mental health essay ielts

Some people believe that mental health is equally important as physical health. Do you agree or disagree? Share your opinion and provide reasons.

People should look after their health for personal benefits, rather than for a society-Task 2 Essay

Updated: 5 days ago

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

People should look after their health for personal benefits, rather than a duty for a society.

What extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experiences.

You should write at least 250 words.

Get your personalised  IELTS Essay Feedback   from a former examiner

Download IELTS eBooks ,   get everything you need to achieve a high band score

Sample Essay 1

The assertion that individuals should prioritize their health primarily for personal gains, rather than as an obligation towards society, ignites a compelling discussion. This essay leans towards the view that personal health should indeed be maintained principally for individual benefits. This stance will be elaborated upon by highlighting the empowerment of personal autonomy in health decisions and the psychological benefits of self-care.

Primarily, personal autonomy in health-related choices is a cornerstone of individual freedom and empowerment. When individuals prioritize their health for personal reasons, they are more inclined to make informed and self-directed choices. This autonomy not only fosters a sense of ownership over one’s health decisions but also encourages a deeper understanding and appreciation of the value of good health. For instance, a person choosing to quit smoking due to personal health concerns is likely to be more committed to this decision than if motivated by societal pressure. This self-driven approach not only results in more meaningful health outcomes but also respects the individual’s right to choose their health priorities.

Furthermore, focusing on personal health benefits promotes psychological well-being. Taking care of one's health for personal satisfaction can significantly boost self-esteem and mental health. This approach aligns with the concept of self-compassion, where individuals prioritize their well-being not out of selfishness, but out of recognition of the intrinsic value of their health. This perspective is crucial in a world where mental health is increasingly recognized as equally important as physical health. Engaging in healthy practices like exercise or balanced nutrition for personal enjoyment and well-being can lead to a happier, more contented life, reinforcing the idea that looking after one's health should primarily be for personal benefits.

In conclusion, prioritizing personal health for individual benefits is not only pragmatic but also aligns with the principles of autonomy and psychological well-being. This approach respects individual choice and acknowledges the diverse motivations behind health-related behaviors. By focusing on personal health benefits, individuals are likely to develop a more sustainable, fulfilling approach to maintaining their health, ultimately benefiting society as a whole.

Sample Essay 2

The debate over whether individuals should prioritize their health chiefly for personal benefits or as a duty to society is a subject of considerable importance. This essay agrees strongly with the former position: people should primarily look after their health for personal benefits. This perspective will be explored by examining the intrinsic value of personal well-being and the limitations of viewing health as a societal obligation.

Firstly, personal health is a fundamental asset for an individual's overall quality of life. When individuals prioritize their health for their own sake, they are more likely to engage in consistent, sustainable health-promoting behaviors. For instance, someone exercising and maintaining a balanced diet for personal satisfaction and well-being is more likely to adhere to these healthy habits long-term. This self-motivated approach to health not only enhances physical fitness but also bolsters mental health, leading to a more fulfilling and productive life. The notion that “people should look after their health for personal benefits” is thus not just a matter of preference, but a pathway to greater personal happiness and fulfillment.

Secondly, the concept of health as a societal duty has its limitations. While it is undeniable that a healthier population can contribute to a more robust society, mandating health as a social responsibility may lead to undue pressure and potential stigmatization of those with health issues beyond their control. This perspective can inadvertently foster a culture of blame, where individuals with chronic illnesses or disabilities may feel marginalized. Furthermore, societal health is a collective outcome of numerous factors, including access to healthcare, environmental conditions, and socio-economic status, and thus cannot be solely the responsibility of individual actions.

In conclusion, while maintaining one's health undoubtedly has societal benefits, the primary motivation should be personal well-being. This approach not only ensures sustained commitment to a healthy lifestyle but also respects the diverse circumstances and capabilities of individuals.

Sample Essay 3

A person's health is a unique attribute that should be actively maintained for personal well-being. I wholeheartedly concur with this assertion and think that maintaining good health shouldn't be seen as a social duty. The lines that follow, however, will clarify how living a healthy personal life may also make a substantial contribution to society.

In general, individuals should drive themselves to have active, healthy lives, and this should be for their own advantages. First of all, a person with a preference for nutritious meals and physical activities has a stronger immune system than someone who leads a sedentary lifestyle. People who are healthy have a higher chance of living longer and experiencing life to the fullest. For instance, it is not surprising that Spain has a high overall happiness index because its citizens are very physically fit and healthy.

In addition, I think that having good health has a hugely beneficial cascading impact on society from the perspective of one's obligation to that society. First and foremost, it eases the strain on the nation's healthcare system and aids in providing resources for the poor people. Furthermore, as people like to follow fitness celebrities for guidance on healthy routines and exceptional diets rather than for entertainment, healthy individuals immediately inspire others. Thus, keeping fit for personal reasons is a form of self-discharged obligation to society.

In summary, every person is driven by his or her health, and a society is a collective form of individuals. As a result, if people prioritize their own health, society as a whole can profit from it. We are thus not intended to take care of our health for anybody or anything other than ourselves.

Get your personalised   IELTS Essay Feedback   from a former examiner

• Task 2 Essays

Recent Posts

Newspapers Are The Best Way To Learn about Current Events - IELTS Band 9 Sample Essay

Friendships That Take Place Online Are Not As Meaningful As Real-Life Friendship - IELTS Sample Essay

Demand for Online Coaching Services And Video Courses Has Grown Significantly - IELTS Band 9 Essay

4.Please elaborate on your current physical and mental health, including any dental or oral treatment, medical interventions, and mental health therapy or counseling.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Writing9 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Structure your answers in logical paragraphs

The easiest way to score well on the IELTS Task 2 writing portion is to structure your writing in a solid essay format.

A strong argument essay structure can be split up into 4 paragraphs, each containing 4 sentences (except the conclusion paragraph, which only contains 3 sentences).

Stick to this essay structure:

• Paragraph 1 - Introduction
• Paragraph 2 - First supporting paragraph
• Paragraph 3 - Second supporting paragraph
• Paragraph 4 - Conclusion

Discover more tips in The Ultimate Guide to Get a Target Band Score of 7+ » — a book that's free for 🚀 Premium users.

• Check your IELTS essay »
• Find essays with the same topic
• View collections of IELTS Writing Samples
• Show IELTS Writing Task 2 Topics

Some people believe that it is good to share as much information as possible in scientific research, business and the academic world, others believe that some information is too important or too valuable to be shared freely. Discuss both this views and give your own opinion

Smoking is a major cause of serious illness and death throughout the world today. in the interest of the public health, governments should ban cigarettes and other tobacco products. to what extent do you agree or disagree, some people believe that the experiences children have before they go to school will have the greatest effect on their future life. others argue that experiences gained when they are teenagers have a bigger influence. discuss both views and give your own opinion., increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve growing traffic and pollution problems. to what extent do you agree or disagree what other measures do you think might be effective, in developing countries, children in rural communities have less access to education. some people believe that the problem can be solved by providing more schools and teachers, while other think that the problem can be solved by providing computers and internet access. discuss both views and give your own opinion..

June 20, 2024

Is it important for young people to learn about the importance of mental health and well-being?

Sample answer:.

Yes, it is incredibly important for young people to learn about the importance of mental health and well-being. In today’s fast-paced and stressful world, the mental well-being of young individuals is often overlooked, leading to a myriad of issues such as anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders. Therefore, educating young people about the significance of mental health and well-being is crucial for their overall development and future success.

First and foremost, understanding mental health and well-being allows young people to recognize the signs and symptoms of potential mental health issues, enabling them to seek help and support when needed. By being aware of their own mental well-being, they can take proactive steps to maintain good mental health, such as practicing self-care, seeking therapy, or engaging in stress-reducing activities. This knowledge can also help them support their peers who may be struggling with mental health challenges, creating a more empathetic and supportive community.

Furthermore, learning about mental health and well-being can help young people develop resilience and coping mechanisms to navigate life’s challenges. It equips them with the tools to manage stress, build healthy relationships, and maintain a positive outlook on life. These skills are essential for their personal and professional growth, as they enter adulthood and face the complexities of the modern world.

In conclusion, incorporating education on mental health and well-being into the curriculum for young people is vital for their overall well-being and future success. By raising awareness and providing resources for mental health support, we can empower the next generation to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.

More Writing Task 2 Sample Essay

Be First to Comment

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Stress (Real IELTS Test)

by Dave | Real Past Tests | 2 Comments

This is an IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer taken from the real test related to reducing stress.

Here it is:

Many psychologists recommend that the best way to relieve stress is to do nothing at all for a period of time during the day. Do you agree or disagree? Real Past IELTS Tests

The structure of the essay is an agree/disagree essay.

For these IELTS essays you must choose a side. You can write about both sides but by the end you must choose an overall point of view.

If you don’t, you will get band 5 for task achievement.

It is a seemingly simple question but when I started to write about it there are a couple of thorny (difficult) issues.

The question is about whether or not taking a break is the best way to reduce stress.

If you write about how taking a break is the best way to reduce stress – it is really hard!

That is because it is obvious: take a break = less stress. How can you further support that?

Read below to see what I did with the question.

You can read more about IELTS structures here .

My exclusive essays are available only on Patreon .

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Stress

Many pschologists recommend that the best way to relieve stress is to do nothing at all for a period of time during the day. Do you agree or disagree? Real Past IELTS Tests

One of the most pressing issues for first world countries is how to reduce their stress levels and this has led some psychologists to propose a daily period of rest. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an active role in stress relief.

Proponents of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘siesta’ or short nap before resuming work. Research has supported the myriad health benefits related to this stress-free period. It lowers blood pressure, increases serotonin in the brain, and aids memory function. Besides the statistics from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also anecdotal evidence that taking a break energises people in both the short and long term. Plowing on without breaks, on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to cut down on stress overall. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and participate in. Playing football reduces your stress by releasing endorphins in the brain that make people happier, strengthening the heart to better withstand stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a shared goal. The teamwork aspect cannot be underestimated, and is integral to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and reset your body for a new day than any other activity.

To conclude, although taking a rest certainly helps reduce stress, the best way to unwind is to play a sport. People should set aside time at least once a week to partake in team sporting activities.

1. One of the most pressing issues for first world countries is how to reduce their stress levels and this has led some psychologists to propose a daily period of rest. 2. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an active role in stress relief.

• The first sentence restates/paraphrases the main topic for the essay. Don’t spend a lot of time on this – write it quikly and get going!
• The second sentence gives my opinion – be clear and choose a side!

1. Proponents of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. 2. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘siesta’ or short nap before resuming work. 3. Research has supported the myriad health benefits related to this stress-free period. 4. It lowers blood pressure, increases serotonin in the brain, and aids memory function. 5. Besides the statistics from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also anecdotal evidence that taking a break energises people in both the short and long term. 6. Plowing on without breaks, on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

• The first sentence is a topic sentence giving the main idea for the whole paragraph – health benefits related to stress.
• My second sentence begins a specific example. Try to be as specific as possible.
• The third sentence continues to support the same main idea with research.
• The fourth sentence gives specific examples of the parts of the brain impacted by taking a break.
• My fifth sentence further supports the same main idea.
• The last sentence concludes the paragraph by using a counter-point to again support my main idea. Focus on 1 main idea, fully developed!

1. Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. 2. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to cut down on stress overall. 3. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and participate in. 4. Playing football reduces your stress by releasing endorphins in the brain that make people happier, strengthening the heart to better withstand stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a shared goal. 5. The teamwork aspect cannot be underestimated, and is integral to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and reset your body for a new day than any other activity.

• The first sentence of the second paragraph is also a topic sentence with my main idea – doing a sport does more to reduce stress overall. Notice that I keep my opinion weak – it has a greater overall impact.
• My second sentence begins my support for this main idea.
• The third sentence focuses on the very specific example of football.
• My next sentence details the specific ways that football reduces stress – be as specific as possible.
• The final sentence adds more support for the same main idea – sports do more to help reduce stress.

1. To conclude, although taking a rest certainly helps reduce stress, the best way to unwind is to play a sport. 2. People should set aside time at least once a week to partake in team sporting activities.

• The first sentence of my conclusion restates my opinion – make sure that you have a clear, overall opinion!
• My final sentence gives an extended detail that most examiners require for band 7+ for task achievement. Read more about it here .

Try to figure out what the words in bold mean below or think of a synonym for each one, then check your answers in the answer key:

One of the most pressing issues for first world countries is how to reduce their stress levels and this has led some psychologists to propose a daily period of rest. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an active role in stress relief .

Proponents of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘ siesta ‘ or short nap before resuming work . Research has supported the myriad health benefits related to this stress-free period. It lowers blood pressure , increases serotonin in the brain, and aids memory function . Besides the statistics from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also anecdotal evidence that taking a break energises people in both the short and long term. Plowing on without breaks , on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to cut down on stress overall. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and participate in . Playing football reduces your stress by releasing endorphins in the brain that make people happier, strengthening the heart to better withstand stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a shared goal . The teamwork aspect cannot be underestimated , and is integral to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and reset your body for a new day than any other activity.

pressing issues important problems

first world countries rich, developed countries

reduce their stress lessen anxiety

propose suggest

active role more proactive about

stress relief reducing stress

proponents supporters

siesta break

resuming work getting back to work

myriad health benefits many ways it is good for health

lowers blood pressure good for your heart

serotonin a chemical in the brain

aids memory function helps you remember better

statistics figures/facts

anecdotal hearsay

energises gives energy to

plowing on without breaks continuing to work without stopping

cut down on reduce

participate in take part in

releasing endorphins making you happier

strengthening making stronger

withstand get through

shared goal common purpose

underestimated think too little of

integral essential

reset your body recharge

unwind relax

set aside time make time for

partake participate in

Pronunciation

ˈprɛsɪŋ ˈɪʃuːz   fɜːst wɜːld ˈkʌntriz   rɪˈdjuːs ðeə strɛs   prəˈpəʊz   ˈæktɪv rəʊl   strɛs rɪˈliːf prəˈpəʊnənts   sɪˈɛstə rɪˈzjuːmɪŋ wɜːk ˈmɪrɪəd hɛlθ ˈbɛnɪfɪts ˈləʊəz blʌd ˈprɛʃə serotonin eɪdz ˈmɛməri ˈfʌnŋkʃən stəˈtɪstɪks   ˌænɪkˈdəʊt(ə)l   ˈɛnəʤaɪzɪz   ˈplaʊɪŋ ɒn wɪˈðaʊt breɪks kʌt daʊn ɒn   pɑːˈtɪsɪpeɪt ɪn rɪˈliːsɪŋ endorphins   ˈstrɛŋθənɪŋ   wɪðˈstænd   ʃeəd gəʊl ˌʌndəˈrɛstɪmeɪtɪd ˈɪntɪgrəl   ˌriːˈsɛt jɔː ˈbɒdi   ʌnˈwaɪnd   sɛt əˈsaɪd taɪm   pɑːˈteɪk  

Vocabulary Practice

Remember and fill in the blanks:

One of the most ____________________ for ____________________ is how to ____________________ and this has led some psychologists to ____________________ a daily period of rest. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an ____________________ in ____________________ .

____________________ of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘ ____________________ ‘ or short nap before ____________________ . Research has supported the ____________________ related to this stress-free period. It ____________________ , increases ____________________ in the brain, and ____________________ . Besides the ____________________ from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also ____________________ evidence that taking a break ____________________ people in both the short and long term. ____________________ , on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to ____________________ stress overall. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and ____________________ . Playing football reduces your stress by ____________________ in the brain that make people happier, ____________________ the heart to better ____________________ stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a ____________________ . The teamwork aspect cannot be ____________________ , and is ____________________ to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and ____________________ for a new day than any other activity.

To conclude, although taking a rest certainly helps reduce stress, the best way to ____________________ is to play a sport. People should ____________________ at least once a week to ____________________ in team sporting activities.

