Children are facing more pressures nowadays from academic, social and commercial sources. What are the causes of these pressures and what measures should be taken to reduce them?
Life has always had its challenges, but for the current generation of
youngsters it is arguably tougher than ever.
Those below the age of eighteen face enormous stress. It is essential to develop
a detailed understanding of these challenges so that
steps may be taken to alleviate them.
The youth of today is pressurized by the education system, family members and peers, as well as the wider society. Whilst in the classroom, teenagers are expected to succeed and achieve, and may have to work excessively hard to get the grades demanded by teachers and parents alike. At the same time, peer pressure has a massive influence on the behavior of adolescents: they are desperate to conform and to be respected and liked by those of a similar age. This pressure has been exacerbated by the growth of social media. Finally, these young and vulnerable individuals are bombarded with messages from advertisers by exploiting the fears and insecurity which schoolchildren naturally have.
The situation is unacceptable and could have disastrous long-term consequences for mental and emotional health. To address it, schools could be encouraged to focus more on the enjoyment of learning and less on examination results. Parents should also be asked to give their sons and daughters greater independence and to worry less about test scores. Younger members of society need to be helped to develop greater self-esteem so that others’ comments and actions do not hurt them.
It is worth concluding with a stark message: we are bringing up a generation of children who are either self-obsessed or lacking in self-worth, neurotic or psychotic. Unless we take this matter seriously, we will all pay a heavy price when these youngsters grow and find themselves in positions of responsibility.
In IELTS Speaking and writing, if you can use collocations accurately, you are more likely to get a higher band score. There are numerous collocations in this essay that we recommend
using:
- to face enormous stress
- a detailed understanding of
- steps may be taken to alleviate them (the collocation is to take steps to do something)
- the wider society
- teachers and parents alike (both teachers and parents)
- has/have a massive influence on
- disastrous long-term consequences
- a stark message = a strong message
- pay a heavy price = to suffer the bad consequences of something
- positions of responsibility = good and important jobs
- Unless we take this matter seriously
- exacerbated = made worse
- are bombarded with = to subject someone to something repeatedly
- to conform = comply with/obey rules, standards, or laws
- to address it = to deal with it
- self-worth/self-esteem = confidence in your own abilities; self-respect
- self-obsessed = thinking only about oneself
- neurotic = abnormally sensitive, obsessive, or anxious
- psychotic = severely mentally ill
This essay is about 'children' and there is a need to use that word many times in an essay such as this. Look at the many different ways you can refer to children that have been used in this essay (the underlined words and phrases).
