LettersFor better mental health, help students connect and build inclusive empathy

As International Youth Day is marked on August 12, tackling Hong Kong’s youth mental health crisis must start with prevention – and ensuring every student feels a sense of belonging on campus. As classrooms grow increasingly diverse, with ethnically diverse students, cross-border pupils and neurodiverse learners, we must rethink where we look for solutions. The most powerful agents of change are already in our classrooms: our students themselves.

While technological tools dominate discussions on modern education, relational intelligence – the ability to connect and build empathy across differences – is not just a skill to be learned, but an essential foundation for human thriving. True mental health begins with human connection; learning to navigate differences is what allows young people to flourish both inside the classroom and beyond. True youth empowerment means trusting students to co-create inclusive campuses, rather than treating them merely as passive beneficiaries of care.

At Resolve, our recently piloted Stand By Me programme with six local secondary schools shows that when youth are given the tools and agency to lead, and even the funding to drive their own inclusive campus projects, they transform school culture from the ground up.

Giving students the vocabulary of intersectionality and allyship equips them to replace subtle exclusions with intentional micro-inclusions and small everyday actions.

Our programme outcomes show that giving students these frameworks moves them from passive bystanders to active upstanders who consciously foster social connection in their classrooms. This youth-led approach directly aligns with the Education Bureau’s emphasis on Values Education and 4Rs Mental Health Charter by strengthening peer relationships.