Reading Practice

Read and review the causes of anxiety and stress:

https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/causes-anxiety

Comment any questions that you have below!

Recommended For You

Recent IELTS Writing Topics and Questions 2024

by Dave | Sample Answers | 342 Comments

Read here all the newest IELTS questions and topics from 2024 and previous years with sample answers/essays. Be sure to check out my ...

Latest IELTS Writing Task 1 2024 (Graphs, Charts, Maps, Processes)

by Dave | Sample Answers | 147 Comments

These are the most recent/latest IELTS Writing Task 1 Task topics and questions starting in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and continuing into 2024. ...

Find my Newest IELTS Post Here – Updated Daily!

by Dave | IELTS FAQ | 18 Comments

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Foreign Languages (Cambridge 13)

by Dave | Cambridge 13 | 47 Comments

  This IELTS Writing Task 2 sample answer is from a past paper and was published in Cambridge 13. The topic is foreign languages and it ...

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Music Bringing People Together (IELTS Cambridge 14)

by Dave | Cambridge 14 | 12 Comments

This is an IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer from Cambridge 14 (a book of real past tests) about the topic of music and how that ...

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Very well-written essay. It was very interesting to read it and I feel like I have learned a thing or two from it. Just a quick comment: I’d prefer using more appropriate nomenclatures like developed countries or leading nations to first world, because first world may sound offensive to some people, especially those from underdeveloped (or third-world as you might say) countries. Also, first-world is an outdated term, implying countries that were aligned with the United States, and other westernized countries as opposed to countries that aligned with the former-Soviet Union.

Cheers, Duy Anh

Thank you, Duy Anh. Great points! I was trying to paraphrase but you are absolutely correct that first-world / third-world have rightly fallen out of usage in general.

Exclusive Ebooks, PDFs and more from me!

Sign up for patreon.

Don't miss out!

"The highest quality materials anywhere on the internet! Dave improved my writing and vocabulary so much. Really affordable options you don't want to miss out on!"

Minh, Vietnam

Hi, I’m Dave! Welcome to my IELTS exclusive resources! Before you commit I want to explain very clearly why there’s no one better to help you learn about IELTS and improve your English at the same time... Read more

Patreon Exclusive Ebooks Available Now!

IELTS Mentor "IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer"

• Skip to content
• Jump to main navigation and login

Nav view search

• IELTS Sample

IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.

Ielts writing task 2 sample 798 - why is stress such a problem in the modern world, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, compared to our parent’s generation, life has become much more stressful. as a result, stress-related illnesses are on the increase around the world. why is stress such a problem in the modern world and what do you think can be done to overcome the problems caused by stress.

IELTS Materials

• IELTS Bar Graph
• IELTS Line Graph
• IELTS Table Chart
• IELTS Flow Chart
• IELTS Pie Chart
• IELTS Letter Writing
• IELTS Essay
• Academic Reading

Useful Links

• IELTS Secrets
• Band Score Calculator
• Exam Specific Tips
• Useful Websites
• IELTS Preparation Tips
• Academic Reading Tips
• Academic Writing Tips
• GT Writing Tips
• Listening Tips
• Speaking Tips
• IELTS Grammar Review
• IELTS Vocabulary
• IELTS Cue Cards
• IELTS Life Skills
• Letter Types

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Copyright Notice
• HTML Sitemap

15 Sample Questions for IELTS Writing Task 2. Topic: Health .

To what extent do you agree or disagree that mental health should be given equal priority to physical health in public healthcare systems?

Should advertising for unhealthy foods and beverages be banned or restricted? Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Do the advantages of vaccinations outweigh the potential risks?

To what extent do you agree or disagree that regular exercise is more important than maintaining a healthy diet for overall well-being?

Should employers be required to provide wellness programs for their employees? Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Is it the government's responsibility to regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol? Discuss both views and give your opinion.

To what extent do you agree or disagree that alternative medicine should be covered by public healthcare systems?

Should governments impose higher taxes on products containing high levels of sugar? Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Do the benefits of medical research involving animal testing outweigh the ethical concerns?

To what extent do you agree or disagree that individuals should have the right to access their own medical records?

Should governments invest more in preventative healthcare measures, such as public health campaigns? Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Is it more important for governments to invest in medical research or healthcare infrastructure? Discuss both options and provide your opinion.

To what extent do you agree or disagree that the use of technology in healthcare has led to a decline in the quality of patient care?

Should healthcare professionals be allowed to refuse to treat patients based on their personal beliefs? Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Do the benefits of telemedicine outweigh the potential drawbacks?

How to Distinguish a Real IELTS Question from a Fake One

To identify if it's a typical IELTS essay prompt, consider the following:

• The prompt will be related to a broad, general topic that is relevant and engaging for a wide range of test-takers.
• It will ask you to present an argument or discuss different aspects of a topic, rather than simply recalling facts or describing a situation.
• The prompt will require a formal writing style and be written in clear, concise language.
• It will not require specific, specialized knowledge or expertise in a particular field.

• Listening Tests
• Academic Tests
• General Tests
• IELTS Writing Checker
• IELTS Writing Samples
• Speaking Club
• IELTS AI Speaking Test Simulator
• Latest Topics
• Vocabularying
• 2024 © IELTS 69

mental health -stress, meditation, positive mindsets

IELTS essay mental health -stress, meditation, positive mindsets

• Structure your answers in logical paragraphs
• ? One main idea per paragraph
• Include an introduction and conclusion
• Support main points with an explanation and then an example
• Use cohesive linking words accurately and appropriately
• Vary your linking phrases using synonyms
• Try to vary your vocabulary using accurate synonyms
• Use less common question specific words that accurately convey meaning
• Check your work for spelling and word formation mistakes
• Use a variety of complex and simple sentences
• Check your writing for errors
• Answer all parts of the question
• ? Present relevant ideas
• Fully explain these ideas
• Support ideas with relevant, specific examples
• ? Currently is not available
• Meet the criteria
• Doesn't meet the criteria
• 5.5 band In spite of the advances made in agriculture, many people around the world still go hungry. Why is this the cases? What can be done about this problem? The creative ideas and technology are growing hand-in-hand evolving as a super power in every field. This trend has been going great in agriculture as well. There are fascinating minds working under these technological advances resulting in notes-worthy outcomes, yet few percentage of world populati ...
• 6 band Childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem in many countries. Explain the main causes and effects of this problem, and suggest some possible sollution. These days, obesity of children is becoming a important problem in many countries. This essay will highlight the principal causes of these issues and possible sollution to resolve them. In essense, the principal causes of childhood obesity are two-fold. First of all, most of the juveniles prefer to ...
• One who speaks only one language is one person, but one who speaks two languages is two people. Turkish proverb
• 6 band Some people want the government to spend money for looking life on other planets, however, others think it is a waste of public money when there are so many problems on earth that the government should be solving. Certain individuals are of the view that the state should invest funds to explore science of extra terrestrial life. However there is a different view that it is a futile expenditure because many problems on our planet remain unsolved. I support the latter opinion. On the one hand, it is unlikely to ...
• 6.5 band Some people think it is better to leave their country to work and to live better. Others think it is better to stay in their own country. Some would argue that people should leave own country to work and gain a better life, others believe that staying in their own country is better. While those who leave their country could meet a new culture, I believe that it is cheaper to living in their own country. On the one hand, more people t ...
• If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world. Ludwig Wittgenstein
• 6.5 band Obesity was once considered a disease of adults; however, it is becoming increasingly common among children. Why do you think this is happening? What can be done to help children stay healthy? For many years obesity was perceived as a condition occurring only in adult life. However, in recent years the number of children suffering from obesity has grown significantly. There are several causes and numerous solutions which can be used to tackle this worrying phenomenon, and this essay will ...
• 6 band Now the machine is very complex, and a lot of difficult work is automated. Does this machine automation have more pros than cons? Nowadays, people are living in technology era. technology gives us more flexible and multitasking automatic machinery, which solve our tough work within an hour. According to me, there are so many benefit, which over shade its drawback. On the positive side, machines are faster than human also more ...
• Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did. Sarah Caldwell

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

IELTS Advantage

IELTS Preparation Courses

100 Band 7, 8 + 9 IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay Samples

Are you preparing for the IELTS Writing Task 2 exam and looking for some inspiration and guidance? Look no further! In this blog post, we have compiled a list of 100 Band 7, 8, and 9 IELTS Writing Task 2 essay samples to help you improve your writing skills and boost your chances of achieving a high score on the exam. These sample essays cover a wide range of topics, from education and technology to health and environment, and are a valuable resource for students at all levels of proficiency. Whether you’re just starting to prepare for the IELTS or are looking to fine-tune your writing skills, this blog post is an essential guide to acing your next Writing Task 2 test. So, please check out our IELTS sample essays and start preparing for the test today! Please note that these are real student samples. They contain mistakes because mistakes are totally normal for Band 7, 8, and even 9 students. All of the essays below have been checked by more than one former examiner, and all of the students achieved a Band 7, 8, or 9 in their real IELTS test.

Task 2 Samples

Some people think that parents should teach their children how to be good members of society. Others, however, believe that school is the best place to learn this. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Some people believe that children should be taught by their parents about how to function as useful members of society, while others believe that sending children to educational institutions is the best way for them to study this. Although the latter opinion can be beneficial in some cases, I believe that family upbringing plays a more important role in educating children to be good parts of the community.

Schools can be considered suitable places for children to learn to be good citizens. With standardized educational methods, schools can foster children’s cognitive development so that they are able to contribute to society in the future. For example, Trung Vuong school and Vinschool are well known for having nurtured successful alumni such as Professor Ngo Bao, Professor Nguyen Hung who have devoted their talents to the development of the country. However, these people only represent a small fraction of the total number of students attending schools, and thus sending children to schools cannot be the best method of educating them to be good members of society. 

I believe that parents play a more important role in teaching them how to be good citizens. In Vietnam, the average class size is 20 students, which makes it difficult for educators to provide proper schooling for each student. One to one lessons at home, on the other hand, allow children to progress faster. Furthermore, parents form stronger bonds with their offspring and thus, it is easier for them to shape children’s personalities at an early age. For example, by telling stories such as Robin Hood, Cinderella before bedtime, parents can instil a sense of compassion and integrity into them. These children are likely to become good members of society when they grow up.

In conclusion, although sending children to schools can be seen as a way of teaching them how to be good citizens, I believe that domestic upbringing has a bigger impact on determining who they are in the future.

There is an increasing trend around the world of married couples deciding not to have children. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for couples who decide to do this.

An increasing number of married couples around the world choosing to remain childless. The main benefits of not having a child for couples are that they can focus on their careers and have more time for themselves. The main drawbacks are that they could not fit into their peers’ group and have no one to look after them when they get old. 

One primary advantage of remaining childless for married couples is that they can focus on their work. This is because they have less responsibility and distractions in their lives compared to the couples that have a child. Another advantage of this is that they have more spare time. Looking after a child is a full-time job for parents and taking most of their time, while child-free couples have lots of free time after work. For example, many couples stop going out late with their friends after having a child as they have to stay at home for looking after their children. 

One disadvantage of couples deciding not to have children is that they can struggle to hang with their peers after most of them have children. Most parents prefer to spend more time with other couples that have children as well. Moreover, do not have anyone to look after them in their elderliness is another disadvantage. Children are the ones who take care of their parents when they get old because their parents did the same for them when they were young. For instance, the vast majority of the people who live in care homes have no child. 

In conclusion, the main benefits of staying child-free for couples are that they can be more career-oriented and have more free time for themselves, and the main drawbacks are that they could have problems about fitting into their friends’ group and having no one to take care of them when they become older.

Some would say that parents should teach their offspring how to be good members of society, while others are of the opinion that school is the best in this regard. This essay agrees with the latter point and will show that, despite the practical experiences that parents give their children, school lessons can give deep insights into what it takes to be good citizens.

Some believe that parents can educate their children about being good members of society based on their life experiences. This is because the life experiences that parents can give their children are straightforward, down-to-earth, and so they can easily apply what their parents teach them in reality. For example, many children in Thailand become more polite, honest, and caring to everyone as a direct result of the practical lessons that their parents give them at home. However, I believe that parents now are so busy and do not spend much time with their children teaching them.

Lessons at school can provide children with valuable insights into being good members of society. In class, students can receive lessons about different traits of a truly good person that society needs, and then they put what they learn into practice by creating real-life problems and solving them together. For instance, after receiving lessons in civic education at school, many Vietnamese students are more willing to help their neighbors and even strangers, and they feel extremely happy after doing something good for others. For this reason, I believe that school lessons are more influential to young children. 

In conclusion, despite the practical experiences that parents can give their children at home, this essay believes that school lessons can help students deepen their understanding of being good members of society.

In many professional sports, there is an increase in the number of athletes using banned substances to improve their performance.

What are the causes of the phenomenon and what are some of the possible solutions?

In many professional sports, it is becoming commonplace for athletes to abuse prohibited substances to boost their overall performance. This essay will discuss how stiff competition and lax testing systems are the main cause of this problem, and the most suitable solutions are imposing heavier punishments on violators and revamping testing facilities.

The main cause of this problem is the fierce competition that exists in any sports. In other words, most many professional athletes feel that they have to take substances like steroids to give themselves an advantage over other strong opponents. Another reason is the lack of strictness in testing procedures. Many athletes who take advantage of banned substances can still get off scot-free due to the holes in testing systems. For example, a high-profile mix martial artist named Jon John who is notorious for using PED described how easy it was to get away with cheating in an interview in 2015.

A viable solution is to heavily punish lawbreakers. If sports clubs and establishments raise the fine for using banned substances, many athletes will think twice before making attempt to cheat. Another the way to deal with this issue is to upgrade testing amenities. This will eradicate any holes existing in the system and ensure that the test result is highly accurate. For instance, after the UFC had made major investments to provide their staff with the latest testing equipment, many fighters in their organization got caught.

In conclusion, strong competition and ineffective testing systems are the main cause of this problem, and the most suitable solutions are enforcing harsher punishments on violators and reforming testing facilities.

Details of politicians’ private lives should not be published in newspapers. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

It is thought that the information regarding politicians’ personal lives should not be shared in print media. This essay strongly agrees with this suggestion because publishing these details could be harmful to their families, and obtaining this type of information might require breaking the law.

First and foremost, what makes that the details related to private aspects of politicians’ lives should not be shared in newspapers is that it could be harmful not only to these individuals but also to their families. This is because revealing some details from their personal lives could expose them to unwanted comments or allegations, which might lead to a great deal of distress. In Poland, for instance, in 2015, the vice-prime minister committed suicide due to not handling the pressure caused by the paparazzi invading his and his family’s private life.

Furthermore, obtaining this type of information, in most cases, means breaking the law. This is because the right to privacy is one of the most fundamental policies in society, and anyone who wants to access the lives of politicians must obtain their consent. However, not only are paparazzi hired to invade properties belonging to politicians to take photos without their permission, but also politicians’ colleagues and relatives are bribed to share confidential facts from their lives. For instance, an accident in which Princess Diana was killed was partly caused by the paparazzi who followed her car, trying to take photos of her and her boyfriend against their will.

In conclusion, I strongly support the suggestion that politicians’ lives should not be subject to the interest of newspapers because revealing personal facts from politicians lives could destroy their family life and the process of obtaining these details often required wrongdoing.

Some say that music, art and drama are as important as other school subjects, especially at the primary level. Do you agree or disagree? Some people believe that arts-related subjects are as important as other school subjects, especially for primary school children. I totally agree with this statement because this can help children to discover their talents from an early age and can increase their confidence. 

One of the reasons I agree that creative subjects have the same importance as other school courses in primary school is that it allows students to find out their potential talents early on. That is to say, school-age is the most convenient time for students to learn more about their interests by trying different activities as they are young enough to pursue their hobbies. They will probably not have any other chance later in their lives to discover that because they will be busy with difficult exams when they get older. For example, most famous singers were discovered by their music teachers at school from a young age, and they claimed that they could not be that successful if their teachers did not find out their talents when they were young.

