A Study on WeSupport, a WeChat-based Learning Platform
In general, the majority of parent users reported that parenting lessons very much helped them improve communication with their children, understand them better and build a closer relationship with them( Chart 20). While such surveys often trigger positive bias from respondents, the feedback of users clearly indicated positive changes in their awareness and perception, which is the necessary first step towards achieving behavior change. As the survey shows, the majority of parents said that the clips were very helpful and only a handful did not see any benefits. From the interviews we understand that while the impact on knowledge and awareness can be immediate, behavior change takes more time and is an ongoing process.
Chart 20: How much WeSupport helped parents
70 %
60 %
50 %
40 %
62.1 % 58.6 % 58.6 %
39. 3 % 39. 3 % 37.9 %
Communication Understanding Building up relationship
30 %
20 %
10 % |
|
|
|
0 |
Very much |
Partly |
0.0 % 0.7 % 0.7 % 0.0 % 1. 4 % 1. 4 %
Did not help
Not applicable
|
Li Mei is one of those working parents who is separated from her child due to work and is making a big effort to close the emotional gap created by distance:
The Story of Li Mei
Li Mei is a 37-year-old factory worker. She has an 11 year-old son who lives with his father back home. Li Mei only goes back home twice a year to visit her family, but tries really hard to stay connected with her son.“ I video chat with my son as much as possible, but I used to only ask him the same questions about his homework and school … I left like as he was getting older, he didn’ t want to talk to me so much anymore”, she says.“ Recently, I read some contents on the WeSupport platform about effective listening and some“ tricks” about different ways to ask questions. I really tried to“ experiment” with these tricks whenever I talked to my son … and I think slowly but surely, he is more willing to talk to me.”
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