【模版】托福写作范文：教育类话题

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?  If children want to do well in school, parents should limit their hours of watching TV programs or movies.  2012.3.24 N.A.

Watching television is now regarded as an effective teaching method, because the vivid images presented on the screen are likely to attract children’s interests and arouse their interests in learning. Therefore, both schools and households are installed with televisions to encourage this behavior. However, I cast serious doubt on it and believe that parents should think twice before they decide to help their children form this habit.

one problem associated with excessive television viewing is that children are likely to attend physical activities less frequently. in many cases, these children are called as couch potatoes who gaze at the screen and seldom move by remaining the same position. This sedentary lifestyle is one reason why children suffer from obesity and obese children often have negative self-image, which may undermine their self-confidence and have adverse impact on their psychological well-being. In most cases, self-abased children attempt to avoid both attention from peers and teachers instead of being outstanding, which may greatly hinder their performance in school.

another drawback which cannot be ignored is that obsession with watching television discourages children from participating in interactive activities. Since children are unlikely to be distracted by outside influence when they are watching television, television viewing is regarded as unbeneficial to children’s intercommunication. therefore, during this process, it is not easy for children to cultivate their spirit of team work and the skill of interpersonal communication which are essential to future study and career. Besides, the leisure time which could have been used to attend other activities which are conducive to the brain development, such as painting and dancing is also occupied by the sole activity—watching television.

despite the above shortcomings of television viewing, it may also exert some positive impact on children’s academic performance. as for language learning, for example, listening to the traditional tapes is less effective than watching how the language is used in some real-life occasions presented in the television. However, children are more likely to be attracted by the vivid images and twisted plots rather than something related to study.

To conclude, although watching television has some merits for children’s learning, excessive television view poses even greater danger to both children’s physical and psychological soundness. Therefore, parents are not supposed to encourage this habit and impose restriction on it.