Moreover, music, art and drama subjects help students to boost their confidence. That is because creative lessons teach students how to perform in front of lots of people and give them a chance to socialise with other students. As a result, students can realise their real potential and act more confidently. For instance, many psychologists suggest to students who are struggling with social anxiety to take drama lessons as it helps to enhance confidence. 

In conclusion, this essay completely agrees that music, art and drama have the same value as other subjects in primary school because it allows children to discover their hidden talents early on and increases their self-confidence.

Some individuals believe that the right place to teach children how to become good citizens is the school, while others argue that parents should be the ones responsible for that. Although parents might influence their children more than anyone else, I believe that educational institutions are more trained and equipped to teach children how to become successful members of the community. 

Parents influence their children more than anyone else. This is due to the fact that mothers and fathers are the ones who raise and spend most of the time with their children which dramatically influences the way children act and think. If parents act in a good manner, their children will indirectly imitate them. This fortifies the fact that no one might exert such a strong influence on their children. For example, a study in Britain showed that children are two times more influenced by their parents than their teachers. However, I believe that this is not enough and that school should be the place teaching children to become good people in society.

Schools are trained to build good citizens. Teachers spent their undergraduate years studying how to deal with children and train them to become better individuals in their communities. For this reason, educational institutions should be the place where children can safely acquire the needed behaviors to become better individuals in the future. For example, a recent study in the USA showed that 90% of schools train teachers how to help students to become better citizens. For this reason, I believe that the best place to do this is the school.

In conclusion, although parents have a strong influence on their children, I believe that the best place to create better citizens is the school because tutors are trained to do that.

It is argued that newspapers ought not to publish the details of private lives of politicians. This essay strongly disagrees with this view because politicians build a public image through such news and they could be held accountable for any wrongdoings.

On the one hand, politicians can gain public trust by building a positive image through newspapers. Being the focus of media, sometimes details of their personal interests end up on the front pages of newspapers, which allows them to gain popularity among masses, especially when their interests match with the general public. Recently, the pictures of a famous politician of Milan, while playing football with local school children were published in many newspapers, and he instantly became famous among school and college students. Hence, it helps them gain popularity by depicting themselves in a positive way. 

On the other hand, publishing details of private affairs disclose the corruption of politicians and make them accountable. Many politicians usually hold a public office and are entrusted with managing public funds. If they do not spend the money on the wellbeing of people and are involved in corruption, newspapers expose their private life and put them under accountability. For example, when details of the lavish spending of the Mayor of London, while on a vacation, were revealed in the SUN, it prompted questions from many sections of the society, eventually exposing his corruption with the public money. Therefore, it is important that newspapers publish these details.

In conclusion, private matters of politicians should be published in newspaper because it allows them to gain popularity and expose their corrupt affairs.

Some say that music, art and drama are as important as other school subjects, especially at the primary level. Do you agree or disagree?

Some people believe that arts education is as significant as the study of other subjects, especially for primary students. I completely agree with this viewpoint because some educational content could be better illustrated in the forms of arts, and the study of arts is one key consideration which fosters all-rounded growth of young students.

The arts could deliver information to students, especially to those attending primary schools, in a way that words in textbooks sometimes cannot. Children may become bored and tired if they have to read or listen to too much educational content in textbooks. A colorful painting or a catchy song, on the other hand, can be much more appealing and thus more effective in conveying information to these children. For example, the Ghen Covy song has been taught at most schools in Vietnam and has become one of children’s favorite songs. This song has effectively highlighted the importance of hand washing as a means of disease prevention, and has made it easier for many children to remember every step of hand sanitization for its catchy melody and appealing dancing moves.

Furthermore, the study of arts is one factor that contributes to a comprehensive development of young students. While academic subjects focus on children’s cognitive development, arts education help children to develop their social-emotional skills. By singing a song or drawing a picture, these children are likely to express their feelings and nurture their sense of community. For example, thousands of Vietnamese children, who were encouraged by their teaching staff, drew pictures of sunflowers to deliver messages of love and support for pediatric cancer patients.

In conclusion, the arts can sometimes be better at transmitting knowledge than textbooks, and the provision of both academic and arts education is necessary for an all-rounded growth of young students. I firmly believe that the study of arts should never be underestimated in any child educational institution.

Some people think that all university students should study whatever they like. Others believe that they should only be allowed to study subjects that will be useful in the future, such as those related to science and technology. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Some would argue that all students in universities have to study the subject they like, while others think that they have to only study something useful for their future, for example, those related to science and technology sectors. Although learning about the latter subjects is crucial to secure a good job and salary, I believe that enrollment in whatever subject they favor leads to students being successful in their fields.

Studying science and technology during third-level education makes students able to easily find a job that pays high wages. That is to say, working in the majority of modern workplaces requires up-to-date technological information aiming to improve the quality of work and to compete with others, and, in turn, those employees will earn good remuneration. For instance, many IT graduates from the University of Toronto were able to have high positions and good wages in many renowned business companies. However, I think that the passion for what students study is more important than how much their earnings are in the future.

It is very important for university students to study the subjects they like because this is the reason behind a successful career. That is because the love for this particular subject allows them to go beyond their limits, be creative, and be eager to improve, and, thus, they might be promoted. For instance, many well-known musicians decided to study music because they were passionate about it and this positive spirit helps them climb their professional ladder. Therefore, I support this school of thought because studying a favorite subject is more important.

To conclude, despite the fact that a course in science and technology can provide postgraduates with a good future career and enough income, in my view, studying whatever they prefer is better because this leads to success in their field.

In some countries, younger people are neglecting their right to vote.

What problems does this cause and what are some of the possible solutions?

It is argued that in certain nations youth are not using their right to vote. This would hinder the political change, and it would also result in policies made that are not beneficial for these young people. The most viable solutions would be to create awareness among the younger generation and promote them to participate in politics. 

Not participating in elections would mean that it would be difficult to change the government which is necessary for some countries across the globe. This is because, in any functional democracy, the only way to change the ruling party is by casting votes in the electoral process. Furthermore, if young individuals forge their right to vote, it would result in policies made that do not benefit them. As a result, they would feel that the state is not addressing their concerns and end up leaving the country. For instance, every year thousands of young adults from developing countries immigrate to Europe and North America because they are unhappy with their government’s performance.

One way to tackle these issues is to inform these people about the power of vote. Campaigns should be held in universities, and colleges to educate youth about their political rights. Another solution is to promote these young people to come into politics. Doing this it would ensure their representation and their voices being heard. For example, Nelson Mandela was a young political activist who successfully fought against racism and became the first black President of South Africa.

In conclusion, neglecting to vote by the young generation would delay the necessary government change, and laws made that are not in their favor. However, encouraging youth participation in politics and awareness campaigns can be possible solutions to tackle these problems.

In certain parts of the world, the younger generation is not using their right to vote.

This phenomenon may result in younger people being apathetic toward politics and election results that do not reflect public opinion, and the most viable solutions are to educate younger people about the importance of voting and incentivize them to vote.

One major problem of this is that younger people may adopt an uncaring attitude toward politics. If younger people do not take part in the election, which is the most significant political event, they are unlikely to pay heed to anything related to politics later on. Another issue is that the result of the election might be undermined. Since only older people give their votes, the winner may not be the one that the majority want to put in charge. For example, it is commonly seen in my country that politicians with older supporters tend to win again candidates that appeal to the young since most of them do not give their votes.

One suitable solution for this is to run a public awareness campaign to emphasize to younger people the significance of voting. Once they realize that if they abandon their right to vote, the consequences will be immense, they will change their minds and begin to vote. Another way to overcome this is to provide them with certain incentives to start voting. Many younger people find voting a waste of time and, therefore, if they are given incentives, they are more likely to take the time to vote. For instance, younger people in my country are often given a small amount of money as a way of motivating them to vote.

In conclusion, the problems that may stem from this are younger people’s indifferent attitude toward political matters and an ineffective election, and some ways to deal with them are educating and incentivizing younger people to vote.

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 these views and give your own opinion.

It is argued that the sports facilities should be increased in number to improve citizens’ health, while others claim that other initiatives are more essential to be conducted. While I support the idea that installing more sports facilities would help ordinary people to enhance their general health, I am more convinced that other effective measures should be taken. 

On the one hand, people’s general health status could have been improved greatly via exercising. It is proven that working out fastens the amount of oxygen to the brain, helping people be more concentrative and optimistic. Therefore, lack of physical exercise or insufficient physical movements one’s working performance may be impacted and less productive. For example, Hanoi citizens are reported to be healthier than they were because of the availability of exercise equipment right at the local parts. However, I believe that this measure just improves partially not whole the public’s health. 

On the other hand, there is a wide range of conducts to prevents poor health conditions. Improving diet quality is one of the effective measures that should not be neglected. A good physical health is indeed contributed by many elements, and a full nutrient meal makes consumers stronger and strongly resistant to some diseases. In Vietnam, there used to be a program of introducing milk into daily meals to deter malnutrition for children. After 2 years of conducting this campaign, the number of underweight children was minimised noticeably. Therefore, I completely advocate other solutions to implement to warrant the public’s general health. 

In conclusion, although launching more sports facilities would benefit the overall health of citizens, I think that this matter could be addressed better by other methods.

Some people think that it is better to educate boys and girls in separate schools. Others, however, believe that boys and girls benefit more from attending mixed schools. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

A number of people argue that it is better for boys and girls to get an education from different schools, while others believe that it is more beneficial for children if they attend combined schools. Although studying in separate schools will help boys and girls to focus more on their studies, I believe learning from co-educational institutions will help them to become more social in society. 

On the one hand, when boys and girls attend separate schools, they will spend more time focusing on their studies. This is because there will not be any opposite gender to be attracted to and to get involved in any affairs. The schooling hours will be fully utilised to learn something rather than being diverted from studies and spending time with the ones they might have affair with in the school. For example, in Nepal, students from St. Mary’s Girls School showed a better academic performance than the girls who completed their school years from a co-educational institution. However, I believe that children attending mixed school will learn to be more social in the future.

On the other hand, co-education is more beneficial for children because they will learn some social skills during their school years. This is to say that children of both genders will be allowed to have combined studies and will learn how to deal politely with a person of the opposite sex, an important skill which is highly accepted by society. For example, boys who finished their studies at co-educational schools showed more courtesy towards ladies by offering some help when required. For this reason, it is better for children to attend mixed schools as it helps them to learn essential social skills.

In conclusion, although educating children in separate schools will help them to focus on their studies, I believe that co-education is much better for girls and boys as they will learn essential social skills in school.

Being a celebrity, such as a famous film star or sports personality, brings problems as well as benefits. Do you think that being a celebrity brings more benefits or more problems?

Lives of celebrities, like famous movie stars or sports people, bring benefits as well as problems. Although earning huge amounts of money is an advantage for celebrities, I believe the lack of privacy in their lives is a major problem that outweighs the benefit. 

The main advantage for celebrities is that they receive a huge remuneration. That is to say, such people are paid large amounts of money for their efforts or performance. Celebrities usually decide how much they should be paid, and the people who pay them do not negotiate as they are confident in their star value. For example, Avengers star casts were paid in high amounts even before they read the script of the film series because of their previous performances in the older series. However, I think celebrities are also human beings and money cannot replace the happiness or freedom they need in their lives.

One of the downsides of being a celebrity is that it is not possible for them to lead a private life. This means that because of their fame and popularity, they are continuously followed by the media, and by their fans who eagerly wait to know what is happening in their favorite stars’ lives. As such, celebrities lose their freedom and cannot enjoy their personal time with their families or friends. For instance, when Sachin Tendulkar became famous after his remarkable performance in cricket, he claimed that he could not walk down the streets of Mumbai as he used to do in the past. Thus, I believe celebrities cannot be carefree, and they always have to face the media in one or the other way.

To conclude, I think the problem of being a celebrity is that their privacy is interrupted, and this overshadows the benefit of making large amounts of money as a celebrity.

Being a famous person, such as a movie star or sports athlete, has many disadvantages and advantages. Although famous people will earn more money, I believe that there are more drawbacks because famous people will not be safe in public places. 

The biggest advantage is that well-known individuals will earn loads of money. This is because they will get colossal amounts of money from their sponsors for promoting their products, such as mobile phones, laptops or cars. As a result, notable individuals will become affluent around the nation. Floyd Mayweather, for instance, is a famous boxer as well as a wealthy person in the United States of America. Each year he gets around millions of dollars from Burger Kings and Rolls Royal sponsors for promoting their products during boxing matches. However, I believe that famous celebrities face huge problems whenever they go out because their frenzied fans will annoy them.

The major drawback is that famous individuals’ lives will be in danger in common places. This is because their foes will try to harm them whenever they go out either alone or with their family members, such as in parks or malls. As a result, they will have to hire some security guards to protect themselves against vicious-minded individuals. Jennifer Lopez, for instance, always goes out with five bodyguards. The reason is that in the past, some deranged fans attacked her in New York park and broke her left arm. Therefore, I believe that celebrities always face difficulties in common places because someone will assault them. 

In conclusion, although well-known individuals earn big amounts of money from sponsors, notable people’s lives will be in danger because evil-minded people will harm them. For these reasons, I believe that drawbacks are more than benefits.

It is being argued that media houses should not disclose the personal lives of statesmen. I completely agree with this statement because it will not only violate their right to privacy, but also they should focus their resources on more pressing issues that need immediate attention such as poverty.

It is the fundamental right of every human being to have their privacy. Even though they are public figures, their private lives should be away from the eyes of the media. They should only be judged against the service towards their countries and not for what is happening in their day-to-day affairs. The prime example of this can be seen in the Constitution of the USA, which gives its citizens the right to privacy.

In addition to this, it is the responsibility of newspapers to address important matters including poverty. Media can be a very powerful medium, so rather than talking about other people’s life, resources should be diverted towards putting pressure on public officials to engage them in solving real-life problems. Using their influence to the benefit of the general public should be the main focus of newspapers. For example, during the Great Depression, The Guardian was the main voice of people in protesting against the poor living conditions. 

In conclusion, I do not support the argument of newspapers publishing the personal information of government officials. This is because it will result in the violation of their privacy and also the primary focus of news agencies should be to highlight key issues concerning the nation.

Some people say that television is useful for education, while others say it is useful only for entertainment. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Television is considered useful for education by some, while others claim that it only serves entertainment purposes. While certain people believe television is only for entertainment as it steals time, this essay claims that it is valuable as educational programs on television can help a child’s intellect.

Some believe television is only useful for entertainment since it takes away time. This is because they feel that children who spend too much time in front of the television may miss out on life’s opportunities and that it is much more productive to spend time with friends, to work on homework, to go outside, or to relax instead of watching television. For example, kids who watch too much television tend to work less on their homework, which results in poor performance in school. However, I would argue that television is important as education programs can aid in boosting children’s intellect.

Educational programs on television can help children become more intelligent. Kids who watch informative and educational shows learn to solve problems and develop strong mental maths skills. For instance, several studies have shown that kids are more likely to outperform their peers on tests when they watch educational shows. Additionally, studies have shown that children who watch cartoons most of the time score less than those who watch educational shows. Therefore, I strongly believe educational shows on television encourage intellectual development in children.

In conclusion, while television is seen as only useful for entertainment because it eats up time, watching informative educational shows on television can develop a child’s intellectual skills.

Being a famous person, for example a popular actor or a sports star, is problematic as well as beneficial. This essay believes that fame has more negative effects because it comes with the cost of being a burden to the star’s family, and it can threaten the star’s mental health.

The first negative effect fame has on the star’s life is the burden it puts on his family. That is not only because of the paparazzi that keep chasing them everywhere they go and eventually putting them at physical risk, but also because of the pink media which posts news about them that completely breach privacy and are often related to intimate relationships. For example, it is very well known how much detrimental the role of paparazzi and pink media was on Princess Diana’s sons and they report that those publications and breaking news scarred them for a lifetime just because they come from a famous family.

