2/ 8/ 2014: In many parts of the world, children and teenagers are committing more crimes. Why is this happening? How should they be punished?Today, news about youth crime is rife. Theft, burglary or even murder are now committed by people of younger and younger ages. The aim of this essay is to investigate the factors responsible for the increase in juvenile delinquency and put forward a number of ways to appropriately punish young offenders.It is observed that extreme behaviors are exhibited by most children from dysfunctional families. Without the supervision from parents or caregivers, children’s extreme behaviors such as aggression, hostility or defiance are given free rein to develop in their later lives. In addition, there is a direct correlation between the lack of engagement in educational activities and serious criminal offending in children. Out of boredom, children befriend with antisocial peers and will gradually copy their behaviors. Media also plays an enormous role in shaping children’s crim inality. For example, games such as grand theft auto can desensitise younger players to extreme acts of violence and cruelty, encourage them to commit crimes while giving them the impression that it is morally acceptable to do so.Imprisonment is often cited as a way to punish juvenile offenders. However, it is my view that this approach can produce extremely destructive effects. The youth can potentially be victims of physical or sexual abuse from older prisoners, as well as can adopt their negative behaviors. I feel that the better cure for young criminals is rehabilitation. Throughout education and training, the youth can realise their wrongful actions and be given opportunities to turn over a new leaf and transform themselves into useful members of society later in life.There are reasons to explain why today antisocial behavior among the youth nowadays has reached a historically unprecedented high and rehabilitation is the answer for this.9/ 8/ 2014: Some people think that governments should ban dangerous sports, while others think people should have freedom to do any sports or activity. Discuss and give your opinion.Dangerous sports have been very much in vogue in the last decades. With its high risk factor, some think that they should be outlawed. However, others hold the belief that the decision to take part in any sport activities should be made free by individuals. This essay will delve into these both points of view.On the one hand, there are justifications to the argument that people should be given freedom to take up any sport activities however high risks they involve. Since the beginning of time, men or women always have the need to explore, challenge themselves or test their levels of endurance. Therefore, banning these activities will rob people of these opportunities. Besides, participation in any kind of sports, be it swimming or soccer, would incur the risks of potential injuries. In fact, news of world famous footballers having to retire prematurely due to injuries are not few and far between. For this reason, there is no compelling reason to discriminate dangerous sports against other sports in terms of danger level.However, others have grounds to believe that the governments should ban dangerous sports. What is worth mentioning is as these sports gain popularity, those who take part in them gain undue confidence and neglect to equip themselves with proper safety equipment. When accidents happen, they are often very expensive. For example, statistics show that each rescue attempt on Everest can cost adventurers hundreds of thousands of dollars. This could cripple their financial situation in a long time.To conclude, I feel that high risk adventure sports should not be banned. However, those who pursue these activities should be better prepared bear the costs of rescue if accident occurs.16/ 8/ 2014: In some countries, governments are encouraging industries and businesses to move out of the cities and into regional areas. Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?In the past, factories were often built in close proximity to city areas as the lack of transportation forbade people to do otherwise. However, this is not exactly the case today, when industries and businesses are moving from municipal and into countryside areas in flocks. This essay will elaborate on both positive and negative effects of this trend.On the positive side, firstly, this movement makes environmental sense. Due to industrial activities, residents of many cities around the world are still breathing in air and consume water dirty enough to cause numerous health diseases. Therefore, moving businesses out of the cities will rid human and other species of pollution. A further advantage of this trend is reducing the gap between the rich and the poor in a country, as countryside dwellers can opt to work in factories with higher pay, rather than agricultural work. This will eventually bring about peace and harmony to society.On the negative side, doing business in the countryside also represents some notable drawbacks. To begin with, skilled workers are a rarity in rural areas. Most of people living in small towns and villages do not receive sufficient education to undertake intellectual jobs. What is also disadvantageous is based in regional areas, companies can distance themselves further from their customers, their suppliers and other partners in their business transactions, which can weaken their profitability.In conclusion, moving business from cities to rural areas can be a smart decision. However, there are disadvantages that should be weighed carefully against the advantages.10/ 1/ 2015: Leaders and directors in an