Writing Feedback / Families today are not as close as they used to be, causes and solutions? [5]

With divorce rates and family breakdowns increasingly globally, it is generally accepted that families today are not as close as they used to be.
Discuss the causes of this problem and offer some possible solutions to it.

There is no doubt that the rising of divorce rates and family breakdown in the recent times has been one of the hottest sociological debates. Among a variety of reasons for this trend, one widely acknowledged is that it is a direct result of the growing distance between family members. In this essay, I tend to explore the sources of this problem along with some possible solutions to it.

Chief among the causes of this problem is the modern lifestyle. Today's parents have to work harder than those of previous generations to support their families. In the past, one parent assumed the role of breadwinner, whilst the other, typically the mother, acted as the homemaker. Recently, though, the double income families have become the norm. As a consequence, parents are spending less and less time on taking care of their children, the other partner and even his/herself alone. More seriously, many families do not even eat dinner together anymore. Naturally, over the time, the importance of bonds and kinship is gradually shading in our minds. Another equally important reason is that many children have to leave their parents at an early age to study or work elsewhere. As time passes, they become estranged by time and distance.

In order to resolve the sense of alienation within families, I believe we must first address it root causes. As mentioned above, lacking of the time sharing with other family's members is one of the primary reasons of this problem. Therefore, the most effective method of resolving this would be rather than using too much of the time resource to watch TV, search web, or hang out with friends, adult people should, instead, allocate more time to play with their children, help them to review the lessons, read book with them, or just simply have more intimate conversations with them. I firmly believe this method is not only useful for parents to reinforce the bond with their children but also gives them a practical opportunity to supervise and help their children. Beside, for members of families who live away from one another, regular contact of any sort can bring them closer. Take my case as an example, I live and work in Australia while my parents and other family's members are in Vietnam. Before, owing to the expensive expense to call to Vietnam, I could afford to call them few times per month, now along with the development of technology, I can easily and freely talk to my parents using Viber or frequently update information of other family's member through Facebook. Whenever I want to share a lovely photo of my daughter with my parents, I just need to upload them on Facebook and vice verse. Thanks to Facebook that helps to make my family more close-knit irrespectively of the long distance.

In conclusion, my opinion is that growing distance among family's members is a problem of such complexity and that no solution is likely in short term. However, I believe that the measures outlined above would constitute good first steps.

Writing Feedback / Immigrants should abandon their own ways and adapt to local customs? [6]

Nowadays, more people are migrating to other countries than ever before. In order to become integrated into society in their adopted countries, immigrants should to abandon their own ways and adapt to local customs and codes of behaviour.

Do you agree or disagree?

There are a variety of different opinions on whether or not immigrants should change their behaviour to fit in their new country. Although some people would no doubt disagree, I personally believe that newcomers should indeed try to adapt. In my view, this means following both the written laws and social customs of their adopted country. There are two primary reasons for this.

First, it is obvious that society would not function properly if newcomers did not obey the laws. One particular good example of this is road rules. Imagine what would happen if people refused to drive on the same side of the road. Thus, it is nescessary for immigrants to make sure that they obey the law in their new country even if laws in their home country are different. Two other examples of things which are allowed in some countries but illegal in others are owning a gun and gambling.

Second, it is important to remember that societies are built on shared values. The social rules of a country are the glue that keeps it together, so new immigrants must respect them. Certainly, having many different cultures makes a country more interesting; however, I would argue that too much difference weakens a society by making people feel that they do not belong there. I believe that similarities between people bring them together, while their differences pull them apart. A healthy society is a society with strong sense of unity.

In conclusion, I once again restate my view that new immigrants to a country must try to adapt to local rules of behaviour. As the old saying goes: "when in Rome, do as the Romans do"

Writing Feedback / Decline in educational standards, causes and solutions?? [4]

Many people believe that educational standards have declined in recent times, particularly in the areas of literacy and numeracy.
Discuss the causes of this problem and offer some possible solutions to it.

There is no doubt that the declining in educational standards has been one of hottest social issues in the recent times. In the following essay, I aim to identify the sources of this problem as well as some viable solutions to it.

From my perspective, chief among the causes of this problem is the enterprising approach to education. This is originated from the fact that the education industry has been contributing huge profits in many parts of the world. One particularly good example for this is Australia where international education is the third largest export industry, generating approximately AUD 20 billion annually. Yet, this approach is not only beneficial it also brings with it variety of negative effects. To begin with, as a direct result of running after profits, more and more new universities are opened without controlled quality and depend heavily on tuition for survival and growth . Students have become the source of revenue therefore to keep retention rate, tests are adjusted downwards to remain acceptable pass rate, teachers are lowering standards, bending deadlines and using upcoming exam questions as study guides. Another important reason to blame is on students who increasingly feel that the goal of higher education can be reduced to passing grades and an eventual diploma (which they feel is the key to a desirable job). Obviously, the more students with these poor motivations, the more employers no longer trust university education or in other words, a college diploma.