The second reason behind the negativity of being a star is that it creates an unsafe environment that may endanger the star’s mental health. Being constantly under the spotlights and lacking the minimum amount of privacy in the person’s life is documented to be detrimental to this latter’s mental health. For instance, the famous movie star Marilyn Monroe is known to have committed suicide because she could not cope with a life with no privacy at all, and the same applies to the famous Egyptian star Souad Husni and many others.

In conclusion, in my opinion, the negative aspects of fame outweigh the positive ones especially because it puts a burden on the star’s family and puts their mental health in danger.

Multinational companies are becoming increasingly common in developing countries. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?

It is becoming more popular in developing nations to see multinational corporations. There are some benefits for this trend such as the progress in the economy they create in these countries and the availability of jobs, however, the shut down of some small local businesses and the lower selling rate of local products can be its drawbacks.

The main advantage of the increasing number of these types of companies is the economic progress. That is to say, if multinational organizations operate in less-developed nations, this can bring wealth which boosts industries, trade, and other aspects of the economy. Moreover, more jobs will be available for the local people. That is because more workers and managers are needed to work for these companies which can be a good opportunity for locals to find a job. For instance, after opening a branch of Apple company in Dubai, many local graduates were thrilled by the good news of being accepted to work under this renowned company. 

However, one of the main disadvantages of this trend is the drop in the selling rate of the local products. That is because of the good reputations and qualities of international items, and, thus, citizens might refrain from buying their local products. Another disadvantage is that some small local shops could be closed. That is due to the unfair competition with these huge strong establishments, and as a result, some might be shut down or go bankrupt. For example, many amateur Syrian entrepreneurs, and after the harsh competition they had with international textile corporation, were forced to close their fabric factories. 

In conclusion, although the advantages of the popularity of multinational organizations in developing countries are the economic progress and the improvement in the job market, nonetheless, its downsides are the drop in the average selling of local products and the closure of some small businesses.

A number of individuals believe that television can help with education, while others feel it is only used for entertaining people. Although entertainment television programs are the most popular programs on TV, this essay argues that television is helpful in education if people utilize it properly.

On the one hand, nowadays, entertainment television programs have become the most well-liked TV programs. That is because those programs give people an escape from their home lives or occupations, and it is also a great way to spend time with. For example, in the United States of America the Ellen Show is one of the most popular shows which has lasted almost twenty years. However, I believe that entertainment television programs are people’s favorite television programs does not mean television cannot be useful for education.

On the other hand, television can be a helpful tool in education if people use it in a proper way. Television can help people to study through informative videos, TV shows, or documents, and those videos can help people form a visual representation of their thoughts. For instance, it can be commonly seen in many schools that teachers introduce TVs in their lectures to help students understand complicated and difficult subjects. For this reason, this essay believes that television is a useful tool for education.

In conclusion, although programs for entertaining people are the most well-liked television programs, I maintain that television is useful for education because it is a helpful tool for education if it is utilized properly.

In many countries, the government prioritises economic growth above all other concerns. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this.

Economic growth is a sphere that receives more attention than any other national domain in many states all over the world. The principal benefits of this phenomenon are lower unemployment and wealthier citizens, and the main downsides are higher costs of living for most and insufficient support for the poorest. 

On the one hand, what makes that prioritizing economic expansion is beneficial for the public is the fact that fever residents remain unemployed. This is because governments boost establishing various businesses, which will require many workers to operate. In addition, not only does a country become more powerful economically, but also many residents have an opportunity to become affluent. When companies generate more profit, it reflects how much money employees can make. In Poland, for example, 30 years after communism collapsed, average salaries offered for a middle-management position have tripled.

On the other hand, as a country’s economy thrives, costs of living increase. The most compelling reason for that could be the fact that since workers are paid more , their services become more expensive, which results in higher prices of many products. Moreover, in many cases, a state whose main priority is its economy offers little support for those who need it. If authorities believe that a strong economy is of the greatest importance, they are rather reluctant to offer help to those who do not contribute to the nation’s prosperity. To illustrate, when Donald Trump, who was a big advocate of a strong economy, became the president of the USA, the funds for jobless migrants were caught. 

In conclusion, as with anything in life, prioritizing economic growth by authorities has its pros and cons. While more have jobs that allow them to become wealthy, costs of living are going up, and those who need to rely on the social care system are marginalized.

It is argued that parents should be the ones to familiarise their children with basic teachings of morals and ethics and how to implement them to become better individuals in the society, while many believe educational institutes are the best places to learn them from. While parents can pay individual attention to their kids, I believe that schools provide an ideal environment in learning and grooming.

On the one hand, parents serve as role models and they are perfectly capable of paying undivided attention to their kids. That is to say that they can tell their kids stories containing lessons about differentiating right from wrong and good from bad. Furthermore, by demonstrating responsible behaviour, elders are instilling good habits in their young. As a result, children follow their elders and grow up to be better human beings. For example, on the dining table parents should tell their kids to eat quietly and not make unnecessary noises which can develop into a good habit. However , I believe that parents cannot consistently teach and monitor their kids’ behaviour patterns due to lack of time.

On the other hand, educational centres provide a specialised environment for minors in both academic and moral fields. That is to say that a child is more keen to learn and grow when one steps outside the comfort zone. By interacting with fellow students and actively participating in multiple social activities youngsters are able to perform to the best of their abilities. For instance, primary schools around the world include social activities and role plays in their curriculum to teach students how to become model citizens. Therefore, this option is preferable because it benefits the child in the long run as well as the society..

In conclusion, although parents can demonstrate moral teachings to their children in an effective manner, learning them at schools would make them rather more confident and productive members for the community.

In some countries, even though the rates of serious crimes are decreasing, people feel less safe than ever before. What do you think are the causes of this problem and what measures could be taken to solve it?

Although grievous offences are reducing, some people feel more insecure than they used to. The main reason behind this is the increase of cyber bullying and hate-crimes, and the solution would be to raise the general awareness among the masses and by promulgating new laws.

The primary cause of people not feeling safe than they used to is because the arena of crime has changed. More people are interacting virtually over the internet, which is mostly unregulated. Therefore, people are easily subject to harassment and bullying on social medias. Moreover, people are also subject to hate-crimes which is a consequence of constant portrayal of a certain group of people as evil by the media. For example, labeling the activities of criminals, who professes the Islamic faith, as terrorists has resulted in an increase in hate-crimes against Muslims across America. 

The solution to such problems would be in educating the general people so that they are more aware. This will allow them to act more responsibly. Also, the government can play their part by enacting new laws that addresses the needs of time. This will make their citizens feel more secure because they can have their problems redressed. For instance, the government of Bangladesh recently enacted Digital Security Act, 2018 and Digital Security Rules, 2020 in order to penalize offences that take place in the cyberspace, as crimes like online harassment and cyber bullying was not previously defined as an offence. 

In conclusion, insecurity among some section of the population is still prevailing due to the change in the nature of crimes that are being committed nowadays. However, this can easily be addressed by making people aware and also by making new laws.

Most high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the workforce in many developed countries is more than 50 per cent female. Companies should be required to allocate a certain percentage of these positions to women. To what extent do you agree?

Although women account for more than 50 per cent of the workforce in developed nations, a number of managerial positions are still occupied by men. Some believe that a certain proportion of these vacancies should be allocated to females. This essay, however, strongly disagrees with this statement because this can discourage qualified men to work hard, and such a policy can encourage organisations to find some wrong ways to outsmart the system.

Reserving a certain proportion of high-level positions for women because of their gender may prevent educated males from making a contribution to the progress of a company. This is because any employee naturally wants to have equal opportunities for promotion irrespective of gender. If males at workplace are deprived of it, they are not motivated to work hard. For example, psychologists claim that the motivation and hard work of subordinates directly hinge on the promotional system of a company. 

Furthermore, imposing a quota will make companies seek for some illegal ways to outwit this regulation since the priority of most companies is to reward employees with high-level positions according to their knowledge and experience, not their genders. Hence, if any law contradicts the policy of a company based on gender, the owners of that company are more likely to make modifications to outsmart the system, which benefits neither of them. For example, not to compulsively hire female employees to the top management of a company, owners can change the tittle of a position to just to fill a vacancy. 

In conclusion, I strongly disagree with the idea of allocation of certain high-level posts to females because of their gender since this can discourage qualified males to work hard and make companies find alternative ways to outwit the law.

Some people think that the teenage years are the happiest time of most people’s lives. Others think that adult life brings more happiness, in spite of greater responsibility. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

It is argued that adolescence years are the happiest years in one’s life, while others believe that adulthood is the most joyful phase to live despite having bigger responsibilities. This essay believes that, although adolescents are free of responsibilities, adults enjoy their life more because they are free to make their own choices.

On the one hand, adolescents are thought to live the happiest moments of their life because they are not asked to be responsible. Basically, a teenager lives with his parents, who not only provide him shelter, food, and education, but also, in some cases, would try to meet his fantasies. For instance, in my country, teenagers make a great example of spoiled people who spend their money carelessly and always ask for more, though they do not seem to be happy.However, I believe that not being obliged to worry about any responsibility is not what happiness is all about, and consequently adolescents do not live their happiest days.

On the other hand, others see that adulthood is a happier phase because adults are free to make the choices that fit their aspirations. Having the freedom of choice will eventually be followed by achievements and a sense of self-accomplishment, which is a primary source of joy. For example, many adults in my country are happy because of the choice of career or commitment they took on their own, and they see themselves happier than when they were teenagers. Therefore, I believe adulthood is the most enjoyable time because one can not be happy if they have to follow others’ plans even it comes with no responsibilities.

In conclusion, despite having no responsibilities on their shoulders, adolescents do not live the happiest moments of their life. This essay believes that it is adulthood which is the most enjoyable in light of the fact that adults are free to make their own choices.

In some countries, it is becoming increasingly common for people to follow a vegetarian diet. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

In a number of countries, following a vegetarian diet has become very popular. Although being a vegetarian can limit the options when eating, I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages because it allows the body to work properly. 

For vegetarian people it is difficult to find varied options to eat. Since the majority of the worldwide population have a diet that includes animal products, these type of food is the one that is normally available at food businesses. Therefore, people with a vegetarian diet have to choose between a limited number of plates or products when buying food or eating out. For example, in many popular restaurants in Colombia, the menu has only a short vegetarian section which includes only two or three plates that are completely vegetarian. However, I believe that those options that are offered are healthier than plates that are sold in large quantities.

Following a vegetarian diet allows the body to work better. This is because science has shown that when our human system digests animal products, such as meat, it has to work harder to process the food that it is not designed to receive. Thus, people that have a diet based on plants and seeds are more prone to have a healthier life because they allow their bodies to focus their energy in its normal processes. For instance, people who become vegetarian are less prone to get sick because their immune system has all the energy focused on fighting bacteria and not causing chronic inflammation because of the food. That is why I consider that following a vegetarian diet can have more benefits in the long term. 

In conclusion, although vegetarian people have fewer options when buying products without animal ingredients, it is my belief that following a vegetarian diet has a positive impact in the body functions.

Some claim that families should educate their offspring on being good members of community, while others say that school is the most suitable place to do that. Although school has professional ways to teach children about being good in society, I believe that teaching them by parents is more appropriate because parents have more influence on children. 

On the one hand, school should tech children how to interact in good way in society because it has academic methods to better educate children on that. Any school curriculum is examined by experts before being used, so it contains no mistakes or unsuitable context. For example, to design a school national curriculum, governments hire the most experienced and knowledgeable teachers nationwide. However, I believe that children follow parent’s instructions better than school’s instructions. 

On the other hand, parents are more influent in teaching children about being good in society. That is because parents are close to children, so children are more likely to believe in them. As a result, children are effectively learn how is it important to behave well in society. For instance, the vast majority of children gain their good habits from their parents as they eager to transmit the good attitude to their children. Therefore, I believe that families are the most suitable teacher for children when it comes to be good in society. 

In conclusion, despite the fact that school has professional methods to educate children on being good in society, I believe that parents are more successful doing that because they have better influence on children.

It is thought by some that their happiest years were during their teenage years. Others, however, believe that happiness comes during adult life later on, despite the great deal of responsibilities. Although being an adult means having enough money to enjoy many life activities, teenagers have an enormous amount of time to spend on leisure activities, and for this reason, I stand with the latter view.

Undoubtedly, adults usually have the money to spend on entertaining activities and create joyful moments. Due to the fact that adults usually have the financial means to travel somewhere far, attend a concert, or even rent an expensive car, many express their happiest moments to be during their thirties and the years after while their health is still perfect and they enough money to spend. For example, a 35-year-old man can always travel to Spain during summer time and be able to create an unforgettable moments. However, in my opinion, most adults are so engaged mentally with work and family responsibilities that they do not have the time to spend or travel but rarely.

On the other hand, during adolescence, teenagers have all the time they need to have fun. Having no serious tasks or long working hours, teenagers often spend their time partying with their cool friends throughout the week while having absolutely no responsibility on their shoulders. As a result, people usually remember these days as their happiest. For example, teenagers usually have their own party places that open during week days, especially when they become university students, they become happier as their social network also expands. Personally, I believe that having no responsibilties is the key to create happy moments to remember. 

To conclude, while being an adult means having more money to spend on entertaining events, teenagers have all the time in the world to be with their firends and party, and that, in my view, is the reason why people remember these days as their happiest.

Global companies are gaining more popularity among third-world countries. The main advantages of this are that they generate more employment in a country and provide good benefits to employees. However, the major drawbacks are long working hours and unsecured jobs.

One benefit of multinational companies is that they employ a large workforce. This is because these big companies have more than two or three branches around the country, thereby, increasing the employment rate within the country. Moreover, these companies have good benefits for their staff, as compared to local companies, such as yearly travel compensation and full coverage family insurance. For instance, Amazon provides a yearly international trip to the employee and their family, covering accommodation and return tickets.

On the other hand, having to work extremely long hours is the major disadvantage of being in such companies. This is because these companies handle clients who work in different time zone. Hence, the employees have to work in their local time zone as well as per client time zone, which can be several hours apart. Furthermore, losing a job at any time is the biggest fear of employees working for such organizations, unlike government sector, where an employee cannot be fired from the job easily. For example, in Apple Inc., it is reported several times that the employees are fired due to their grudges with their boss.

In conclusion, multinational organizations have benefitted developing countries by increasing the employment rate and making the lives of employees better by providing good benefits. However, it does not have strict policies for their staff as they have to work long hours and fear of losing their job at any time.

In modern times, children are spending less time with their families and more time with their friends. Why has this change occurred? Do you think parents should force their children to spend more time at home?

Nowadays, children spend more time with their friends than with their families. This change has occurred because children do not want to feel left out amongst their peers and parents should not force children to stay home because they will resent their parents for it.

Young ones do not want to miss out on social activities with their friends. Since the invention of technology, many activities that people carry out, especially teenagers, are now being posted online. As a result, children want to engage more in activities with their peers so they would also have fun stories to post on their social media pages and not be the odd one among their peers. For example, many young people in South Korea are known to shop and visit fun places with their friends rather than their parents, so as to show off the fun activities they engage in on Wechat, a popular social media platform.

Children whose parents mandate spending more time at home might hold a grudge towards their parents. This is because if children are forced by their parents to spend more time at home, they may interpret this as a form of punishment and develop a negative attitude towards their parents, which defeats the goal of family time. However, if they are encouraged to play with their siblings and bond with the family, children will be more willing to stay at home. For example, most children in Nigeria, even though they spend time with their friends, look forward to family time because parents in Nigeria emphasize the benefits of spending more time with family. 

In conclusion, children want to engage in activities with their friends and not be left out, and parents should encourage their children to stay at home more, rather than force them so that their children will not resent them.