organisation are normally elder people. Some people think younger leader would be better. Do you agree or disagree?Leadership is long thought to be within the province of elder people. With this belief, many people harbour doubts about the significance of the youth in high ranks. However, it is my personal conviction that the youth display qualities that are conducive to the health of any organization.The first justification for why leaders and directors should be young people is that they are more technologically-inclined. In the fast changing world today, being able to keep up with technological trend is an overwhelming advantage that young people have over their elder counterparts. It helps them to interact with customers more quickly and clearly and creates stronger public image for the company. The young can also use technology to increase the efficiency of operation, to manage the cash flow and resources more properly. In an era when security threats are always imminent, technology also enables young leaders to protect important data and ideas away from its competitors.What’s more, the youth possess great creativity, which can be conside red one of the most important leadership qualities. It is a simple correlation that higher creativity results in greater innovation within the organization and hence more spectacular success in the long run. In a similar fashion, when failures occur, the young with their creative capacities can come up with better solutions and in a shorter period of time.The long-standing belief that leading positions should be exclusively held by elder people has eclipsed many remarkable contributions of the youth in society. Therefore, the importance of having younger participants in top positions should not be refuted or downplayed.17/ 1/ 2015: Some people think that there should be some strict controls on noise. Others think that they could just make as much noise as they want. Discuss both views and give your opinion.People of the twenty-first century are being plagued by noise pollution, a problem which is growing considerably in extent, frequency and severity. Due to numerous wide-ranging adverse effects brought about by noise, some are of the opinion that the government should enforce noise ordinances. However, it is also argued that individuals have the freedom to make as much as noise as they want. Both sides of the argument will be analysed below.Attempts should be made to regulate noise because noise is associated with many adverse health consequences. As studies show, a growing number of modern day people are experiencing hearing impairment as a result of prolonged exposure to loud noise. No matter where it comes from - in their homes,at their workplaces or in other public places, noise is secretly killing the hearing ability of people of all ages, affecting their communication and also behaviors. In addition, noise can cause long-term effects on the psychlogical well-being through sleep disturbances. In fact, it is the culprit of frequent mood swings, decrements in work performance , memory loss and the decline in other mental functions. For these reasons, environmental noise should be kept under close control.However, the argument that there should not be control on noise also has some convincing points. It can be said that noise restriction violates the basic human rights that every individuals are entitled to. As long as people have freedom to eat whatever they desire, speak whatever is on their minds, they should also be given permission to make noise. Therefore, legislation to limit noise production can prove unfeasible.In summary, the modern day environment is being gradually degraded by noise. Nevertheless, the most effective method to control it is by education, not by force.29/01/2015: It is now possible for scientists and tourists to travel to remote natural environment, such as South Pole.Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?Barely a hundred years ago, virtually inconceivable to many was the idea of travelling to extreme places on Earth, such as South Pole. Today, there is no such thing as an inaccessible destination. However, the ease with whichanyone can travel to many remote areas of the world has presented itself both as a blessing and a curse. It is the goal of this essay to delve into both merits and demerits of this development.On the positive side, this development has a paramount role to play in the furtherance and dissemination of knowledge about the world. South Pole, for instance, is the place where scientists can avail themselves to the opportunity of exploring and learning more about astronomy and the formation of the Earth. Besides, the influx of travelers into remote areas has given a welcome boost to the tourist industry. Without question, many local inhabitants are lifted out of poverty thanks to the trade with outsiders.However, it is imperative that the drawbacks brought along with this development not be shrugged off. It is universally acknowledged that in the encroachment of tourists, these places are now littered with huge amount of bottles, used food packages and cans. There is no doubt that the tourists themselves are the also the chief contributors of the ecological disruption in these areas. Furthermore, local people often find themselves in disharmony with foreign travelers, due to their differences in lifestyles, behaviors and ways of thinking. Gradually, this can mutate into conflicts and possibly war.To conclude, despite its disadvantages, this development should by no means be stopped.31/01/2015: Some people say that too much attention and too many resources are given in the protection of wild animals and birds. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion?For centuries, deforestation, farming, urbanisation and other human activities have wreaked havoc with wild animal species and sent them to the verge of extinction. Regarding wildlife protection, awareness has been raised and attempts have been made. However, some hold the idea that the protection of endangered species has been given inordinate amount of attention and resources. Personally, I do not see eye to eye with this point of view.In the first place, wildlife protection has never taken center stage on the media. Compared with celebrities, for example, the amount of coverage of wild animals is infinitesimal. Clearly, the reason is profits. In other words,programs featuring wild animals do not generate interest of the public and accordingly returns for the producers. The absence of educational programs concerning the lives of wild animals has blinded people to the reality that wild animals are dying and the ecological system is being disrupted severely.In addition, governments around the world do not prioritise wildlife conservation on their agenda’s. As a matter of fact, laws to save wild animals have been introduced, but they are loosely enforced. Because of this, every man can freely exploit land, chop down forests, and divert the water sources, all of which combine to destroy the natural habitats of threatened animals.In every corner of the world, with or without intention, human are still causing changes in climatic and geographical conditions, which accelerates animal extinction. In light of this fact, I feel that not enough attention and resources are being given in the conservation of wild flora and fauna and stronger actions need to be taken to save them.07/02/2015: Many museums and historical sites are mainly visited by tourists but not local people. Why is this the case and what can be done to attract more local people to visit these places?In terms of local people’s attendance, museums and historical places have always paled in comparison with other recreational centers. This essay will present some reasons why this has occurred and put forward some solutions to resurrect the interest of local people in visiting these places.The small and dwindling number of local visitors to museums can firstly be attributable to the low frequency with which activities are held. In other words, the renewals of existing exhibits or the organization of new programs and events are few and far between. For this reason, little interest is aroused in those who had once been to the museum or places of historical significance. Furthermore, museums and historical sites do not come cheap. In fact, to get admission to these places, visitors are often required to pay a substantial amount of money, which can be worth a day’s salary.In order to drum up more interest of local people in coming to museums, a number of ways can be employed. What can be done first of all is to organise activities which incorporate art performances with appropriate content. This not only encourages the attendance of local people but also represents a greatopportunity to educate them about the history of their places of origin. In addition, the authorities can also lower the admission fee or offer discounts to local inhabitants.To conclude, many reasons can be given as to why local people lose their enthusiasm for museums and places of historical importance. However, the revival of these places is within our grasp should proper actions be taken.12/02/ 2015: Some people think that the best way to ensure road safety is to increase the minimum legal age for driving cars or riding motorbikes. To what extent do you agree or disagree?The legal driving age issue has always been a societal hot potato in many countries. Suggestion has been made that the only measure to reduce road fatality is to outlaw young people from driving. As far as I’m concerned, I partly share this point of view.Firstly, I agree that road safety can be guaranteed by raising the minimum legal driving age. In fact, young people with their hot heads and devil-may-care attitudes are the authors of most traffic accidents. In order to parade their driving audacity, they often throw caution in the winds and drive without helmet at lightning speed. Combined with their limited ability to maneuver their vehicles, accidents are all but inescapable. Furthermore, for other traffic participants, their fates are also sealed. It is no exaggeration to say that no matter how well people drive, their lives can be claimed in an instant by other younger and more reckless drivers.Nonetheless, increasing driving age is not the panacea for all traffic problems and roads can be made safer by other methods as well. For example, more overpasses or underpasses should be constructed with foolproof instructions of how to use them. By doing this, the government can save thousands of pedestrians from being killed in road crash. Next, at intersections or along sections of the roads, lightning, road conditions should be improved and more guide posts should be installed. Together with these, a blanket ban should be imposed on the use of mobile phone, drugs or alcohol while driving. With the collective effort of the government and their citizens, I believe that road safety can be within reach.To conclude, it is my belief that fewer people’s lives will be put in jeopardy while taking part in traffic should the governments take the bull by the horns,restrict young people from driving and enforce other regulations with strict adherence.28/02/2015: Some students prefer to take a year off between school and university, to work or to travel. