Saturday Morning CPE1 - AC2.1-9S

Sorry to do this to you, but here is your third assessed writing task for this session. Please give this to me in the first class after the holiday, or email it to me (in .doc format, and including your name in the document name and in the document itself) by then.

The extracts below are from letters which appeared in a national newspaper. You decide to write a reply. In your letter, respond to the issues raised and express your own opinions.

Nowadays, parents let their children make their own decisions from a far too early age. They say that this freedom helps children to learn from their mistakes and gives them the confidence and maturity to deal with taking responsibility in adult life. I disagree. It is totally irresponsible to let young people make their own choices about friendship, how they spend their free time, and, in their later teens, crucial decisions about their future lives. We only have to read the newspapers to see examples of the common problems of today’s youth such as addiction to the internet, alcohol and drug abuse, bad manners, and poor results at school. Children and teenagers need their parents’ and teachers’ guidance, and sometimes their intervention! – C.U.P

When I was a kid, after school we would quickly grab something to eat at home and then take our bikes into the hills nearby. Today it is called downhill racing and it’s a ‘radical sport’ – you need a special bike and lots of safety equipment. Back then, the only requirement was having something with two wheels that you could ride. There were no mobile phones so our parents didn’t have a clue about where we were or what we were doing. If someone had an accident and got hurt, we had to deal with it and make up a convincing story to tell our parents – one that would allow us to get back there the following day! Those days, we had to manage the responsibility of having to take care of ourselves, and we suffered the consequences of the mistakes we made. Growing up wasn’t easy, but it didn’t kill us – it made us stronger! – R.S

Write your letter in 300-350 words. Do not include any postal addresses.