Media

The Competence in Active Resilience for Kids (CARing Kids) is a humane education programme to enhance primary students’ social-emotional learning in Hong Kong.  It is delivered by trained mental health and teaching professionals and assisted by trained reading canines and their handlers.

Led by Dr. Paul Wong, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the University of Hong Kong, CARing Kids is a remedial and preventive service funded by the Keswick Foundation to tackle the issue of youth suicide in Hong Kong.

The programme addresses junior primary students’ developmental needs in emotional regulation, learning social skills, problem-solving skills, and handling loss and separation. Apart from knowledge and skills acquisition, students had the opportunity to read to a trained canine using self-developed storybooks based on true live experience of rescued canines.

In this press conference, the CARing Kids team will share the research findings collected between 2018 and 2021 from 11 primary schools on students’ changes in empathy, reading motivation, and socio-emotional well-being after having participated in the curriculum. School representatives will share their observations on changes of the students and the school environment. There will also be a demonstration on the reading component with one of our reading canines, Taxi Wong, and his handler.

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend the press conference. Details are as follows:

Date: June 17, 2021 (Thursday)
Time:
2:30 – 3:00 pm (photo session)
3:00 – 4:00 pm (release of findings and sharing by guests)
Venue: CPD-3.28, 3/F, The Jockey Club Tower, The Centennial Campus, HKU
Language: Cantonese

Speakers & Guests:
Dr. Paul Wong, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU
Mr. Joe Ngai, PhD Candidate, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU
Taxi Wong & Ms. Rebecca Ngan, Reading Canine & Handler
Student representatives who participated in CARing Kids
Representatives from schools and NGOs

For more details about CARing Kids, please contact Dr. Paul Wong (Tel: 3917 5029; email: paulw@hku.hk) or Dr. Rose Yu (Tel: 3917 5013; email: yuwaiman@hku.hk). For media enquiries, please contact HKU Communications and Public Affairs Office: Ms Melanie Wan (Tel: 2859 2600 / Email: melwkwan@hku.hk)or Ms Rashida Suffiad (Tel: 2857 8555 / Email: rsuffiad@hku.hk).