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?Many parents spurn taking a gap year and consider it a start of the downward spiral of their children both socially and academically. Despite their opposition, the idea of gap year has never lost ground among new high school graduates. In my opinion, the advantages of a gap year leave its disadvantages in eclipse.After 12 years of burning the midnight oil trying to pass examinations and polish school records, a gap year is a chance for students to get in touch with themselves and also the world outside their school walls. In fact, for many students, schoolwork is prioritized over their hobbies or creating memories with their friends and family members. Furthermore, going straight to college without spending time to decide what major fits most or to reflect on their future goals and aspirations would be a one way ticket to school swapping, which can cost students and their parents dear.A gap year can be misspent by a few ways, such as partying or being couch potatoes. However, it should be noted that a majority of students opt to work or travel during their year off from school and win uncountable benefits for themselves. To be more specific, travelling can help improving their adaptability and resilience, expanding their circles of friends and sociability. Likewise, with past experience in any kind of part time jobs, students will have a shinier resume and accordingly, higher likelihood of getting employed.In light of these facts, taking a year off from school is not an ill-advised decision and parents whose children gravitate towards spending one year off before university should shake off any unfavorable attitudes toward it.14/03/2015: Nowadays, many families have both parents working. Some working parents believe other family members like grandparents can take care of their children, while others think childcare centers provide the best care. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.It is not an uncommon practice that in many families nowadays, both fathers and mothers are actively engaged in employment. Within these family structures, there has been a mounting concern about the children’s diminished access to parents. It is often argued that in the absence of their parents, relatives are the best caregivers; however, others claim that children are best put in daycare centers. In this essay, both these points of view will be discussed.Under the supervision of a family’s relativ es, particularly grandparents, children are in good hands. In fact, it can be said that grandmothers can fulfill children’s needs in a more effective way than their own mother, due to their past motherhood experience. In addition, they are also the glue that helps binding the relationship between children and their parents whose full attention is paid to their careers. Even though their parents are not always near, children would not suffer the feeling of isolation or neglect with the presence of their relatives.On the other hand, childcare centers offer a variety of advantages for children whose both parents participate in the workforce. First of all, children’s social skills such as sharing and taking turns can be promoted as a result of regular contact with peers. Second of all, daycare centers are also a field upon which children regardless of gender or ages can fairly compete with each other. Without doubt, competition in early years can facilitate children’s academic achievement in later lives becauseit often spurs them to pursue excellence and prove their self-worth.To conclude, parents who choose to pursue dual income can rely on either relatives or daycare centers for childcare responsibilities. However, it is suggested that both parents should strive to clear up the blurred line between their personal and professional lives, achieve a work-life balance and find more time for their own children.21/03/2015: Some people believe famous people's support towards international aid organizations draws the attentions to the public. Others think celebrities make the problems less important. Discuss both views and give your opinion.Celebrities’ involvement in humanitarian activities has almost become the rule in the modern world. While it is often said that the presence of famous people has been conducive for charities, others believe they contribute little in raising the awareness of the public. This essay will elaborate on both of these perspectives.The endorsement of celebrities benefits charities immensely. With the participation of celebrities, more attention is called to international aid programs, which accordingly brings more income for the charities to proceed appropriate actions with charitable causes. One prime example of this is Angelina Jolie, whose interest in humanitarian affairs inspires millions of individuals to provide financial support or to do volunteer work, in order to ease the suffering of African children. Statistically, thanks to the campaigns that carry celebrities’ images, bil lions of dollars are raised annually, which makes it wrong to entirely disregard their help in making the world a better place.However, ample justifications can be provided for the cynicism of celebrity activism. Lamentably, for many celebrities, their primary purposes in supporting charities are to promote their own images, gain more public respect, and further their own careers. Obviously, the blame for this should be assumed by the media, which brings the celebrities into the spotlight and effectively puts the causes on the sidelines when broadcasting relief programs. For instance, after watching the single “You’ve got a friend” from Comic Relief charity featuring the band Mcfly, many of their fans are impressed with how adorable the