Taiwanese children are spending most of their leisure time on activities that do not require interpersonal communication at home, going outdoors for physical exercise or playing with their peers, a survey released yesterday suggested.
The Chinese-language magazine Education, Parenting and Family Style surveyed 3,996 fifth and eighth-graders and 1,206 homeroom teachers from May 26 to June 17.
The survey of students showed that 59.1 percent of the respondents often played at home rather than outdoors. The nature of their leisure activities was mostly static, with surfing the Internet and watching TV or DVDs topping their activity choices.
“These children spend most of their leisure time at home when they are supposed to be enjoying their youth,” the magazine’s editor-in-chief Ho Chi-yu (何琦瑜) told a press conference.
Ho said she was also surprised to learn that 28.2 percent of the students complained that they don’t have enough time to play.
The survey of teachers showed that 70.5 percent believed their students had serious problems with interpersonal relationships.
A cross-analysis of the answers regarding free time and interpersonal relationships showed that those students who did not have enough time to play had more difficulties making friends.
A total of 61.8 percent of the students said they attended cram schools, while 34.2 percent said they spent more than three hours at a cram school every day.
Ninety-three percent of teachers said their students had a low motivation to learn.
Ho said the large amount of time pupils spent at cram schools every day might be the main reason they were not motivated.
Joyce Feng (馮燕), chairwoman of the Child Welfare League Foundation and dean of National Taiwan University’s Office of Student Affairs, told the conference that adults should respect “children’s basic human right to play.”
“When they play, they feel happy and their potential increases,” she said.
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