Losing cellphone 'most stressful for youth' - Struggling in lessons and exams comes close behind for young S'poreans: Study - The Straits Times - 7 Dec 2012
By Stacey Chia
LOSING a mobile phone is more stressful to a young Singaporean than not doing well at school, a new study has found.
Struggling in lessons and exams caused misery for 70 per cent of those polled. But merely misplacing a handset brought despair to 72 per cent.
The two crises were the top stress factors in an online study meant to help media networks understand "millennial audiences around the globe".
Financial consultant Soon Qiao Ying, 24, agreed with the findings after losing her phone twice this year. "It costs a lot to get a new phone. Also, we depend on our phones a lot these days so being uncontactable even for a short while is troublesome."
Young Singaporeans also appear to be more stressed than their foreign counterparts, with 39 per cent saying they feel under pressure, compared with the global average of 33 per cent.
An online study called The Next Normal, by mass media company Viacom, was conducted in June and July to look into "attitudes, values, aspirations and perspectives of young people". It will help the company determine programming content.
The findings, released last month at the Monaco Media Forum, contain responses from 11,300 respondents between nine and 30 years old from 24 countries, including China, India and the US.
In Singapore, 451 people took part in the study. The most stressed-out age group here was the nine to 14 age range.
Students and parents interviewed said the findings are not unusual.
Secondary 2 student Lucas Hsu, 14, who recently returned from a school trip to Canada, said students of his age there were doing mathematics problems that were easier than those Singaporean teenagers have to do. "Students there seem to be more self-directed so perhaps they stress themselves out less," he observed.
Writer Tan Soon Meng, 49, said "it is not by accident" that Singaporean students outdo their foreign counterparts in international exams. "Success in all these exams comes at a cost... we need to ask ourselves if this is what we want for our children," said Mr Tan, who has two daughters aged 12 and 15.
Other key international findings from the study showed half of the respondents believe job security will get worse and 75 per cent believe social media has a beneficial effect on relationship with friends.
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By Stacey Chia
LOSING a mobile phone is more stressful to a young Singaporean than not doing well at school, a new study has found.
Struggling in lessons and exams caused misery for 70 per cent of those polled. But merely misplacing a handset brought despair to 72 per cent.
The two crises were the top stress factors in an online study meant to help media networks understand "millennial audiences around the globe".
Financial consultant Soon Qiao Ying, 24, agreed with the findings after losing her phone twice this year. "It costs a lot to get a new phone. Also, we depend on our phones a lot these days so being uncontactable even for a short while is troublesome."
Young Singaporeans also appear to be more stressed than their foreign counterparts, with 39 per cent saying they feel under pressure, compared with the global average of 33 per cent.
An online study called The Next Normal, by mass media company Viacom, was conducted in June and July to look into "attitudes, values, aspirations and perspectives of young people". It will help the company determine programming content.
The findings, released last month at the Monaco Media Forum, contain responses from 11,300 respondents between nine and 30 years old from 24 countries, including China, India and the US.
In Singapore, 451 people took part in the study. The most stressed-out age group here was the nine to 14 age range.
Students and parents interviewed said the findings are not unusual.
Secondary 2 student Lucas Hsu, 14, who recently returned from a school trip to Canada, said students of his age there were doing mathematics problems that were easier than those Singaporean teenagers have to do. "Students there seem to be more self-directed so perhaps they stress themselves out less," he observed.
Writer Tan Soon Meng, 49, said "it is not by accident" that Singaporean students outdo their foreign counterparts in international exams. "Success in all these exams comes at a cost... we need to ask ourselves if this is what we want for our children," said Mr Tan, who has two daughters aged 12 and 15.
Other key international findings from the study showed half of the respondents believe job security will get worse and 75 per cent believe social media has a beneficial effect on relationship with friends.
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