It is believed by some that adolescent years are the happiest period of most people’s lives, while others believe that adulthood brings more content, despite having more responsibilities. Although teenagers obtain new experiences in their teenage years, I believe that adults can enjoy in the things they have accomplished.

On the one hand, experiences that adolescents gain before their reach adulthood make them happy. This is because many teenagers get more freedom to do the things that they like without being controlled by their parents. A sense of freedom gives them opportunity to socialise with their contemporaries and many of them fall in love for the first time. These are unprecedented experiences that makes them feel very happy. For example, many dwellers of Sarajevo have said that teenage years were the happiest years of their lives. However, I think that adolescents do not know what a real happiness is at such a young age. 

On the other hand, adults can appreciate the things they have achieved. This is to say that many adults set goals when they were younger, such as having prosperous careers, because they knew achieving their goals would make them content. They worked hard to get closer to their goals, and when they finally achieved their targets, they felt contentment. For instance, many Bosnians dreamed about owning a property, and after purchasing housing they were ecstatic. Therefore, I believe that adults can value happiness at a greater level.

In conclusion, although pre-adulthood brings new experiences, I believe that adults enjoy the perks of their hard work.

In many professional sports, there is an increase in the number of athletes using banned substances to improve their performance. What are the causes of the phenomenon and what are some of the possible solutions?

The number of sportspeople using illegal substances to improve their performance has increased in many sporting events. This essay believes that many athletes are taking banned substances to win the competition and exceed capabilities beyond their limits. This can be prevented by requiring athletes to take drug tests before the competition and punish them if they have violated the rules.

Some sportsmen are taking banned substances because they want to be the best athlete in the competition. It is in their nature to be on top among other competitors, and winning is their main goal. In addition, using illegal substances help exceed their abilities by boosting their physical strength. They are tempted to do this because it helps them to handle such excruciating trainings needed to achieve their goals. For instance, Michael Phelps, a professional swimmer, confessed that the use of an illegal substance has helped him become an Olympic Gold medallist.

One solution to eradicate this problem is to test all athletes before the competition so that they will be discouraged from using banned substances, allowing fair competition among athletes. Moreover, sports organizations should also punish athletes who are taking performance-enhancing drugs, such as banning them from playing any sports event. This will give them lessons and take away the temptations of using illegal substances. For example, the Tour de France organization has banned Edward Armstrong from entering the bike racing competition and stripped down all his trophies because of his drug violations. 

In conclusion, many athletes nowadays use illegal substances to win the competition and exceed their physical capabilities. However, it is vital to have fair competition, and this can be eradicated by requiring the athletes to do drug tests and ban them if found guilty.

Some people argue that television helps in learning while others believe that its only purpose is to entertain us. Although television is widely used for enjoyment and leisure, in my opinion, it also helps in other ways like getting news and information from all over the world.

For decades, people have been watching television for fun and leisure because it is the most common entertainment product in every household. Furthermore, it offers a variety of channels and programs with just clicks of some buttons which help children and adults to relax and enjoy when they feel tired after studies or work. Entertainment programs such as The Kapil Sharma Show have always been the most popular programs because they spread laughter and joy among the people and help them unwind the day. However, I think that other than entertainment, people have many reasons to watch television such as getting educated about major events around the world.

On the other side, many people argue that beyond the entertainment, there are various news and educational programs aired on television that are watched by a large number of people. Many shows on television play a vital role in educating citizens about various issues and current affairs and help them increase their knowledge. Many news programs, for example, Prime-Time with Ravish Kumar on NDTV pick one of the events happened during the day and discuss different perspectives about it in details and educate people on how it affects their lives. Moreover, these types of shows have become more interesting and entertaining due to the use of advanced technology and presentation methods.

In conclusion, while the most people watch television for pleasure and relax, I believe that it is not fair to tag it as an entertainment tool because it is still a main source of news and information for the majority people around the world.

Some argue that newspaper journalists should not report on the personal lives of the people in politics. This essay emphatically disagrees with this view because citizens are entitled to be informed about their politicians’ lives before they elect them, and because politicians need to be kept in check to stop them from misusing their powers.

Politicians are public servants who have taken an oath to serve the citizens of a nation. In a democracy, politicians are elected on the basis of two important factors – their vision and their values. While the vision is communicated by politicians during their campaign, the values can only be depicted through the way the way they have lived their personal lives. Journalists are trained to investigate all kinds of information. Hence, for a well-rounded evaluation, it is essential that newspapers give a complete account of the values of a politician through a coverage of their personal lives. For instance, in 2016, many supporters of Donald Trump lost their trust in him after newspapers uncovered the story of the sexual harassment allegations against him.

Furthermore, politicians hold great power because of their ranks. It would be very easy for politicians to misuse this power to benefit their own personal lives. On behalf of the public, journalists own the authority to keep politicians’ personal lives in check. For example, President Bill Clinton wrongly took advantage his position by having an affair with an intern. The American citizens were informed of this through newspapers and other media platforms.

In conclusion, it is extremely important that newspaper publishers cover the private lives of politicians so that they can be fairly evaluated before elections, and to ensure that their power is kept in check while they’re serving the public.

During the course of history, crime term is viewed as a negative blow on both society and each individual. Although a reducing crime statistic in some particular countries has been publicly recognized in recent decades, other kinds of crime might cause local residents a sense of less safety than previous times, especially juvenile crime, so some policies need to be implemented to ensure tackle this phenomenon.

There is several compelling evidence that crime under the age of 18 has been a contributor to unsafe feelings. With the aid of technological advancement, teenagers nowadays are frequently exposed to violence in the media and mimic violent acts whose brains are not fully developed and can not tell the difference between right and wrong. Violent scenes on Youtube, for example, are usually starred by adults who are likely to become negative role models, leading to the growth of juvenile crime after watching those videos, especially turning to bullies in school. Thus, parents will have a fear of their offspring not only befriending these bullies but also becoming a potential crime if they can not control the information absorbed by their children due to hectic working schedules.

With regard to the responsibility of the government to assure residents do not feel unsafe, banning violence-related contents on the Internet should be adopted. This policy required producer companies to minimize scenes containing violence before publicizing final products. In addition, adults also are in charge by teaching their infants to identify wrongdoings to avoid. By spending time with those, parents could either diminish unsafe feelings or intervene at the right time whether friends of their youngsters are good or not.

In conclusion, juvenile crime is a major indicator of increasing fearness of society despite a drop in serious crime rate. Government must take immediate action by passing violence- content restriction on stakeholders on a national scale and parents should dedicate more time to their children to help authorities to address these issues.

It is generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for instance for sport or music, and others are not. However, it is sometimes claimed that any child can be taught to become a good sports person or musician. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

While some think that people can not succeed in sports or music unless they have some natural talents that a few people have, others reckon that any child can be educated to become successful in those areas. This essay agrees with the former view because, although children are able to get access to many professional training programs, natural gifts enable owners to excel at their subjects such as music or sports.

Some argue that all children can become good at music and sports as soon as they receive the appropriate learning programs. This is because now children are taught by many professional teachers, and the programs that they are involved in are far more modern and systematic. Therefore, they do not need talents to become successful. For instance, many renowned musicians and sports athletes in Vietnam admit that they are not talented, but they can thrive in their areas mainly because of their hard work in many years and the intensive training programs that their tutors gave them. However, I think that some subjects like music or sports have some unique features that require learners some talents to master them.

Gifted people can thrive because their natural gifts help them quickly master knowledge. The immense level of their innate skills enables them to completely grasp anything they learn in a short amount of time, and they can creatively and successfully put them into practice. Let’s take Mozart as a musical genius of all ages, with an extraordinary memory, he could remember any details of music like melodies and lyrics and composed thousands of famous songs of all time. For this reason, I believe that some inborn qualities play a crucial part for people to thrive in some areas like music or sports. 

In conclusion, despite any professional programs that schools now offer, this essay thinks that children need to have some talents to become professional athletes or skilled musicians.

Some say that educating boys and girls in a single-gender school is more beneficial, while others feel that mixing both genders is a better idea. I believe that while separation can reduce the amount of classroom disruption, mixed schools have a better impact on both genders because it prepares them for their future in the real world.

On the one hand, a single gender educational environment can reduce distraction between peers during the class. Children try to impress or get the attention of the opposite gender by talking or showing off, which leads to lack of focus in the class and causes interruptions to other students. For instance, girls and boys tend to find their first crushes at school. It distracts them because instead of paying attention to studying, they are focused on getting into relationships. Despite this, I would argue that both boys and girls can benefit more from being mixed because it helps them to be prepared for the future life.

On the other hand, mixed-sex schools where boys and girls are not separated, can prepare children for their future life. When young males and females attend co-educational school, they can develop relationships with other people. In their future they will work with opposite sex so educating students in single-sex schools limits their opportunity to work cooperatively with the opposite gender. For example, if children are used to have contact with many peers from their childhood, they will not have a problem to adjust to a mixed-sex environment in their future such as work area or daily life. I therefore believe that this method is better as it helps to interact with the opposite sex.

In conclusion, while separating boys and girls at school can help them to be more focused during their classes, I think that mixing both genders gives them the ability to learn how to build relationships with different genders, which is valuable later in life.

Following a vegetarian diet is becoming very popular in some nations. Although without meat it is hard to get the required amount of protein, I believe that the benefits of consuming high fibre and low saturated fat while on this diet far outweigh any drawbacks.

The main disadvantage of the vegetarian diet is that without meat people may have a protein deficiency. That is to say, people by nature are omnivorous more than herbivorous, and by avoiding consuming animal products, protein levels will decrease, and this deficiency can have consequences on muscles, bones and immunity system. By following this type of strict diet in certain religious groups in India, for instance, people might suffer not only from fatigue and bone fractures, but also from disturbance in their immune system. However, I think that a well-planned diet provides people with all nutrients including enough protein.

The positive feature of this diet is that it contains high fibre and low saturated fat, which can help decrease heart problems. In other words, high amounts of fats are found in animal products, this can accumulate on blood vessels causing clots and predisposing to certain heart diseases, and by controlling fat levels and consuming more fibre as in vegetarian diet, the risk of heart disease can be reduced. That is why many physicians, for instance, advise their patients to go on this healthy diet which plays a major role in decreasing their risk of suffering from heart problems. Therefore, in my view, protecting people from this type of illness by recommending such a regimen is very beneficial.

To conclude, while it is difficult to have enough protein from a vegetarian diet, in my opinion, the advantages of protecting people from heart disease with its high level of fibre and low saturated fat far outweigh any disadvantages.

Nowadays more and more people have to compete with young people for the same jobs. What problems does this cause? What are some possible solutions?

These days the competition for the same job has increased, as more young people apply for it. The main problems this causes are high competition for one job and an increased unemployment rate. The most viable solutions are creating special programs for young people and expanding the job market by introducing special positions for others. 

Having a high number of people applying for the same job creates high competition for one position, among younger and older people. As a result, for one position apply hundreds of people, and only one, mainly young people, is hired. Additionally, this leads to unemployment, as there are not many positions available to people and not everyone finds a job. In Ukraine, for example, every year many people in their forties or fifties file for unemployment insurance, as they were not able to find a job due to the companies prefer hiring younger candidates rather them. 

One way for governments to overcome this difficulty is to create special positions for the elder and senior people, like to be trainers. In such a way, they will not lose their jobs and will be able to pass their knowledge to the younger generations. Another solution is for organizations to introduce more internships or traineeships. Creating such opportunities will assist people in having at least temporary jobs. For example, every year a well-known Ukrainian mobile company Life hires the younger for one year program with a future potential full-time employment, as they want to retain their current employees and provide future job opportunities for younger generations. 

In conclusion, having more young people applying for the same job creates high competition and unemployment. In order to overcome this, the government should introduce more positions, like trainers for elderly and current employees, and offer more internships for the younger generation.

Some companies have uniforms for their staff which must be worn at all times. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this.

Employees of some companies must wear their uniforms all the time. The main advantages of this are that wearing uniforms can be a source for advertising their products and helps to bring a sense of belonging, while the disadvantages are that wearing inappropriate clothing for work and hampering employee’s performance.

Employees who wear uniforms can be a source of marketing for their own products. This is because when employees step out from their company, then people will notice their logos and make a good impression of them, as a result, they might end up buying their items. Moreover, staff wearing uniforms can also help to grow a sense of belonging. That is to say that if staff wear the same clothes every time, this would lead to a feeling of team spirit and better production in the company. To illustrate this, the workers of Lux company always dress up in the same uniforms; thus, they become an inevitable part of the marketing team of Lux in Bangladesh.

On the other hand, employees who always wear uniforms might end up wearing inappropriate clothes for their work. This is because they do not have any idea of the specific material or right sizes of the clothes that they should wear at the workplace. Wearing uniforms by employees can also hamper their better performance. This is mainly because of making poorly designed work clothes and, this might cause difficulties in work since they find the uniforms constricting their work output. For instance, flight stewardesses wearing pencil skirts and high heels may look good, but at the same time, it also causes discomfort to them and the passengers.

To conclude, the main advantages of wearing uniforms are that it can be a key element of marketing and helps to grow a sense of belonging; however, the disadvantages are the inappropriacy of wearing uniforms and restricted performance.

Nowadays the way many people interact with each other has changed because of technology. In what ways has technology affected the types of relationships people make? Is this a positive or negative development?

Because of developments in technology, the way we communicate with each other has changed. As a result of this, people are making friends and even started to find themselves a partner through the internet. I believe that it is a negative trend because people try to take advantage of us after they know about our personal life.

Many have started making friends and dating online. Social media users follow individuals whom they do not know and interact with them by commenting on their posts or texting to each other from these platforms. Some teenagers and even adults use dating websites to find themselves a date. In such platforms internet normally pair them up with a random person and they make conversation with each other. For example, the dating website called Omegle is getting popular among individuals.

People often get threatened by their online friends. After they earn their friend’s trust, and get familiar with their personal life, they start demanding money, and if a person refuses to give them what they want they begin threatening them telling them that they will hurt their loved ones. For instance, more than thousands of social media users in Uzbekistan are becoming the victims of such crimes every year.

In conclusion, as a result of improvements in technology the way we interact with each other has changed. Because of this people are dating and making friends online. I am of the opinion that it is a negative development because people often get threatened by their online friends.

Today people are travelling more than ever before. Why is this the case? What are the benefits of travelling for the traveller?

People are travelling more than ever before in recent times. Achieving quality education from abroad is the main reason for this, and the major benefits of travelling for the traveller are they will be entertained by watching exciting things around them and personality development.

The main reason of people travelling more today is to achieve quality education from abroad. This is because, degrees from their own countries may not have more value. Instead, if they have degrees from abroad, people can compete with other individuals for amazing jobs, and by having such jobs, people’s standard of living improves. For example, many engineers in India are travelling abroad in order to complete their higher education and by achieving quality education from abroad, they can get a phenomenal job anywhere across the world.

One benefit of travelling for the traveller is that they are ammused by watching exciting things while travelling.This is because, usually people at home have a hectic life style and they do their normal routine work. While travelling, travellers observe mesmerizing lights and new things on their way and get entertained. Moreover, travelling helps in personality development of a traveller. This is because, in an airbus they have to wait for a long time for their destination to come, which develops the quality of patience in travellers. For example, while travelling from Melbourne to Hyderabad, travellers have to wait for 16 hours in an aircraft which develops patience and overall personality development in them.

In conclusion, today people are travelling more than ever before, to achieve quality education from abroad is the main reason of travelling, and the main benefits of travelling for the traveller are getting entertained by watching exciting things while travelling and personality development.

It is the view of some people that individuals who have talents in certain areas such as sports or music are born with it, while others believe that a child can learn to be good at these skills. Although, it is true that people are talented in these fields because they can achieve great feats with no training or with minimal effort, I believe that any child can learn to become good at certain skills if they work hard.

