Tuesday, 17 August 2010

Model Answer - Ielts Writing (Task 2)

In many countries schools have severe problems with student behaviour.
What do you think are the causes of this? What solutions can you suggest?

Schools of today differ from those of the past. Students are rude to teachers, don’t pay attention in class and aren’t disciplined. Outside the classroom there is bullying, drug pushing and vandalism. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons behind this anti-social behaviour.

Teachers are often blamed for students’ behaviour but we must remember that their hands have been tied by laws and frequent inspections. They are no longer able to punish students or pass any negative comments. This means students can behave badly knowing there won’t be any consequences to bear.

Parents and guardians are responsible for their children’s manners. I believe children from broken homes or the ones who aren’t given adequate encouragement or support are more likely to exhibit anti-social tendencies. Looking at society as a whole, the value systems have changed as have attitudes towards education.

As the old school system, dominated by respect and discipline cannot be brought back, other alternatives can be examined. Harsher forms of punishment like longer periods of expulsion for bullies and attacks against minority groups could be imposed. Teachers should be given more power in classrooms and students with discipline problems could be sent to hospitals and old age homes to carry out projects or asked to repair damaged school property.

To conclude, some schools, particularly inner city ones have to deal with extreme situations like gangs, drugs, vandalism and anti-social behaviour in general. This stems from an unstable home environment and lack of teachers’ disciplinary powers. Our modern, humane society favours integration, inclusion etc as opposed to punishment, so some type of community service might be ideal to combat this behaviour.

Cambridge, Ielts 4 past papers, p.98

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