Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 2)

To what extent should television participate in children’s education?

When someone thinks of television they usually point out the negative impacts that it might have on a child, for example, the use of violent images and inappropriate language that a child is likely to imitate. It is for this reason that many parents limit their children’s viewing time. Television is sometimes used in schools to educate children and there are many informative programmes that can enlighten a young child.

A teacher may use a television programme during a lesson as this has sound, colour, characters etc. that are likely to grab a child’s attention. Likewise, some students are better able to remember visual information. Similarly, many shows have an educational value, for example, general knowledge quizzes, live competitions between schools on a particular subject and sometimes a tutor may deliver a lesson on TV.

Although many parents limit the time their children watch TV, some channels and programmes, for example science, geography and history may actually enrich a child’s knowledge as well as improve their language skills. In some cases, busy parents are away from home for many hours and a TV set acts as an educational tool for children.

In terms of education, TV should be used as an alternative teaching source if a parent or teacher feels a programme is likely to benefit a child. TV does not only provide mindless entertainment but if it is used appropriately it can help young children make sense of their environment in an engaging way.

Question taken from Target Band 7 p. 55

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