People who are naturally talented at sports or music can perform excellently well in these areas without training. Some people who perform very well in sports or music do not need to learn or practice to become proficient at these skills because it comes naturally to them, unlike others who have to train for a long time to reach the same level. For example, Michael Jackson, a musical legend, is widely known to be talented in singing and dancing because he displayed these skills from childhood without training. However, I believe that even those who are talented in certain fields need to learn and practice in other to perform at maximum capacity.

Children can be taught to become good sportsmen and women and outstanding musicians if they work hard at it. It is possible to teach someone different skills, especially a young child, because they learn faster and with practice they too can become very good in music and sports. For example, Dwayne Johnson, popularly known as the rock, was taught how to wrestle from an early age and now holds many wrestling titles. For this reason, I believe that children can be learn to be good at these skills by working hard even if they were not born with such talents.

In conclusion, even though some people can perform well in sports or music because they are talented, I believe that young people who are not talented can learn to be skilled at sports or music if they work hard.

Many people are now opting to provide technology companies with their personal data in exchange for access to software. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

These days many individuals are choosing to give tech companies their personal information to gain access to software. Although using this software makes people’s life easier, I believe that the benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks because companies are able to constantly influence consumers’ choices.

The main advantage of sharing your private data with tech companies is that the software they provide you makes your life simpler. This is because this software offers users personalized help in their daily matters so that they can avoid wasting time and energy doing things that they can easily do with the aid of technology. For example, Google Drive offers you a free cloud-based storage where all your documents and pictures are automatically saved and you can access them from any device at any time, without worrying about saving them on a pen drive that you might lose. However, I believe that this argument is weaker because people should prioritize their privacy.

One of the disadvantages is that once they have access to your data, tech corporations can use them to control your choices at all times. This is to say that tech companies harvest the data you agreed to share with them, and through an in-depth analysis performed by artificial intelligence and through complex algorithms, they create profiles based on your interests, likes and dislikes. These profiles are then sold to third-party companies for advertising purposes. For example, Google records all your google searches and all the videos you watch on YouTube and then decides what type of advertisement you would be more susceptible to. This targeted marketing has proven extremely successful. I believe this argument is stronger because people are deceived from these companies to generate revenues. 

In conclusion, although providing confidential information to tech firms in order to use software simplifies your life, I believe that being continuously influenced in your decisions is a major drawback. For these reasons, I think that the negatives far outweigh the positives.

While some argue that building more sports facilities is the best possible method of improving public health, others believe that this approach is not very effective, and other actions are needed. I agree with the latter opinion as although doing sports plays a key role in leading a healthy way of life, mass educational activities about different ways of health improvement are a better option because they can target more people. 

On the one hand, doing sports influences people’s health and well-being enormously. Not only does it make us stronger and more resilient, but it also trains our cardiovascular systems and, thus, reduces the chances to die earlier than we could have. In contrast, those who lead a sedentary lifestyle deprive themselves of these benefits. Hence, the more sports facilities will be available to the public, the more people could do sports and, thus, stay healthy. However, I do not agree that this is the best way to improve public health as the majority of people either just do not want to or can not go in for sports because of different reasons. 

On the other hand, informing and educating people about different ways of improving their health is a foundation of health and well-being. If people knew the consequences of drinking too much alcohol and why they need to eat healthy food and avoid ultra-processed food, for example, then they would take a more sensible approach to their health and would have more motivation. Hence, I am convinced that this approach is much better than just opening more sports facilities as it targets all people and not just a small part of them. 

To conclude, although opening more sports facilities will make some people healthier, I believe that educating people is more important as it will target more people overall.

In few countries, the population of vegetarians is increasing rapidly. Although this trend might be a cause of unemployment among a particular group whose livelihood is dependent on the meat business; this essay thinks that the advantages like the positive effect on the environment outweigh the disadvantages.

The drawback of a large population of a country turning vegetarian is that some people lose their business. That is to say that there are thousands of farmers whose livelihood depends on the livestock business, they farm animals like cows and pigs, and sell the meat in local meat markets. These markets might close if a large population turns vegetarian resulting in these people losing their livelihood. For example, in India, there are thousands of individuals, especially in coastal cities like Mumbai or Chennai, who earn their living through huge meet markets established in these cities, these people will get unemployed if the markets close. However, this essay believes that individuals would find an alternative source of income if these markets close.

The major advantage of people choosing a vegetarian lifestyle is that it is eco-friendly. In other words, livestock requires vast areas of land to live in; they eat a huge quantity of food which would be enough for multiple people to survive; they produce double the carbon dioxide in a day than an average human. Due to these reasons farming livestock is takes a heavy toll on the environment. For example, according to research at the University of California, farm animals are the number one cause of global warming, greater than emissions from cars and gasses released from industries. This essay believes that the environmental impact of the vegetarian lifestyle outweighs the drawbacks.

In conclusion, if a large population of a country turns vegetarian, a certain group might lose their income, but this essay believes that the advantages of positive environmental impact outweigh the drawbacks.

Most high-ranking positions in companies are being filled by men, despite that more than 50 per cent of the employees are women in a lot of high-income countries. Companies should be forced to dispense a certain proportion of these posts to women. This essay totally agrees with this statement because, by doing this, the relative level of competence in the company as well as the ability to cooperate would increase. 

By allocating a certain per cent of high-level positions to women, companies would reach a higher competence level. This is because a lot of women with the right competence are overlooked, since the tradition of male executives are very strong. Allocated recruitment would result in women with high competence rather than mediocre men in those high-level positions. For example, an audit of the relative competence level in one of the biggest investment banks in Sweden showed a significant increase after they decided to allocate at least 40 per cent of their leading positions to women. 

Companies with gender equality show better cooperation. In other words, both male and female leaders are needed in a company because men and women contribute with different aspects to the group dynamics. For example, in space shuttles the crew is always formed with a certain per cent of both female and male crewmembers, since cooperation is so vital. 

In conclusion, this essay totally agrees with the statement that companies should be obliged to recruit women for a certain percentage of the leading positions because this is a way of increasing both the level of competence and the cooperation in the company.

There is an increasing trend for people in some nations to have vegetarian foods for their meals. This essay thinks that the benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks because although vegetarian diets can reduce carbon footprints, consuming vegetables only may lead to nutritional deficiencies.

The main advantage of having a vegetarian diet is that carbon emissions can be reduced. Animal agriculture accounts for a significant portion of carbon footprints because animal feed has to be transported a long way to farmers, and animals release a large amount of carbon dioxide after they eat the feed. For example, a research by the University of Australia found that around 35% of carbon emissions around the world is from animal agriculture, and if everyone eats vegetables, carbon footprint in animal agriculture can be reduced by one third. However, this essay argues that people may not be able to get nutrients which is available only in meats if they solely consume vegetables.

One disadvantage is that vegetarian diets may cause nutritional deficiencies. That is because vegetables do not contain nutrients or minerals that are available in meats, and in the long run vegetarian may suffer from diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies. For instance, meats provide minerals such as iron to strengthen the red blood cells. If people do not gain enough iron, their immune systems will be weakened, and in most serious case, brain functions will be impaired. Therefore, this essay believes that a balanced diet with meats and vegetables should be followed.

In conclusion, although eating vegetables solely can reduce carbon emissions, unbalanced diets with only vegetables may lead to nutritional deficiency.

Nowadays, people are travelling more than at any time in the past. The main reason for this is that it is cheaper to travel now, and the main benefits of travelling for the traveller are that they can expose to different cultures and expand their social network. 

One of the main reasons people are travelling more now is that it is not as expensive as before. That is to say that there are many new travel transportation companies exist now, such as flight and bus companies, while there were only a few of them in the past. As a result, there is a big competition between these companies to attract more customers, which results in massive price reduction. For example, Ryanair, a famous flight company in Europe, sells tickets starting from $15 during the sale, from London to European countries. 

One of the main benefits of travelling for the traveller is that they can understand different cultures better. This is because when people travel to a new country, they have a chance to spend time with locals and experience their traditions. Also, museums and monuments are mainly visited by tourists to learn more about the country’s culture. Furthermore, being able to enlarge their social circle is another benefit of travelling. Visitors can meet a plethora of people from different nations while travelling. For instance, people who are using Couchsurfing app, which allows people to stay at locals’ houses when travelling, are making friends from all around the globe. 

In conclusion, the principal reason why people are travelling more than ever before is that it is less costly now, and the main advantages of this are that travellers can learn about different cultures and can meet with people from all around the world.

Some would argue that certain fields, such as sport or music are meant only for naturally talented children, while others believe that it is something which can be learned by anyone. While kids with the aptitude for certain skills are given a head start in life, this essay argues that such skill sets can be mastered by working hard.

On the one hand, children who are gifted with a particular inborn talent often achieve their goal early in their lives. This is because when someone is very good at what they are doing, it usually does not take much effort for them to strive for excellence in that specific area. For instance, there are many talented singers who have already established a successful singing career before they even become teenagers. However, I believe that talent alone does not guarantee success in the long-run, and that a person can only reach the highest level in their profession if they combine their innate ability with hard work.

On the other hand, many people think that anything is achievable in this life through practice and training. That is to say that it may take extra time and energy for an individual with average potential to harness a skill, but success is possible as long as one has the will, determination and the passion to work for it. For example, the world is filled with many star athletes who start off as a mediocre in the beginning, but they challenge and push themselves to their limit, which ultimately help them to attain the greatest version of themselves. I believe this view point is more practical because majority of the people are born average, and hard work beats talent in many cases. 

In conclusion, although it is easier for children with extraordinary ability to accomplish their dreams at the beginning of their lives, this essay finds that hard skills, even though time taking to master, can be earned by coaching and experience.

The multinational type of companies is increasing in the developed nations. While the advantages of such phenomenon are economical as these companies create large number of jobs and invest significant capitals for their operations, the effects on the environment and the over exploitation of natural resources are the disadvantages.

The advantages of these companies are economical, and one of the benefits is creating job vacancies. Owing to the nature of these companies and their high standard, their operations are carried out under certain standards that require significant number of employees. As a result, they tend to employ many people from local communities. In addition, those Firms usually invest huge capital in order to establish their local presence and facilities such as headquarters and accommodation for their staff. For example, IBM, a computer manufacturer, invested hugely in China as part of their plan to establish their manufacturing plants there.

On the other hand, one of the disadvantages of these companies are their bad effects on the environment. For those multinational firms, in most cases, making profit precedence over any other consideration including the nature and the environment. Their activities usually produce enormous amount of toxic chemicals and gases that cause global warming. In addition, in order to meet their large production capacity, they consume the natural resources in a sustainable way, cause irreversible damage to the nature. For instance, mutlinational mining companies seeking marble in the mountains of Italy have severely devastated the area and these highlands.

To conclude, the benefits of multinational companies are economical as they create job vacancies and invest significant liquidity, whereas the effects on the environment and the exhaustion of natural resources are the disadvantages resulting from such companies.

Music, art, and drama are deemed by some to be of the same importance as other subjects, particularly in primary school. This essay agrees with the statement because these subjects have a tremendous impact on students’ creativity at this age, and they might help some to choose a career path.

The inclusion of fine art in the primary school curriculum positively affects pupils creative thinking. During these classes, not only do students have an opportunity to paint, sing or act, but also their creativity is challenged. This is because one correct outcome does not exist when painting or playing an instrument; thus, students discover that engagement in music, art, and drama offers them a plethora of ways of expressing themselves. In Scandinavia, for example, where primary schools offer a sound number of these types of classes, young people demonstrate outstanding ability to be creative, which reflects in a number of designers and architects coming from this region. 

Having an opportunity to participate in music, art, and drama classes could potentially help some youngsters figure out what they are really passionate about. As a result, this passion could turn into a career path. Should primary school offer frequent exposure to fine art, then it could create empowering atmosphere, where pupils feel encouraged to believe that they can become artists. To illustrate, most of the famous artists decided to pursue this type of career due to a primary school teacher who awoke this interest in them. 

In conclusion, I personally agree with a belief that the importance of fine art in the primary level of education is equal to other subjects because it stimulates creativity, and in some cases, empowers youth to become painters, sculptresses, or actors.

While some people argue that watching TV is beneficial for learning new things, others are convinced that it is only a source of entertainment. This essay believes that television can do both as it helps people to unwind, but it also presents complicated information in an easily digestible form. 

For many people watching TV programmes is the easiest way to distract from the everyday routine and relax after a hard-working day. This is because one just needs to switch on the TV, and he or she will have immediate access to the programmes that could easily spark the brightest emotions, forcing them to laugh out loud or have a good cry. Besides, entertainment programmes account for the largest portion of the content on television. For these reasons, some people use it only for relaxation. However, I disagree that this is the only way that people use it as, in the modern world, television is much more than that. 

Television provides not only plain information but also audio and video content that helps to remember information in an easier way. For instance, if one watches a documentary about the history of London, sound and picture will help to engross a viewer into the atmosphere of the city and the way people behaved themselves. This might contribute to remembering the information for a longer time than if one just reads an article about it. For this reason, I believe that television can foster the learning process.

To conclude, even though for some people television is just a source of amusement, I believe that it is not the only useful way to use it. This is because through television people can also learn new things about the world in a way that is easy to comprehend.

Details of politicians’ private lives should not be publicized in the media. This essay completely agrees with this statement because keeping the private lives of politicians away from the media helps them to maintain a sound mental health and also helps to protect them from danger.

Keeping the private lives of politicians away from the public helps their mental health. Politicians are usually stressed mentally as a result of the pressure that comes with their jobs. Making their private lives open to the public adds to the level of pressure they experience because it is during their private times that they engage in activities that help to relieve them of stress. Therefore, making this important time of their life open to the public is dangerous to their mental health. For instance, in Nigeria, in order to maintain a sound mind, politicians keep their occasions private so that they can be themselves without being pressured to behave in a certain way.

Protection from danger is another reason why private lives of politicians should not be made public. Due to the high rate of insecurity in some countries, activities of politicians which are not for the service of the people should not be disclosed. This is because these individuals have opponents who are ready to harm them when given an opportunity therefore giving out information about their private lives is an easy way to expose them to danger. For instance, in Nigeria a governor’s house was burnt and it was discovered that the criminals who did this got his home address from social media.

In conclusion, the details of politicians’ private life should be kept away from the media because it benefits their mental health and helps to secure them from danger.

Because of technology, many men and women today interact with each other in new ways. This essay will suggest that people have more regular contact, and that the interaction has changed from physical to digital due to technology. I believe this is a negative development because humans need physical contact as part of their interaction to stay healthy.

Technology has made it possible for people to have more regular contact with each other through social media. This is because smartphones have applications, like Facebook and WhatsApp, which are designed to make it easy to talk, write messages and send pictures to other people. As a result of this, the interaction between humans has also changed from mainly physical to mostly digital. For example, an average Swedish person interacts with 15 friends every day through social media but only have physical contact with two. 

This development must be seen as negative, because physical meetings are needed for human health. It is important to meet other humans in person, because it creates an environment where people can interact in a more complex way. This is because all senses can be used, making it is possible to touch, smell and hear things that would be impossible through an application. For example, during the Corona-pandemic, many people work from home and Swedish doctors have noticed an increase in the number of patients with mental illness due to the lack of physical contact with friends and colleagues.

In conclusion, people´s interactions have changed because of technology and the relationships nowadays are more regular but less physical. I believe this is a negative development because humans need physical meetings to feel good.

Some people prefer to live in a house, while others feel that there are more advantages to living in an apartment. Are there more advantages than disadvantages of living in a house compared with living in an apartment?

Some people feel that it is better to live in a house, while it is the view of others that living in an apartment is more advantageous. Although it is more expensive to live in a house, I believe that there are more advantages than disadvantages of living in a house because houses are bigger in size.

Living in a house is less cost-effective in comparison to living in an apartment. This is because houses are usually bigger in size and offer more privacy to its inhabitants, as a result, the cost of owing or renting and maintaining a house is usually higher than for an apartment. For example, in Nigeria, people who live in houses spend on average three times more money than those who live in apartments because of the higher cost of mortgages and maintenance, such as utility bills, involved in living in houses. However, I believe that with appropriate planning and financial discipline, this extra expense can easily be paid off. 