band members cry, rather than how appalling the condition that the impoverished are living in.To conclude, the jury is still out on the contribution of famous people in international aid organizations.28/03/2015: Some people think that the increasing use of computers and mobile phones in communication has negative effects on young people's reading and writing skills. To what extent do you agree or disagree?Despite several undeniable virtues of computers and mobile phones, much concern has been raised about their corrosive effects on human literacy skills. From my perspective, I agree that this worry is not at all groundless.The deterioration of people’s reading and w riting skills is first explained by the widespread use of word abbreviation and the lack of regard to grammar rules when people use messages to communicate with others. For instance, “idk” is so commonly used as a replacement for the phrase “I don't know” that some internet users might forget how to write it right. In addition, computers and mobile phones permit the use of emoticons and stickers toexpress emotions, which can lead to the slow reduction of people’s ability to communicate feelings in words.Critics might claim that that prevalence of computers and cellphones has greatly facilitated the development of literacy and the argument given is that users can avail themselves of a deluge of academic articles on the Internet. Although it is true that a majority of reading materials are easy to find and freely up for grabs for internet users, they do not seem to have much pulling power these days. Classic novels, as famous as Frankeinstein for example, are viewed and downloaded much less than tasteless and poorly-written modern-day novels such as Fifty Shades of Grey. This fact effectively refutes the statement that people who own computer and cellphone have superior reading and writing skills than those who do not.To conclude, I am inclined to restate that although the advent of computer and cellphones might be a tremendous boon to society in many aspects, it fails to do people favors as far as literacy goes.18/04/2015: Some people think that schools should reward students who show the best academic results, while others believe that it is more important to reward students who show improvements. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.During their knowledge acquisition process, students are affected by many factors. In terms of how to improve students’ performance in school, opinions are widely divergent. While many suggest that only students whose academic results are the best should be rewarded, others hold the opinion that students who make improvements are more deserving of praise and incentives. This essay will discuss both of these views.There are reasonable grounds to believe that rewards should be given to students who do best. In fact, the validity of rewards cannot be doubted given that it is an easy and effective way to give recognition and attention to students. This can consequently provide them with more motivation, which is a highly influential factor in determining success or failure in their studying process.However, in the same class, students are often of mixed intellectual levels and aptitudes. This explains why some students face an uphill struggle in achieving good results in many subjects while others can accomplish this withlittle effort. This fact is demonstrable in the subject of Math, for example. Clearly, male students with higher levels of intelligence and logic can master this subject with less hitch than the female counterparts, even though they do not try as hard. This means if rewards are offered to those who does best in Math class, it will always be boys who receive them. Girls, on the other hand, will feel resentful and lose interest in learning. For this reason, it is not an advisable idea to invariably give rewards to best students in class.To conclude, rewards can generate strong motivation in students and it is better to give them to those who show the greatest improvements in their studies, rather than the highest achievers in the class.25/4/2015:Young people who commit serious crimes should be punished in the same way as adults. Do you agree or disagree?To date, more and more criminal cases have been reported with the involvement of young people. This has certainly raised the question of whether changes should be implemented in terms of how to deal with those who are considered unpunishable by law. In my opinion, every offender, regardless of their age, should receive equal punishments.The first reason is age does not determine the criminality of an individual. Scientists have concluded that the tendency to antisocial behavior is rather influenced by genes or environments than by how old they are. That means if children are long exposed to violence or have a genetic predisposition to criminal behaviors, they are likely to engage in illegal acts or even more serious crimes. Besides, with the ready availability of information, young people are fully aware of the consequences of their actions. It can be said that a majority of them do it with deliberation. For this reason, there should not be any differentiation between young people and the older ones once crimes have been committed.Moreover, if young people were legitimately exempt from criminal responsibility, malicious adults would waste no chance to take advantage of this loophole. There have been more than just several cases in which adults hired younger people to perform criminal acts so that they can stay away from, or reduce their responsibilities. Without such policy, citizens would be better protected from harms and live in much greater safety.。
