How can a person develop the kind of self-awareness and self-esteem that will lead to greater maturity and lay the foundations for stable relationships with other people?

1 How can young people ....

– get to know themselves and see themselves as others see them?

– learn how to accept and benefit from feedback about themselves?

– learn to take stock of their lives?

– discover their values and beliefs?

– discover their interests?

– appreciate and deal with their physical and emotional needs?

– discover what makes them do the things they do?

– learn to be positive about themselves to the point where they can accept their limitations and the things in their lives that they cannot change, without losing the will to improve themselves?

How do young people about to enter the adult world learn the skills that they will

need to function as mature adults in H.K. society?

2 How can young people ....

– learn to set achievable goals, and achieve them by motivating and disciplining themselves?

– learn to solve problems constructively and become effective decisionmakers?

– learn to manage their emotions?

– learn to cope with stress and failure, and to achieve and maintain emotional and physical well-being?

– learn to manage their sexuality?

– develop strategies to cope with the major changes (planned and unplanned) that occur in their lives and learn from these experiences?

– learn to communicate effectively?

– identify their creative potential and develop it?

– learn to manage their time effectively?

– learn to make the most of the present?

– learn to manage their finances?

What is involved in the kind of mature relationship between parents and their teenage children which leads to a smooth transition to the independence of adulthood?

3 How have changes in family patterns in H.K. affected the way that parents relate to their teenage children and the expectations that each has of the other? What is the current trend?

4 What factors underlie the phenomenon usually referred to as "the generation gap"? To what extent do H.K. parents underestimate the extent of the generation gap between themselves and their teenage children, while their children overestimate it?

5 What are the main causes of conflict between parents and their teenage children in H.K.? How are these conflicts typically "resolved"? When conflicts occur, which strategies, on the part of both parents and teenagers, appear to be the most effective?

6 How are children usually affected when they grow up in a home where the parents are in open conflict? In H.K., what are the consequences for the children when their parents separate or divorce? What is the impact on children when they grow up with only one parent?

7 Can H.K. parents better prepare their children to make the transition from adolescence to adulthood?

How can young people take advantage of all the positive features of group membership and at the same time learn to avoid the pitfalls which may be involved?

8 What is expected of H.K. sixth formers and young adults by their peers if they are to be popular as group members? What is the relative importance of the factors involved? What are the prevailing criteria which lead to classification as an undesirable group member?

9 What is it that makes some groups worth belonging to and others not? What skills can individuals develop to enable them to influence a group positively? What strategies can be used to survive in a group which the individual would prefer to leave but cannot?

10 How can young people cultivate those behaviours which will make them more acceptable and effective as group members, and at the same time modify those behaviours which alienate them from the group and diminish the contribution they can make?

11 What kind of pressures are there on adolescents to conform in H.K. society? What strategies can be used to resist undesirable peer group pressures? What

is the cost likely to be? Will H.K. teenagers moving into the adult world find things significantly different?

12 What is the significance of peer group pressures in behaviours such as experimentation with premarital sex, smoking, drugs, drinking and gambling? Are the efforts made by various groups in H.K., who believe that young people should avoid such activities, effective?

What are the factors that contribute to good sibling, employment and marriage relationships?

13 How do siblings typically relate to one another in H.K. society? What are the good and bad features of sibling rivalry, and how does it typically manifest itself in H.K.? How should parents handle such rivalries? How can a teenager best contribute to the growth and well-being of brothers and sisters?

14 What are the consequences of growing up as an "only child" in H.K. and themainland? What are the implications for parents if they have only one child?

15 What are the factors that determine job choice in H.K.? When are job decisions usually taken, and what are the typical consequences of these local practices? Where employment is entered into without due thought or conviction, what are the consequences likely to be in terms of self-esteem and relationships with superiors and colleagues?

16 What are the keys to good relationships with one's colleagues and superiors in the workplace?

17 How is promotion typically gained in H.K.? Should one strive to get on at any

price?

18 What are the factors that need to be considered in choosing a marriage partner? What is their relative importance? Why do arranged marriages take place and what is their impact on human relationships? How do courting couples normally conduct themselves in H.K.?

19 Are attitudes towards courting and marriage changing, and what is influencing these changes? Are these changes desirable? What understandings need to be reached prior to making a full commitment to each other?

20 Why do some marriages prosper and others fail?

How should responsible individuals relate to the society in which they live?

21 How easy is it for H.K. people to participate formally in community affairs? What is the impact of dense urban setting on community participation?

22 What typically motivates people to participate or discourages them from doing so? Has the pattern of participation changed significantly in the past two decades?

23 What are the forces that bind people together in the H.K. community? Compared with other major urban centres, how civic-minded are H.K. people in matters such as:

– willingness to participate in political activities, as well as to register as voters and to exercise the right to vote?

– the willingness of the victims of crime to report to the police?

– willingness to report crimes involving other people and to make citizens' arrests?

– helping people involved in street accidents?

– willingness to accept/assist people who are trying to reintegrate themselves into society such as former drug addicts, mental patients or discharged prisoners?

– willingness to accept/assist minority groups?

– consideration to others on crowded streets and when using lifts, public transport?

– giving time/money to support charities or donating blood/organs?

– properly disposing of litter in public places?

– assisting tourists?

What explains the wide range of attitudes and responses among H.K. people in these areas? Do such public attitudes really matter? How can more positive attitudes and participation be encouraged?

24 What is the impact of the development of information technology upon human relationships in the local as well as global context?