Experts discuss how to encourage Hong Kong students who are ‘lying flat’
When schools are so competitive, many teens try their best but don’t succeed – this could be why many of them do the bare minimum to get by.
“Lying flat” is when someone is just doing as little as possible to get by. Illustration: Shutterstock Asha Lo worked hard in primary school. But after struggling to keep up with her classmates at the start of secondary school, she has stopped trying her best. She doesn’t go to many tutorial classes and chooses not to give her all in her studies.
Like many other young Hongkongers, Asha describes herself as “lying flat”. This term refers to doing as little as possible to get by. A recent survey from the Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association found that nearly half of the city’s secondary school students were already lying flat or planning to do so.
“You see the gap between you and other people ... It’s very hard to overcome this,” the teen said. “You find [that] studying hard is useless.”
Asha knows that lying flat affects her grades. But for now, the 16-year-old said this lifestyle was good for her mental health.
“I feel happy knowing that it’s not as stressful as some of my friends who take extra classes for every subject,” she said. “At the same time, I feel disappointed with my grades.”
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Too much stress
Ken Fung has been a child psychologist for 10 years. He said lying flat was often a response to expectations to do well in school.
“If the achievements expected by their parents or family or the society are actually out of their control ... they may adopt this lying flat strategy to avoid disappointing society,” Fung said.
It could be a way for students to protect themselves from feeling bad about their skills.
“When [students] fail, they can blame it on not working hard rather than their ability,” he said.
Adrian K Yee is a philosophy professor at Lingnan University. He agreed with Fung that lying flat was a response to the pressures of society. He said the competition and stress in Hong Kong could be overwhelming.
“It’s unsurprising that people are saying, ‘I just had enough of this ... I’m going to enjoy life,’” Yee said.
How to encourage teens to try again
Rainbow Chow has been a career coach for more than a decade. She said that schools needed to help students find their path in life even if they failed at first.
She suggested focusing on emotional intelligence instead of exams and scores.
“We’re just teaching them how to fail because of the system. And I feel that the school is not teaching the students how to face these failures,” Chow said.
According to Fung, wanting to lie flat could be a sign that students need to take a break. But instead of giving up, the psychologist recommended doing something that brings you joy.
Tim*, a secondary school teacher, also encouraged students to work hard for an easier future.
“If you get into a very bad job or you fail, you won’t have as many options [without a university degree],” he noted.
This is why Asha plans to change her approach. She thinks students should stop lying flat when it is not useful any more.
The teen hopes to become a history teacher or archaeologist one day, so she needs to get into a good university. With this goal in mind, she feels ready to begin preparing for her university entrance exams.
“I’d start from dropping the habit of being a couch potato and start reading the books first ... The start is the thing that stops most people,” she said.
* Name changed at interviewee’s request.
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Reflect: Have you ever wanted to “lie flat”? Explain.
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Why this story matters: Wanting to “lie flat” can be a result of having too much pressure. It is important to find a balance between taking restful breaks and working towards a goal. Society needs to find ways to encourage young people who feel overwhelmed by stress.
adopt 採取
to choose or start using a certain way of doing things
emotional intelligence 情商
the ability to understand and deal with your feelings, as well as respond to how others are feeling
get by 勉強應付
to be able to survive with what you have
lifestyle 生活方式
how a person lives and works
overcome 克服
to successfully deal with a problem
overwhelming 令人難以承受
so powerful that you cannot deal with it
unsurprising 不足為奇
describes something that is expected because it is predictable
Build your vocabulary skills
Why would emotional intelligence be a helpful skill for students who are lying flat?