GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 219
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people believe that teenagers are facing more problems in their life than they did in the past and this is because parents are spending more time at work than at home.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer:
Young people always go through puberty and adolescence with some psychological problems. Some experts, however, think that the youths of today’s society are facing more challenges than ever because parents are not able to spend quality time with them at home. I agree with this viewpoint up to a point, but I also believe there are other compelling reasons for that issue.
To begin with, adolescence is the transition from childhood to maturity. In this critical juncture of life, the youths should get wholehearted support from their parents so that they can wrestle with the issues efficiently. Unfortunately, gone are the days when one parent was at work while the other stayed at home with offspring, but nowadays both parents need at least one job apiece. As a result, teenagers very often fail to take a cautious approach to the problems and thereby confronting more challenges than previous generations. For instance, a recent study has evidenced that teenagers who have both working parents are exposed to more adverse states of life due to lack of parental care, guidance and love.
However, the woeful inability of parents to spend adequate family time is not the only reason that contributes to the phenomenon. The overwhelming screen time also brings more problems for teenagers. Put simply, adolescents spend a lot of time online, whether it is on an internet-connected gaming system, a smartphone or a computer with the advent of the internet. In consequence, they squander the vital opportunity to develop essential skills to deal with the issues. An example here is the “interpersonal skill”. Teenagers, in most cases, cannot forge strong relationships due to the lack of interpersonal skill, which in turn, creates complexity in their lives. In addition to this, parental pressure is another prime cause. The world today has become cut-throat competitive and thereby, parents expect the adolescents to get good grades, excel in extracurricular activities and so on. This enormous pressure also creates more problems than in previous generations.
To conclude, although teens today confront more challenges because their parents lead a hectic life, there are other prominent factors such as technological advancement, parental pressure and so forth fuel it up. It is hoped that parents would spend more time with their children to offer mental support to overcome such obstacles.
Some people believe that teenagers are facing more problems in their life than they did in the past and this is because parents are spending more time at work than at home.
Do you agree or disagree?
Many nowadays believe that modern adolescents face more issues than their past peers which are directly linked to the lack of parental attention. I completely disagree with the notion as I believe that life had been even harder and children in the previous generation had to face far more complex problems than the youngsters face today despite having good family time in the past.
No doubt, the modern lifestyle forces both parents to work hard to show their loyalty to corporations and to gain the opportunity to move quickly up the career ladder. As a result, children who do not eat home-prepared food, as parents do not have time to cook, begin to consume a large portion of various fast-food products, from fatty-saturated meats to sugar-based beverages. All of these products harm their physical health and could later be transferred into more serious issues, like obesity, diabetes, and even cancer of the digestive system. Moreover, many children, these days, do not get enough parental care and could develop numerous neurological disorders due to the fact that they spent their time in solitude and sadness, without any opportunity to create social bonds with their family members and friends. As a consequence, they suffer from chronic depression and other mental disorders.
Nevertheless, despite these facts, adolescents, in the past, had to face more severe physical and mental issues, even with extended parental supervision. To begin with, in the era of industrialization, teenagers were forced to work in various industrial facilities in an extremely toxic environment, without any protective equipment. Painting ready products with toxic dyes, working with the numerous chemical compounds, and lifting various heavy items were the main duties of many past adolescents. Due to such heavy duties, the majority of them suffered from numerous disorders like asthma, eczema, chronic body pains, and even premature deaths. Furthermore, in the past children were not allowed to participate in adults’ social life, their right was suppressed both by society, which often mistreated teens and deprive them of the opportunity to pass through formal education or attend various social activities. Finally, they had to face more deadly diseases and harsh poverty unlike most children in the modern age.
In conclusion, even though modern adolescents suffer from loneliness and depression due to the lack of parental supervision, it is, in fact, a pale issue compared with the adverse situations teens in the past had to endure and fight.