Some people think that secondary school children should study international news as one of the school subjects. Others, however, think that it is a waste of valuable school time and has no value. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
The power of global media to educate today's youth and shape their views is significant. While some argueopine that the global media and international news, as part of secondary education, have no value, others believe that international news should be studied by secondary-school pupilsthose pupils. This essay attempts to examine the issue by examiningdiving deep into both views. However, I believe that international news, as part of the secondary-school curriculumthe secondary education syllabus, is important.
On the one hand, many critics of the inclusion of global media in secondary education argue that teenagers would be negatively affected by the global media’s focus on negative issues of international events like wars and civil unrest. This is because exposure to violence often leads to depression, and young peoplethe youths may develop apathygrow an apathy towards historytowards our history and global politics. For example, a few recent surveys indicateexplain that despondent teenagers usually cite the troublingdismal state of the world as a source of depressionas a source of their depression. Since mental health is an important concern in secondary educationan important objective of secondary education, it is therefore questionableit is, therefore, questionable whether the study of international news would benefit young students.
On the other hand, global media enriches young people's understanding of contemporary affairs and broaden their knowledge and horizons. This is because international affairs, as part of education, make them informed and awareboth make them conscious and knowledgeable and connect global youths on the same platforms. For example, a study conductedrun by Oxford sociologists showed that the media heavily influences teenagers’ knowledge of contemporary affairs, whichcontemporary affairs which has a strong positive impact by makinghighly positive impact on making them aware of the world. This awareness helps them become global citizensmakes them global citizens and encourages them to share ideas.
In conclusion, clearly, there are arguments for and against the study of global news in secondary schools. However, educators and authorities can make it more useful by adopting proper policy and teaching methods, and reap the benefits of teaching young students international news as part of their secondary education.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay discusses both views in a clear structure and maintains the position that international news can build awareness and global citizenship when taught appropriately. Its main limitation is that several claims, especially the link between news exposure and depression, are broad or weakly evidenced, while some language is unnatural. The priority is to propose specific teaching safeguards and support each side with more credible, precisely explained evidence.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views and a clear supportive opinion are addressed with relevant reasons, though some evidence is general and the proposed teaching solution is not developed concretely.
Explain how age-appropriate source selection, media-literacy teaching, and limited timetable allocation could preserve benefits while reducing distress and wasted time.
Coherence and Cohesion
The four-paragraph structure and contrast between the two views are easy to follow, although some explanation-example links are formulaic and repetitive.
Use each example to demonstrate a precise causal claim rather than repeatedly introducing support with 'This is because' and 'For example.'
Lexical Resource
The response uses a good range for education and current affairs, but phrases such as 'grow an apathy,' 'surveys explain,' and 'global youths' are unnatural or imprecise.
Use accurate expressions such as 'develop apathy,' 'surveys indicate,' 'young people worldwide,' and 'international-news literacy.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex forms is used with generally clear meaning, but agreement, articles, coordination, and modification errors recur.
Maintain agreement in phrases such as 'global media enriches and broadens' and ensure relative clauses clearly modify the intended noun.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that secondary school children should study international news as one of the school subjects. Others, however, think that it is a waste of valuable school time and has no value. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.