An advantage of living in a house is that houses are more spacious. Houses are usually built to be more accommodating than apartments, and this is an important factor to consider, especially for large families who require playgrounds and gardens for their children. To illustrate, in Nairobi, the average size of a house measures around 700 square meters, which is large enough to accommodate a private car park, a garden and children’s playground, as compared to an apartment, which does not have enough space for these amenities. Therefore, I believe that there are more advantages than there are disadvantages of residing in a house than in an apartment.

In conclusion, even though it costs more to live in houses than in apartments, I believe that there are more benefits than drawbacks to living in a house because houses are more accommodating.

At present, travelling is more popular than it was in the past. This essay will discuss that this is because nowadays flying is cheaper and that the benefits of travelling are learning about new cultures and experiencing new adventures. 

People are travelling more than ever because flying has become more economic. This is because now there are many low-cost airline companies that offer cheap flight tickets to visit several countries, and this did not exist two decades ago. As a result, more people have the opportunity to travel to new places without spending a huge amount of money, while in the past flying was only affordable for rich people. For example, Ryanair is a low-cost company that provides extremely cheap flight tickets to visit countries around Europe, sometimes for the cost of 10 euros. 

One benefit of travelling is that people can learn about other countries’ culture. That is to say, when people visit a new nation, they go to local shops, eat typical food and visit museums where they can learn about the history of that country. Another advantage that travelling has is that travellers can live new adventures. This is because people who travel often choose to do activities that they cannot do in their own country. For example, is very common for travellers that visit South Africa to do a safari in Kruger, one of the biggest national parks to visit wild animals in the world, since this is an activity that most countries do not offer. 

In conclusion, travelling has become more popular because flying is cheaper than it was in the past and the advantages that this gives to travellers is the possibility to learn about new cultures and experience new adventures.

Some companies require their employees to wear uniforms at all times. The advantages of this are, it helps promote the company and helps customers distinguish the roles of staffs. However, employees may find it difficult to wear uniforms at all times and most company do not provide enough sets of uniforms.

Having staff wear uniforms at all times helps distinguish a company. It promotes a company’s identity to help customers differentiate it from other entities. Another benefit is that companies can better classify their services by the type or color of uniforms they wear which helps improve the customer experience. For example, in my hospital workplace, all patients are able to better distinguish which is a nurse or a doctor, because all nurses are only required to wear a blue scrub suit, meanwhile all doctors wear maroon scrub suits.

On the other hand, employees may find it uncomfortable to wear a uniform. Some uniforms are uncomfortable and poorly fitted that it adds to an employee’s unhappiness. Another disadvantage is that most companies do not provide enough uniforms for their employees. It becomes a financial burden for the employee because he may need to purchase a new set of uniform. For example, my brother who works twelve hours a day and six days a week, paid two thousand pesos to a local tailor just to make him three sets of custom fit uniforms because his employer only gave him two sets.

In conclusion, having a staff to wear uniforms at all times is a great way to promote a company and helps their customers distinguish their employees. On the other hand, employees may find it distracting to wear a uniform and companies may pass the burden of expense to their staff to buy extra uniforms.

Newspapers should not issue stories of politicians’ private lives. I totally disagree with the statement because it is in the public interests to publish, and some readers get interested in politics after reading the stories.

Printing the details of politicians’ private lives in newspapers is in the public interests. Readers can understand more on politicians’ values through the stories, and it gives voters information who have the same values with them. For example, some lawmakers put their families in first priority and they often do volunteer work with their children. If voters see these stories in newspapers and if they have the same values with them, they are likely to vote them in the next election because the politicians may propose laws that protect the values of family. Therefore, I completely disagree that stories of politicians’ private lives should not be published.

After reading stories of politicians’ private lives in newspapers, some readers become more interested in politics. Readers who get interested in stories of politicians will read further on things that are related to the politicians, and this leads them to become more interests in politics. For example, the former US President Donald Trump appeared in newspapers several time during his presidency, and the stories covered his relationship with the First Lady. Some readers found these stories interesting and they started following policy that Trump proposed to make, and later on demonstrations of support were held by them. Therefore, I totally disagree with the statement that newspapers should not issue the stories of politicians’ private lives.

In conclusion, I completely disagree that stories of politicians’ private lives should not be printed because it is in the public interests, and some readers become more interested in politics after reading the stories.

Economic growth is prioritized above all other concerns by the state, in many nations. The advantages of this are, improved quality of life of people and good infrastructure. The disadvantages of prioritizing economic growth above all other concerns are unaffordable cost of living and more environmental damage.

The main advantage of giving importance to economic growth is, it improves the quality if life of people. This is because with economic progress, states generate lots of revenue which can be used to provide high quality services such as free education, good public transportation and sophisticated health care system. Another advantage is developing good infrastructure. When a government prioritizes economic growth, they would build a good infrastructure to attract both domestic and foreign investments. So infrastructure in a nation is usually developed when economic growth is prioritized. For example, in India many highways and an international airport is built in the National Capital Region which attracted thousands of companies to establish a branch in that region.

One of the main disadvantages of prioritizing economic growth is unaffordable cost of living. That is to say, with economic growth, prices of consumer products and real estate increases rapidly making it difficult for low-income families to afford the cost of living. Another disadvantage is more environmental damage. This is because, to develop the industries and to get maximum profits, nations tend to use the most accessible and locally available sources of energy. This leads to more and more use of fossil fuels and thus causing more environmental damage. For example, coal is widely used in China to supply energy to its industries because it is cheap and can be mined within the country. 

In conclusion, the advantages of the prioritizing economic growth above all other concerns are improved quality of life of people and good infrastructure. The disadvantages are unaffordable cost of living and more environmental damage.

In many places around the world, people are choosing to follow a vegetarian diet. The disadvantages are that meat related businesses are being badly impacted and it causes protein deficiency in people. The advantages are that fewer animals are being butchered and it protects people from meat related deceases. This essay argues that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

On the one hand, meat related businesses are badly impacted. When people follow a vegetarian diet, it decreases the demand of meat, which forces the businesses to lower the meat prices. Another disadvantage is that vegetarian people develop protein deficiency. That is to say that meat has significantly more protein than vegetables, and it is difficult to consume a sufficient amount of protein just from vegetables. For example, in Mumbai, people eat only vegetarian food and consume less protein, and this is the primary reason for their lethargy. However, this essay believes that people can fulfil their daily protein needs from vegetables if they consume more nutritious vegetables everyday. 

On the other hand, lesser number of animals are being killed. When people decide not to consume meat, it plummets the demand, which results in lesser number of animals killed. Another advantage is that vegetarian people are less prone to the meat related deceases. A vegetarian diet prevents people from any meat related virus going inside the body and develop any sickness. For example, in Sudan, people don’t consume meat and the country has the lowest number of people with medical conditions. In my opinion, a vegetarian diet should be preferred because it prevents a person from many deceases in the long run. 

In conclusion, while vegetarian diet is not good for meat related businesses and people tend to develop protein deficiency, lesser number of animals are being killed and prevents people from meat related deceases. This essay believes that advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

The majority of the chief positions in business organizations are occupied by males, despite the fact that more than half of the workforce in numerous developed nations is made up of women. It is believed that corporations should be asked to designate a certain portion of high-level roles for females. This essay completely disagrees with this statement because selecting employees should be based on merit, and companies need to focus on profit. 

The main reason is that candidates should be selected according to meritocracy. This is to say that employees should be recruited for their work experience, their qualifications and their soft skills, rather than their gender. In other words, the high-profile positions should be given to the candidates who deserve them the most. For example, if a man and a woman apply for the same position, a woman should not have a priority over a man, but a fair selection on merit should be conducted to find out who is the most suitable person for the advertised role, considering skills, abilities and knowledge.

Another reason why I disagree is that the main goal for companies is profit. This is to say that if a company wants to thrive, it needs to have the best possible employees which are not necessarily one gender or the other. If companies were to select staff members on gender, they could end up putting at risk the smooth running of the business and causing financial losses. Therefore, choices should be made by the human resources team only by bearing in mind which candidate would be an asset for the business. For example, in Italy soccer teams are almost exclusively run by men because they usually know more about this business.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that companies should not be asked to allocate a certain number of executive positions to women because candidates should be selected considering merit, and profit is the top priority for a business.

In recent years, there has been a rise in the popularity of second-hand clothing amongst the younger generation. Why is this happening? Do you think it’s a positive or negative development?

In recent years, buying used clothes has become popular among youngsters. This is because many adolescents try to be like famous people, and I think it is a positive development because teenagers can save money for other useful things. 

Many adolescents buy used clothes because they want to be like famous people. That is to say that they need different outfits for any occasion and that is expensive. That is because they cannot cope with the financial burden of buying new clothes from stores, such as Prada or Gucci. As a result, many youngsters buy second-hand clothes. For example, in the United States, many teenagers buy used Gucci products in order to wear them and be like their idols. 

I think it is a positive development because teenagers who buy used shirts or pants can save money for other useful things, such as a computer or a car. That is to say that, if these adolescents have a computer, they could use it for the school or even to work in computer related jobs. For example, many teenagers can work as a freelancer in many jobs that do not require high skills to do it, such as making presentations or translating works from other language and as a result earn money and save it. 

In conclusion, many adolescents are buying used clothes because they want to be like their idols, and I think it is a positive development because they can use the money they do not spend in useful things.

In many countries today, more and more people are following a vegetarian diet. Although it causes a deficiency of important nutrients in the body, I believe that the advantage of a reduction in the number of obese people due to this outweighs any disadvantage it may have.

Following a vegetarian diet leads to a lack of vital nutrients. Many vitamins, especially vitamins B12 and B6, are sourced majorly from meat, which is not part of the vegetarian diet. As a result of this, vegetarians will be deficient in these nutrients, thereby predisposing themselves to illnesses associated with the deficiency of these nutrients. For example, according to a report by the health ministry of Brazil, vegetarians in the country account for the highest percentage of pernicious anemia and sensory nervous disorders due to a deficiency of vitamin B12 in their diet. However, I believe that these vitamins and many other nutrients which are absent in vegetarian diets can be gotten from supplements in vitamin tablets.

Vegetarian diet causes a decrease in the prevalence of obesity. As obesity is a risk factor for many cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, following a vegetarian diet, which is low in calories and fat, will mean that there will be a decline in the weight of people, which therefore reduces the risk of these diseases in people. To illustrate, in Japan, where a large number of people abstain from meat and eat mostly vegetables, the rate of obesity related illnesses is one of the lowest globally. Therefore, I believe that it is of greater advantage for more people to follow a vegetarian diet.

To conclude, even though adhering to a vegetarian diet leads to a lack of vital nutrients in the body, I believe that the advantage of reducing the problem of obesity outweighs any advantage this may have.

In some corporations, it is mandatory for employees to wear a uniform. The main benefits of wearing a uniform are that it brings uniformity to the workplace and helps to increase the output of companies; however, the increase in the expenditure of organizations and monotony among employees are the main drawbacks of compulsory uniforms.

The first main positive of a mandatory uniform is that it creates equality among workers. When employees wear uniforms, they do not know each other’s socio-economic background because they all look the same, and as a result, they treat each other equally. Furthermore, uniforms help companies to enhance their overall sales. This is because uniforms help people to develop good relationships with others, and when people have a good bonding with others, they usually help each other, and it increases the output of corporations. For example, In India, the sales of those automobile companies are higher where uniforms are mandatory because, in these corporations, people have good relationships with others.

The main disadvantage of the compulsory uniform is that it creates monotony among workers. When employees have to wear the same clothes regularly, they feel bored and sometimes, it has a negative impact on their productivity. Furthermore, the obligation to wear a uniform also increases the expenses of organizations. This is to say that in those corporations, where uniforms are mandatory, companies have to allocate some money for new and worn-out uniforms. For instance, the spending of the famous footwear company, Bata, is around 5% more than its rival companies because in this company a uniform is mandatory, and the company allocates some money for uniforms. 

In conclusion, the main advantages of the compulsory uniform are that it brings uniformity among employees and increases companies’ overall sales, and the main disadvantages are boredom among workers and an increase in the expenditure of corporations.

Some think that in most people’s lives the happiest moment are the time when they were teenagers while other people think that, despite taking up more responsibilities, adult life is happier. I agree with the latter statement that, although teenagers generally do not need to worry about their finances, adults can do everything they want legitimately.

Most people in the teenage years do not need to take care of their finances. That is because teenagers are usually supported by their families financially, and their parents pay all kinds of expenses for them. For example, most parents in Hong Kong give their teenage children US$20 a week pocket money. Their parents also buy new video games they want or they pay for tuition fees of interest classes. Despite the fact that most people do not need to worry about their finances when they were teenagers, I consider that, in spite of more responsibilities, adult life is happier because adults can do legally whatever they want.

Adults can do anything they like as allowed by law. They can get married and have their own families, and they can create their own childhood joys. Of course, the adults have greater responsibility as they need to support themselves and their families, and they need to take care of their spouses and children. For instance, people work so hard to make a living and they are usually exhausted when they leave the office. But when they come home, their cheerful spouse and children are there to support them and they feel loved and cared for. Therefore, I think that there is more happiness in adult life.

In conclusion, although teenagers generally do not need to worry about their finances, being adults are happier even though they have greater responsibility, because they can do anything they want legally.

Some would argue that people are happiest during adolescence, while others believe that adulthood offers more happiness, irrespective of the numerous responsibilities. Although some people think that teenagers are because of the care and support from their family members, I feel that adult life avails people the most happiness, regardless of having multiple roles due to an immense sense of accomplishment.

On the one hand, some believe that people are happiest during the teenage years because adolescents enjoy family support. Parents and relatives are so concerned about teenagers’ welfare, and they do not have to think about how to eat or wear clothing because their parents provide for their needs, which makes them happy with little or no responsibilities. For example, a group of teenagers in my community responded that they were full of happiness because of the family support. However, I believe that one can still be happy during adulthood because of a sense of accomplishment.

On the other hand, some feel that adult life enables people to be full of happiness because of achievement, despite responsibility. That is to say that when people realize what they achieve in life, like higher qualifications, good partners, and children, and as a result, they are pleased. For example, many married couples in my school club confirmed that they are happier because of their fulfillment, even though they have many roles. For this reason, I believe that individuals are more contented during adulthood than in adolescence.

In conclusion, although adolescents tend to be happier because they enjoy support from their families, I believe that adult life brings more joy because of life fulfillment, irrespective of more responsibilities.

Nowadays, many people are commuting more than past. This is because people now can afford travel expenses. There are two main benefits of traveling such as people can gain knowledge and embrace other cultures.

One of the main reasons why the number of tourism has increased is that travel is much more affordable than it used to be. This is partly because of salary rises and partly because the price for essential goods such as food and clothing has fallen. Many families now have two income earners rather than one, they have fewer kids and often have a car. All of these factors increase the likelihood of people becoming tourists. For example, in the past, it might have cost the average person a year’s salary to travel from India to Singapore, but these days it is possible for Indian tourists to enjoy their holidays in another country for the cost of half a month’s pay. 

This growth in travel means that many people can now enjoy the benefits of traveling, Firstly, traveling can help to broaden people’s horizons and adds upon knowledge. People can travel to different places and can gain knowledge of other religions, cultures, and western lifestyles. Meeting different people from vast cultures and societies provides an education that is impossible to get in a traditional school, college, or a university. Secondly, one can explore and embrace the good qualities of other cultures through traveling. For example, foreigners visiting India are often fascinated by Indian customs and traditions and always try to imitate these valuable traditions.

In conclusion, greater affordability is the main reason for increased travel, and the benefits for travelers include enhanced knowledge and increased appreciation of other cultures.

