions that you might have. So the whole idea, I think, is quite daunting to people, but I would like just the message around that to be that that's totally a normal feeling to experience.” Her perspective reassures students that such feelings are normal and just a part of the growth process.

Miss Austin, head of Year 7 at Renaissance College Hong Kong (RCHK), being interviewed about facing Common Social Challenges in RCHK 3rd floor room SS 304

Social exclusion, whether intentional or accidental, remains a significant concern. Amy shared, “It hurts when you’re not included, even when you're a bit older, it might still be very hard because you're a bit more nervous, and most of the time everyone knows each other already.”

Miss Austin acknowledged the painful reality, stating, “Exclusion is something that many people experience, so it's sadly not a unique experience for many, but it is something that we don't talk about to each other, so it can feel quite isolating. I think it does knock your confidence, and it can affect how you make friends in the future, and the relationships that you build.”

Adding another layer of complexity, early friendship and romantic relationships introduce emotional challenges for students. Amy described the experience as “exciting but a bit overwhelming,” highlighting the delicate challenge of balancing feelings with friendships and schoolwork.

Miss Austin emphasized the importance of mutual respect in any relationship, whether it is a friendship or a romantic one. She said, “It's important to establish mutual trust, to ensure that the relationship that you're building is healthy, they should be someone where you feel like you can be yourself. If we can't be ourselves, that creates a different problem as you start to nurture this relationship. I think it's important that we're all honest and just, above all, just being kind and delicate in our friendships because they are important to us and we should want to keep them.”

Despite these challenges, Amy expressed optimism about the school's role in supporting students “Knowing that the school supports us, it just really makes it easier to face different types of social challenges.”

Edna added, “Making friends and like earning their trust takes time, and I feel like it’s okay to feel uncertain.”

Over 90% of public sector primary schools in Hong Kong have implemented Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs to address social challenges by teaching essential emotional and social skills.

While RCHK emphasizes the importance of a supportive school environment that combines wellbeing, counseling, and positive relationships to help students navigate social issues and promote emotional resilience during a crucial stage of their development, this approach clearly demonstrates how SEL and RCHK methods complement each other in fostering students' social and emotional growth.