You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Television has brought great changes to the way many children spend their leisure time. While some of these changes have been beneficial, others have had a harmful effect. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer
The way in which numerous children spend their free time has changed significantly through the advent of television. This change in activity, however, has had both a positive and negative effect on these children.
Compared to past leisure activities, television has been beneficial for a child’s education and entertainment. Before the invention of television, children often listened to educational programmes on the radio. But unlike radio which is only audio, television is both audio and image. Children today not only listen to but can also watch programmes on television, such as a kindergarten teacher teaching the alphabet. The extra dimension of the image makes learning the alphabet simpler, and it is also easier to remember. Furthermore, in the past, young children often played with toys. However, many children found these toys dull and boring to play with. Young children today find television much more entertaining. They regularly watch cartoons after school. This helps them to relax and unwind.
In contrast to those benefits, television has been harmful to a child’s physical and social development. Before television, which is an indoor sedentary activity, children played outdoors more frequently. Children of modern times spend less time outdoors and tend to sit in front of the television indoors for too long. As a result of this inactivity, there is an increasing amount of unfit and overweight children in the world. In addition, previously, children spent more time talking with their friends face-to-face. Television rather is a passive activity with no direct interaction. To make matters worse children of today often watch television in isolation. Consequently, many children have fewer friends through the poor social skills they have developed.
In conclusion, television as a leisure activity for children has both benefits and drawbacks. Therefore, when children watch television, the programmes they should watch narrowing down to either educational or entertaining. However, they must balance the outdoor activities and engage with their friends.
[ Written by – Tony Ngo ]