News and Events

Communication studies students collaborate with a social service organisation to promote education on fathering

A group of 35 students of the Department of Communications Studies, under the guidance Dr Angela Mak, Associate Professor of the Department, teamed up with the Family Value Foundation of Hong Kong to produce a book entitled We are Good Fathers. They also supported the preparation for the opening ceremony of the Centre for Fathering. Through the campaign, students not only helped strengthen the public’s knowledge of fathering, but also put what they have learnt into practice.

Teams of students interviewed five fathers in the city to find out how they broke with tradition and re-interpreted the concept of “fathering” with love. The material they gathered also helped readers to better understand practical communication techniques. The book, which helps advance the fathering movement in Hong Kong, is now in the fourth edition with 4,000 copies. For more details, please refer to: http://www.familyvalue.org.hk/fathering-book-2017.html

Peter Law (Public Relations and Advertising, Year 3) said that there was a large age gap between his teammates and the fathers. So they devoted great efforts in their researches beforehand to make sure they could gain the trust of the interviewees. They prepared detailed questions and paid close attention to how they should interact with the fathers during the interviews. He said their efforts were not wasted as many people praised their write-ups as highly readable.

Peter also took part in the publicity work for the opening ceremony of the Centre for Fathering, getting a taste of what it is like to be a public relations practitioner. His work included writing press releases, pitching to the media to gain coverage, drafting messages on social media platforms and making a short film. He learned a lot from this experience.

To further expand the project to secondary schools, the students will visit China Holiness College in September. They will share their writing experiences with the College’s senior secondary school students, who are going to participate in the project, and will raise their awareness of the mission of HKBU’s School of Communication and the development of the fathering movement.

	Dr Angela Mak (second from left) leads the student teams in cooperating with the Family Value Foundation of Hong Kong to promote education on fathering.

	Communication studies students take part in the opening ceremony for the Centre for Fathering.