Some people think that a sense of competition in children should be encouraged. Others believe that children who are taught to co-operate rather than compete become more useful adults.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Comments about the task:

1. A both sides and opinion essay

Plan:

Competing

1. motivation
2. prepare for future competitive life

Cooperating 

1. Team work
2. Future life needs cooperation

Model Answer:

There are those who take the stance that we should mentor youths to be competitive, others think that it is better to teach juveniles about the importance of cooperation. In this essay, I will review both sides of the argument before my own perspective that teaching our future generation to be competitive is the best approach.

Teaching children to compete can be immensely beneficial. The main benefit of rivalry is that it motivates children to do their best. This is because youths will compare themselves to others and try to be better than them. More specifically, students will work harder when competitive goals have been set. Furthermore, it prepares youths for competition in areas such as their future working lives. Many innovative corporations such as Google and Facebook embrace the spirit of competition and often set various challenges among their staff.

In spite of these considerations, cooperation is undoubtedly an essential part of everyday life. Firstly, collaboration is vital to success in many areas of life. Team sports are an excellent example of this and many failures have been attributed to poor teamwork, such as the American basketball team’s failure to win at the 2004 Olympic Games. In addition, our everyday life depends on an ability to get on well and communicate with people. For instance, it would be impossible for emergency service workers to clear up a traffic crash and save injured people if they did not cooperate.

In conclusion, in my opinion, both sides of the argument have merit. However, after analysing the two opposite camps, my personal view is that a competitive environment can have a more positive effect on children. This is because they would be more motivated to study hard and better prepared for everyday struggles in the future. [294 words]

Language:

contentious topic = heavily argued topic
juveniles = young people
two irreconcilable poles= two opposing extremes
rivalry= competition
youths= young people
innovative = inventive
collaboration = working together
opposite camps = two different sides in an argument

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