Educators, especially pre-school and primary school teachers, play a significant role in influencing and mentoring children who face higher degrees of adversity - often those from low-income families, according to a recent report (Kids from needy families face risk of poorer outcomes: Study, April 1).

As children spend a lot of time with their teachers, educators can provide them with strong emotional support. This is especially crucial for children who come from broken families.

While there are various counselling programmes to help children from such backgrounds, more can be done. For instance, teachers could set aside more time for one-to-one interaction with these children to engage them in meaningful conversations and let them know that they are not alone in life.

Schools can also draw inspiration from Finland's education system and consider attaching the same form teacher to a class for several years.

This can deepen the emotional connection between educators and students, and compensate for the lack of warmth or security that some students experience at home. Hopefully, this will deter such children from engaging in undesirable acts, such as alcoholism and drug use, later in their lives.

Kuo Pei Yu, 18

Junior College Year 2 student

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