IELTS Writing Task 2
In many parts of the world, children are given more freedom than in the past. Is this a positive or negative development?
Sample Answer
Today, children in many regions of the world are granted more autonomy than they used to be. This, in my perspective, has both merits and demerits.
The increased allowance of freedom potentially helps a child learn to be discerning and independent from a young age. Indeed, parents who are either too protective or too restrictive, which was characteristic of past generations, often struggle to teach their offspring to be judicious and responsible. Freedom, therefore, is essential to help form the child’s bold character. Moreover, it is also crucial for narrowing the gap between parents and kids. This can be seen by comparing the way children of the 1970s generation, for example, handle problems pertaining to their relationships with their parents with that of those born three decades later. The latter are more likely to be able to resolve these issues by openly discussing them with their parents, which the former hardly do.
However, freedom should be granted only to a certain extent, lest it turn out to be detrimental. It could, for instance, lead to excessive liberty in matters of morality. Because the child is rarely warned against exceeding certain boundaries, he may grow up treating issues like drugs, alcohol, and crime as if they were harmless. Or, to a lesser degree, the child may be spoiled from indulgence and develop damaging character traits such as arrogance or irresponsibility.
In conclusion, it could be a positive phenomenon that children nowadays enjoy more liberty than in the past. This can help nurture the child’s personality and reduce the distance in the parent-child relationship. On the other hand, an immoderate practice of this might cause the child to be morally ruined or foster poor qualities such as self-centeredness and thoughtlessness.
288 words – Band 7.0+
