Children Making Their Own Everyday Choices

Some people believe that allowing children to make their own choices on everyday matters (such as food, clothes and entertainment) is likely to result in a society of individuals who only think about their own wishes. Other people believe that it is important for children to make decisions about matters that affect them. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Annotated response

4 correction notes

Showing 4 correction notes.

One common area of debate among parents is the extent to which children should be trusted to make their own decisions and the potential impact this will have on their sense of responsibility. Although decision-making skills will help in some ways, I believe parents should dictate choices for children in order to make them more aware of others.

On the one hand, children who have been allowed to make their own choices will eventually develop a keen sense of . This can be best seen in the contrasting example of helicopter parents and more liberal parents. Helicopter parents smother their children with attention and make the majority of their decisions for them. Over time, these kids will likely become dependent on their parents. If your parents always you never have to check weather forecasts, make choices about what colours match or concern yourself with trends in fashion. Later in life, these kids will not have developed any of these skills because of their parents. Contrast this with children who pick out their own clothes; they will have to consider these factors carefully and it will make them more responsible when it comes to shopping and taking care of their wardrobe.

On the other hand, I still believe that parents should make the majority of choices so that children will be more responsible towards others. For example, some parents have made the logical and ethical choice to be vegetarians and they force their children to do the same. This can have a positive effect not only on their individual health but also on the environment. Moreover, it is a learning opportunity for parents to teach their offspring about ethics. Parents can make the argument that industrial farming is inhumane and animals should be treated with more respect. This may have a carry-over effect resulting in their children growing up to be more thoughtful towards others.

In conclusion, parents should make most decisions for children to guide them to be more empathetic. They should work with teachers in their efforts to raise future citizens.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The response addresses both views with a clear personal position and mostly well-developed supporting examples, which is its strongest aspect. The main limitation is that some reasoning, such as the vegetarian example, is asserted rather than fully explained, and occasional errors slightly reduce polish.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Response

7.0

The response discusses both views, presents a consistent opinion, and supports main ideas with relevant examples, though some ideas are developed unevenly rather than fully extended.

Coherence and Cohesion

7.0

Ideas progress logically across clear paragraphs with a range of cohesive devices, and cohesion is generally well managed despite some mechanical linking.

Lexical Resource

7.0

Vocabulary is sufficiently flexible and precise for the topic, with occasional spelling slips such as 'responsibilty' and 'conscientous' that do not impede meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.0

A range of complex structures is used with generally good control, and the errors present are minor and rarely affect communication.