Hello
Read the text Challenges for Today's Parents below or attached here. Identify the parts of the essay. For the introduction, identify the Hook and the Thesis statement (and the Plan of Development). For the paragraphs, identify the Topic Sentences and the Transitions. For the conclusion, identify the Thesis Restatement and the Final Remarks. Post the answers in this forum.
After doing that, check this slide presentation here for the answers. In case of doubts, ask the teacher.
CHALLENGES FOR TODAY’S PARENTS
Reruns of situation comedies from the fifties and early sixties dramatize the kinds of problems that parents used
to have with their children. The Cleavers scold Beaver for not washing his hands before dinner; the Andersons
ground Bud for not doing his homework; the Nelsons dock little Ricky’s allowance because he keeps forgetting to
clean his room. But times have changed dramatically. Being a parent today is much more difficult than it was a
generation ago. Parents nowadays must protect their children from a growing number of distractions, from
sexually explicit material, and from life-threatening situations.
Today’s parents must try, first of all, to control all the new distractions that tempt children away from schoolwork.
At home, a child may have a room furnished with a stereo and television. Not many young people can resist the
urge to listen to an album or watch MTV – especially if it is time to do the schoolwork. Outside the home, the
distractions are even more alluring. Children no longer ‘hang out’ on a neighborhood corner within easy earshot of
Mon and Dad’s reminder to come in and do homework. Instead, they congregate in vast shopping malls, buzzing
video arcades, and gleaming fast-food restaurants. Parents and school assignments have obvious difficulty
competing with such enticing alternatives.
Besides dealing with these distractions, parents also have to shield their children from a flood of sexually explicit
materials. Today, children can find sex magazines and pornographic paperbacks in the same corner store that
once offered only comics and candy. Children will not see the fuzzily photographed nudes that a previous
generation did but will encounter the hard-core raunchiness of Hustler or Penthouse. Moreover, the movies young
people attend often focus on highly sexual situation. It is difficult to teach children traditional values when films
show teachers seducing students and young people treating sex as a casual sport. An even more difficult matter
for parents is the heavily sexual content of programs on television. With just a flick of the dial, children can see
soap opera stars cavorting in bed or watch cable programs where nudity is common.
Most disturbing to parents today, however, is the increase in life-threatening dangers that face young people.
When children are small, parents fear that their youngsters may be victims of violence. Every news program
seems to carry a report about a mass murderer who preys on young girls, or a deviant who has buried six boys in
his cellar. When children are older, parents begin to worry about their kids’ use of drug. Peer pressure to
experiment with drugs is often stronger than parents’ warnings. This pressure to experiment is fatal if the drugs
have been mixed with dangerous chemicals. Finally, even if young people escape the hazards associated with
drugs, they must still resist the pressure to drink. Although alcohol has always held an attraction for teenagers,
reports indicate that they are drinking more than ever before. As many parents know, the consequences of his
attraction can be deadly – especially when drinking is combined with driving.
Within one generation, the world as a place to raise children has changed dramatically. One wonders how
yesterday’s parents would have dealt with today’s problems. Could the Anderson have kept Bud away from MTV?
Could the Nelsons have shielded little Ricky from sexually explicit material? Could the Cleavers have protected
Beaver from drugs and alcohol? Parents must be aware of all these distractions and dangers, yet be willing to
give their children the freedom they need to become responsible adults. It is not an easy task.
Adapted from The Longman Reader.