Today’s children are living under more pressure from the society than children in the past. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Despite a continuing improvement in standard of living, many people believe that young people suffer more stress than older generations. I definitely agree with the statement and shall put forth my arguments to support my views in the following paragraphs.

Firstly, teenagers are exposed to more products than earlier generations as they are living in a modern consumerist society. Through films and the media they see celebrities with expensive jewellery, clothes and cars. Moreover, youth oriented advertising gives them an awareness of the latest technology such as digital music formats and mobile phones. As a result, teenagers feel pressure to acquire these items. Such stresses were not so strong during earlier times.

Secondly, pressures at school are stronger than before. Competition is very tough. Today’s children have to compete with children from all over the globe. Teenagers must succeed in their studies so that they can compete for the best jobs. Parental pressure, examinations and homework are all reported as causing increased levels of strain. Such stress was not that severe in earlier times.

Finally, today’s children are faced with a new type of stress. They are faced with a choice of two cultures. One culture, the global culture, is the one they want to adopt and the other is the traditional culture which they are forced to adopt by their parents. They are in a dilemma and this causes stress that has never been experienced by the earlier generations.

To sum up, consumerism and academic pressures are powerful causes of stress on today’s teenagers. To add to it there is the pressure of sticking to the traditional culture. So, definitely today’s children are under greater pressure than that faced by earlier generations.