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Screen Time and Children's Mental Abilities

Nowadays, children spend a lot of time watching TV and playing computer games. Some people believe this has negative effects on children's mental abilities.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

1 sample answer, estimated Band 7.0. Your turn?

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From essays on this question

Essay ideas: Screen Time and Children's Mental Abilities

WhyThis is anOpinion essay — it asks whether you agree or disagree with a statement.

SoWe split the ideas intoReasons to agree(supports the statement)andReasons to disagree(argues against it).

Reasons to agree

2 ideas

Reasons to disagree

2 ideas

Same question · Different responses

Sample responses and feedback

Response 01

Must fixSuggested

Essay · 291 words · 4 paragraphs · 11 comments

Score details

Response 01
Estimated band7.0/ 9

Overall assessment

The response maintains a clear position and develops both benefits and drawbacks of screen use with relevant examples. Its paragraphing and language control are strong, but some examples state broad effects without explaining how they arise. The criticism of pre-designed content also needs a clearer connection to excessive duration. The phrase 'somehow true' expresses uncertainty about how something happens rather than the intended limited concession.

TR

Task Response

The response directly addresses the extent-of-agreement question with a clear, consistent position, develops main ideas on both sides, and supports them with relevant examples, though development remains somewhat general.

7.0
CC

Coherence and Cohesion

Ideas progress logically through clear paragraphing and cohesive devices such as 'First', 'However', and 'In conclusion', with only slightly mechanical sequencing at times.

7.0
LR

Lexical Resource

Vocabulary is varied and generally precise, with topic-specific expressions such as 'cognitive agility' and 'shorter attention spans'. Occasional imprecision, particularly 'somehow true', and compressed combinations such as 'acquire broader knowledge and vocabulary' reduce naturalness.

7.0
GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

A range of complex structures, including concessive clauses, relative clauses and participial clauses, is used with generally strong control. Sentences remain clear despite their length, and grammatical accuracy supports the argument throughout.

7.0

What to work on next

Explain how excessive screen time produces the harms you identify, connecting duration to attention or lost opportunities for independent thinking. Use a concrete illustrative case, and replace 'somehow' with a word expressing degree, such as 'partly'.

From essays on this question

Useful vocabulary: Screen Time and Children's Mental Abilities

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Part 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write at least 250 words.

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