In order to resolve this deterioration effect, I believe we must address its root causes. Perhaps the most effective method of doing this would be for governments to provide financial aids to the universities with emphasis on quality rather than quantity of their students. Without feeling the pressures to retain or enroll students, I believe those universities can easily turn away many disqualified applicants every year and maintain their high educational standards. Admittedly, such financial aids would be a massive burden every government if there are too many universities, therefore, government must have effective policies close controlling and strict regulations on applications to establish a university or an education institute. One good example for this is my government's policy on university education. This, indeed, derives from the high demand of engineers, teachers, doctors, etc for my country. However, instead of focusing on quality of graduate students, our governments went soft on policies and allowed more universities to open and enroll students. As a result, after few years, although the number of fresh graduate student is increasing rapidly, only few of them qualify employers' standards. Maintaining the high standard educational environment, hence, should always be a vital mission for a government.

In conclusion, I believe that this is clearly a problem of such complexity that no solution is likely in the short term. However, I believe that the measures outlined above would constitute good first steps.

Writing Feedback / Encouraging students to take part in more unpaid community services is always an excellent idea [4]

Hi, Please give me some useful comments on my essay. Thank you very much in advance...

Some people believe that unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of high school programs (for example working for a charity, improving the neighborhood or teaching sports to younger children). To what extent do you agree or disagree?

It has been known for some time that the issue of whether or not people should take part in more Volunteer activities is always a contentious one. Some people suggest that unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of high school programs, while some argue that it is not necessary. It is my belief that encouraging student to work in community services is always a good idea. The principal reasons for my view are as follow.

First, there are many ways of acquiring social skills that students must have when they develop into adults and doing voluntary activities is one of those. Needless to say, one cannot do these types of activity alone but always with a team, therefore it offers student s a valuable opportunity to learn how to communicate with others, to work in a team, to manage their time and even improve the organizational skills. It also is one the best way to make new friends. Nowadays, unfortunately, teenagers do not have many after-school activities and after-school clubs are not very popular. The youngsters, thus, mostly go home and sit in front of a TV, search web or play computer games. This is not only wasting their time, but detrimental to their health as lacking of physical activities. By working for charitable or community organizations, students are encouraged to do something more creative and participate in more outdoor activities which provide many benefits to both mental and physical health. Beside, the skills gained through these works will not be only important for them to draw on in their later life, but also a valuable asset on the CV which can increase their employability.

Another equally important reason is that volunteering can help to increase students' self-confidence, self-esteem and life satisfaction. If students are doing a voluntary work, they deserve to be proud of themselves as they are doing good things for others and the community, which provides a sense of accomplishment. And the better they feel about themselves, the more likely they are to have a positive view of their life and future goals.

By way of conclusion, I once again reaffirm my position that encouraging students to take part in more unpaid community services is always an excellent idea. However, it does not need to be a compulsory part of high school of programs. The nature of unpaid community service is a voluntary work and volunteering means there is no compulsory

Writing Feedback / Focusing on sports facilities is a very narrow approach and would not achieve the desired results. [3]

Some people say that the best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of sports facilities. Others, however, say that this would have little effect on public health and that other measures are required.

Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

There is no doubt that the decline in public health in the recent times has been one of our hottest social issues with conflicting views on how to stem this worrying trend. Some people claim that increasing the number of sports facilities will help, while some will argue that it is not enough. My essay will look at the pros and the cons of both options and present my personal recommendation.

There is a strong argument in favor of making sports facilities more available to people, from which originated an undeniable fact that playing sport is one the best way to keep a person healthy. To play a specific sport, however, one will need a specific sports facility. For example, a stadium is needed for football players; a swimming pool is needed for swimmers, and so on. Therefore, if easy-to-reach local sports centers were more available, people would be more likely to make exercise as a regular part of their life. Conversely, it is also a fact that interest in sport is not universal and that additional facilities might simply attract the already fit, not those who most need them.

There are, however, better ways of improving public health. One of these is making more wholesome parks which would cater for all ages, interests and level of fitness. It is not uncommon to find various types of activities going on in the park such as running, cycling, jogging, or just simply strolling to enjoy fresh air. Needless to say, all these activities considerably help to maintain people's healthy life. The only drawbacks of this method are that it is costly and it takes quite a while to put these parks in operation.

However, for the long-term benefit of public health, I believe it is worth for government to invest in it. Besides, along with physical activity, high tax penalties could be imposed on high-fat food products, tobacco and alcohol, as excessive consumption any of these contributes to poor health, etc.

By way of conclusion, my point of view is that focusing on sports facilities is a very narrow approach and would not achieve the desired results. I believe that people should be encouraged to be not only physically active but also adopt healthier lifestyle in general.