New technologies have changed the way children spend their free time.

Practice this IELTS Writing Task 2 question on IELTSX. New technologies have changed the way children spend their free time.

Technology Changed Children Free Time Advantages Disadvantages - IELTS Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

Write at least 250 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 7.5 ยท 310 words.

There is a growing trend of spending leisure time with technology, yielding certain advantages such as better learning opportunities. However, I firmly believe that the drawbacks most notably regarding physical and mental health is far more profouna and ultimately outweigh any perceived benefits.

Perhaps the most significant benefit of using technology in leisure time is enhancing educational opportunities. When children spend their free time using technological devices, young people can enhance their knowledge or even gain new skills, thereby making it beneficial for educational purposes. This is exemplified by children who watch educational videos, attend online classes, and complete interactive exercises. However, these benefits depend on using technology for educational purposes, whereas manv children mainly use it for entertainment. Therefore, while technology provides easy access to learning materials, its overall significance remains relatively minor compared to the broader adverse impacts.

Despite these benefits, I do contend that utilizing technological devices can bring more detrimental consequences, particularly those related to mental health. Excessive use of social media and online games can negatively affect mental well-being, with implications that are not confined to higher rates of anxiety and low self-esteem. but also extend to, sleep deprivation, ultimately leading to addiction. Take the young people who compare themselves with influencers on social media as a prominent example, as it makes them feel dissatisfied with their own lives. Furthermore, this technological addiction fosters an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, as hours spent in front of screens directly replacr vital physical activities. This lack of exercise not only reflects in physical health issues such as obesity and poor diet, but also negatively influence in children overall development.

In conclusion, although using technology can bring some marginal merits such as effortless access to learning materials, I strongly believe that the far-reaching consequences driven by mental and phusical health issues decisively confirm that the drawbacks outweigh the perceived benefits.

Examiner feedback

This is a strong response that demonstrates a high level of critical thinking and a sophisticated command of English. The arguments are well-organized and the vocabulary used is impressive. The final score is primarily held back by several avoidable typos and minor grammatical slips that occurred in complex sentence structures.

Task Response - 8

- The response fully addresses all parts of the prompt, acknowledging both the change in leisure time and the resulting impact. - A clear position is maintained throughout the essay, arguing that drawbacks outweigh the benefits. - Main ideas are well-extended; for example, the mention of social media comparison leading to dissatisfaction is a relevant and well-supported point.

Coherence & Cohesion - 8

- Information is sequenced logically with a very clear progression of ideas from introduction to conclusion. - Cohesive devices such as "Therefore," "Despite these benefits," and "Furthermore" are used effectively to signal transitions. - Each paragraph has a clear central topic, specifically separating the educational benefits from the health-related drawbacks.

Lexical Resource - 7

- The writer uses a wide range of sophisticated vocabulary (e.g., "sedentary lifestyle," "detrimental consequences," "marginal merits"). - Collocations are mostly natural, although there is a slight error in "influence in children overall development." - Frequent typos like "manv," "phusical," and "replacr" are present, which prevents the score from reaching a Band 8 despite the high-level vocabulary choices.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 7

- A good variety of complex structures is used, including conditional clauses and "not only... but also" constructions. - Grammatical control is generally high, though a subject-verb agreement error occurs in the introduction ("drawbacks... is far more profound"). - Punctuation is used correctly to manage complex sentences, though some minor typos (e.g., "replacr") slightly detract from the accuracy score.

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