While some think that adding more and and more sport centers is the most beneficial way to improve people’s health, others think that there are better ways to do this. Although increasing the the number of gyms would motivate people to exercise more and become healthier, educating them about health is far more effective. 

On the one hand, building more sport centers would encourage people to start doing physical activities. People will have no excuse if there is a gym next to their work place or house. That is why increasing the number of sports facilities will ensure that the vast majority of people have easy access to sport centers and this would eventually improve their health. For example, in 2016, fifty new gyms were opened in Baghdad and a large number of people started exercising for the first time in their lives and they became healthier. However, I think that this is a temporary fix and better steps should be taken. 

On the other hand, educating people about the importance of health is a better, long-lasting solution. The media should focus more on encouraging people to take good care about their health and warn them about the possible health diseases such as heart failure and diabetes. Even in schools, young children should be educated about health from a young age in order to grow as healthy adults. For example, people in Japan are one of the healthiest people in the world because they teach their students about the importance of health. I therefore believe that this is the best way to maintain and improve health. 

In conclusion, while increasing the number of sports facilities can encourage people to exercise more and improve their health, educating them about health is better because it lasts longer.

In some nations, despite declining rates of dangerous crimes, people tend to feel less secure compared to the past. The most obvious causes are previously committed crimes and detailed description of such scenes on news can make people feel less safe, and the most viable solutions are more safety measures in place and detailed description of any serious crimes should be banned on news channels.

Sometimes, previously committed crimes can make people feel less protected. This is because they still have memories of horrible crimes in their minds and make them feel frightened. As a result, they find it difficult to trust anyone and feel less secure in strengers’ presence. In addition, watching detailed descriptions of any dangerous crimes on television can have a destructive effect on people’s mental health. In other words, a negative visualization of such crimes can result in crime happening in people’s heads and making them feel less safe. For example, 1 in every 30 adults in the UK feel frightened after watching detailed news of serious crimes on television, and not wanting to go out.

A possible solution to this issue is to put more safety measures in place in order for people to feel safe. This gives them a sense of security and a way to seek help if in any danger. Another possible solution is a ban on a detailed description of any serious crimes on television. This will help people keep away from a negative visualisation and their damaging effects on their mental health to make them feel unsafe. For example, recently in India a show called ‘crime patrol’ was prohibited on news channels because it had a negative psychological impact on people after watching it.

In conclusion, previously committed crimes and detailed news on any serious crimes can lead to people feeling less safe. However, this can simply be prevented by putting extra safety measures in place and compelling news channels to stop showing comprehensive details of dangerous crimes.

Some companies make their workers always wearing uniforms. The main benefits of this is that companies are shown as reliable for their clients and their workers feel safe wearing them. However, the key drawbacks are that their staff can feel uncomfortable on hot days and demotivated by wearing the same every day.

Companies in which uniforms are always worn show their clients that they can trust them. When employees look neat wearing their uniforms, clients trust in the services that are provided by a company because it shows professionalism and order. Another advantage is that workers feel protected. In some types of jobs, employees who work with dangerous products can feel safe wearing their uniforms all day because they prevent them from getting hurt. For example, builders demand their uniforms as a basic element for their protection before starting a construction. 

However, employees can feel uncomfortable in days with high temperatures. On hot days, wearing uniforms can reduce worker’s comfort because they cannot change their clothes to avoid the heat. Another key drawback is that repeating the same clothing can demotivate workers. Employees can feel tired of always looking the same because they cannot choose what they want to wear. For instance, a recent survey showed that 60.3% of people who wear uniforms do not like to wear them, and they would like to make decisions about their outfit at work. 

In conclusion, although having uniforms for staff makes a company looks reliable for its clients and provides safety for its workers, they can feel uncomfortable on hot days and unmotivated due to the fact that they constantly have to wear the same clothing.

In some nations, following a vegetarian diet is becoming more popular. Although having a vegetarian diet can help to protect animals, I believe that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages because they do not incorporate all the nutrients they need. 

One benefit of not eating meat is that animals are being protected. That is to say, if more people start opting to eat meals that do not include meat, fewer animals will be tortured and killed. This is because animals are reproduced, kept in small and uncomfortable places, and then killed and sold to supermarkets and butchers for human consumption. For example, cow’s meat in Argentina is the basis of people’s nutrition, so thousands of cows are reproduced and killed every year just for human consumption. However, I believe that avoiding eating meat will not make a significant difference on animals’ protection. 

One drawback of having a vegetarian diet is that the nutrients incorporated through this diet are insufficient. This is because meat has several vitamins and other important components, such as iron, that are very difficult to replace with fruits and vegetables. If people are not aware of this and do not visit a specialist, it can be dangerous and lead to several diseases. For example, many vegetarian people are anemic because of the lack of iron in their diet, so they need to be supplemented with iron tablets. Therefore, I believe that having a healthy and complete diet is more important than any other thing. 

In conclusion, although animals can be protected if more people start following a vegetarian diet, I believe that having a balanced diet with all the nutrients and vitamins that a person needs is far more important. Therefore, I consider that the drawbacks of a vegetarian diet outweigh the benefits.

In many nations, governments give precedence to economic growth over other issues. The advantages of this are that numbers of employed residents will increase and residents’ standards of living will be improved. However, this can cause serious environmental problems and health problems.

One major benefit of prioritising economic development is that numbers of employed citizens will significantly increase. In other words, countries, where their economies are growing, require substantial workforces to produce sufficient supplies of goods in order to meet markets’ demand. As a result, more and more citizens are in employment. Moreover, this will also offer citizens a better quality of life. This is because, when economies are growing, governments will gain more taxes from trading and can spend them on people’s welfare. For example, Singapore has been improved its economy for the last 40 years. As a result, Singaporeans have excellent public transports and the well-organised health care system. 

On the other hand, focusing only on economic development results in serious environmental damage. This is because, manufacturing processes generate CO2 and other fumes, sewage, and industrial waste which are released to environments and cause air, water and soil pollution. Furthermore, industrial pollution will negatively affect people’s health by precipitating respiratory diseases as well as some types of cancer. For example, Beijing, a big city in China, is facing smog which comes from manufacturing and incomplete combustion of logistic vehicles. This leads to an increase in the number of asthma-exacerbated patients.

To conclude, while prioritisng economic development will result in an increase in employment and a better quality of life, the serious downsides that come with this are environmental pollution and residents’ health issues.

Some organizations force their employees to wear uniforms whenever they are at work. The advantages of this approach are creating a sense of discipline and displaying their professionalism. The disadvantages are that it may hurt employees’ confidence and cause them to feel stressed.

One benefit of this measure is that it would result in them being more disciplined. Every time they put on that suit or dress, they would be reminded that they are working as part of the company and that they have a job to take care of, making them more responsible. Moreover, these employees will come across as more professional when they meet clients. This is because uniforms are often designed to be more suitable for business than casual clothes. For example, how appropriate staff members’ outfits are is often cited by clients as one of the reasons they choose to do or not do business with a company.

One drawback of this policy is that it tends to make each individual feel less confident. This is because they all have their own styles of fashion, so they may feel uncomfortable putting on something that had been chosen for them. This is compounded by the fact that they must wear these outfits daily, which can be highly stressful. In other words, it is terribly frustrating having to wear the same thing in a long period of time. For instance, many major companies in Vietnam have a scheme to change the design of their uniforms every six months to slightly reduce the frustration caused by wearing the same outfit repeatedly.

In conclusion, while having a dress code can instill a sense of discipline in the workforce and make them appear more professional in the eyes of customers, this may also come with a drop in employees’ self-esteem and an increase in their levels of frustration.

In many nations, governments put more focus on improving their economies than improving other sectors. Although, residents’ earnings will increase, I personally believe that the main drawback outweighs the main benefit as this will cause environmental pollution.

The main benefit of prioritising economic growth rather than other issues by governments is that people will earn higher income. This is because governments will support companies to run their businesses more effectively. As a result, companies will gain more profits and consequentially pay their employees bigger bonuses or higher wages. For instance, In China, businesses make huge revenue due to its strong economy. Therefore, Chinese citizens are paid higher and can spend money on luxuary products and travelling abroad. However, I personally believe that earning more money cannot offset pollution problems that happen after economic growth prioritisation.

The primary downside of putting more focus on economic development than other concerns by governments is that environments will be polluted. This is because there will be far more new-built factories for supporting the economic expansion. Without ecological concerns, the air will be polluted from carbon dioxide and fumes which are emitted from these factories, and rivers will be polluted by industrial sewage from manufacturing and chemical processes. For example, Beijing, China, is facing a hazardous level of the air pollution caused by fuel burning and chemical reactions from industrial areas. As a clean environment is extremely vital for a human life, I therefore think that the main drawback outweighs its key benefit.

To conclude, although people will earn higher income if the government prioritises the economic sector rather than other sectors, the serious drawback as pollution problems far outweighs the advantage.

In recent years, advancements in technology have changed how people connect with each other. This has turned people into making much more friends but has also reduced the depth of those relationships. In my opinion, this is a harmful change due to the fact that it makes human less able to communicate their personal feelings.

Technology’s influence has enabled people to make much more friends than they possibly could in the past. This is largely owing to social media, which revolutionizes communication and helps people to keep touch with each other regardless of their geographical locations. Another change in human relationships caused by modern technology is that the number of intimate relationships made has been substantially less significant. With so many people to care about, social media deters users from strengthening bonds. For instance, a stark difference can be observed in Vietnam, where most young adults 20 years ago – when the internet was underdeveloped, had much deeper connections than their modern counterparts.

The changes made to the types of relationships people make nowadays is largely a disadvantageous one, for it deters people from having deep connections. Lacking valuable bonds means that they have almost no one to confide during depressive episodes that are inevitable for most humans, and thereby increase the possibility of making unwise decisions. Examples of this can be found all over the world, where the cases of depression that cause suicidal behaviors are becoming more and more common, and one of the primary contributing factors is victims having no one to share their burdens with. 

In conclusion, despite having much more ability to connect, people are making less meaningful relationships; thus, the quality of relationships diminishes and harms their wellbeing.

Nowadays, passion for a journey from one place to another has been increasing among people. This essay will first discuss that an increasing number of tour packages is the prominent reason behind this, and it will then explain that cultural awareness and being healthy are the two prime advantages of this.

Many tour companies around the world are enticing people to travel more than ever before. That is to say, people are being offered appealing and discounted tour packages, especially during the holiday season, to explore other places. Whereas in the past travelling was very expensive and people could not afford it; however, these companies have made it possible to visit one place to another by spending a small chunk of money. For example, Travel Magazine estimated that more than 40% of Australian people travelled nationally and internationally, in the year 2019, because of cheap tour deals they grabbed from the Flight centre.

The first major benefit of travelling is that it allows a traveller to know about different cultures. By visiting other parts of the world, people get an opportunity to experience the various culture, cuisines and languages. The other significant advantage is stress relaxation through holidays. This is especially true for a significant number of people who are working many hours a week to earn their livings. During holidays, they choose to travel to different destinations around the world, and this greatly helps them to relieve their stress and keep their health in a sound condition. For example, a recent study by the Indian Medical Institute concluded that frequent travellers are happier and more satisfied with their life than those who do not.

In conclusion, people travel more often than in the past because of the tour deals they are being offered, and travelling does not only provide a traveller with knowledge about a different culture, but it also helps them to stay away from a hectic schedule

In recent years, the operation of big corporations is ubiquitous in developing nations. The essay will first suggest that economic growth is the prime benefit, while the excessive use of emergent nations’ natural resources is the main drawback.

One evident benefit of the operation of transitional companies in less developed countries is the prosperity of the local economy. That is to say, multination companies provide an inflow of capital into developing countries. This investment not only creates job opportunities for the people in developing nations, but it also helps to build better infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, and transportation facilities, for them. For example, the role of Foreign Direct Investment in the year 2010 was undeniable because it uplifted the Indian economy so fast and increased GDP and created so many jobs for locals. 

The prime disadvantage is that these companies use the natural resources of developing nations recklessly, which affects the environment. In other words, Smaller, less developed governments often trade an increase in revenue for access to natural resources. This extraction of raw materials, such as oil, diamond, rubber and fuel, can cause environmental externalities- polluted rivers and loss of natural landscape. For instance, many Chinese private enterprises have been heavily criticised for using the resources of countries like Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippine and for polluting the environment.

In conclusion, huge global companies benefit less developed nation economically is the prime advantage of this, and the extraction of raw materials for the sake of profit is the main disadvantage.

How To Use IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Essays

IELTS Writing Task 2 sample essays can be a great resource for students preparing for the test. However, it’s important to use them correctly in order to get the most out of them. Here are some steps students can take to make the most of these samples:

• Understand the question: Before looking at any sample essays, make sure you understand the question you’ll be answering on the test. This will help you focus on the relevant parts of the sample essays and understand how to apply the strategies used in them to your own writing.
• Analyze the structure: Look at the structure of the sample essays, paying close attention to how the writer has organized their ideas. Make note of the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion and how they are linked.
• Study the vocabulary: Take note of the vocabulary used in the sample essays and try to incorporate similar words and phrases into your own writing.
• Practice with different topics: Use sample essays on different topics to get a feel for the different types of questions you might encounter on the test.
• Don’t copy: It is important to remember that you must not copy the sample essays word for word. This will lead to plagiarism and can result in a low score. Instead, use the sample essays as inspiration and practice for your own writing.

In conclusion, IELTS Writing Task 2 sample essays can be a valuable resource for students preparing for the test. However, it’s important to use them correctly in order to improve your score. Use them as a guide, not as a final answer key. Remember to stay original, use them to understand the question and structure, analyze vocabulary and practice different topics. Remember, you will be marked on your ability to clearly communicate in English, not on your ability to memorise answers.

IELTS Task 2 Sample Essays Next Steps

If you need more help, please check out our further Writing Task 2 resources here .

If you wish to view the Official Marking Criteria for IELTS Writing Task 2, you can do so here .

• Listening Tests
• Reading Tests
• IELTS Writing Checker
• IELTS Writing Samples
• Free IELTS Speaking Test Online
• Speaking Club
• Vocabularying
• 2024 © IELTSing
• free ielts Listening test practice 2024 with answers
• free ielts Reading tests online 2024 with answers
• Free IELTS Writing Checker
• Check IELTS Speaking Test

Mental Health Awareness shouls begini

IELTS essay Mental Health Awareness shouls begini

• ideal city of the future Hello teacher and friends, welcome to our presentation. Our group has 5 members: Que Anh, Pham Chi, Hoang Son, Gia Hung and Nguyen Khoi. Today, we are going to talk about our ideal city of the future, which is called Chask. There are 3 aspects of this city that we want to present, namely geographic ...
• Many people find it difficult to be good user of foreign language. Why? provide reason There are so many diffrent type of leguages in the world. People from diffrent communities speakes diffrent lenguages. Nowadays, It become essential to become multilengual to live. However, It is extremley difficult to become fully professional speaker in other leanguages than our first leanguage. M ...
• Newspaper has major influence on people It has been noticed that newspaper play a major role in spreading idea and opinion among the mind of people as well as there view point. There may be various reason behind this that have positive as well as negative development. From my perspective, it seems that it has positive impact and my views ...
• The graph below shows the amount of hours spend for production of one vehicle by 4 companies. The given line graph provides information about how much time the companies need to manufacture a motor vehicle. Overall, Audi experienced a downward trend over the period. Nissan plotted a fluctuation. Meanwhile, Volvo remained steady while Mercedes showed a slight surge. At the beginning of the ...
• Some people argue that space exploration has had more to do with national pride that international effort. I believe that space missions were made firstly for proving the dominance of a country in that area. But i am sure that it will turn over with time and national pride will be only the secondary aspect. Let us remind the history of first decades after space exploration had started. Two the most powe ...
• Education should be free for everyone. with this statement? In today's world where knowledge of study is the most important thing, it has become a topic of conversation that learning should be free. This action can have several advantages; However, I personally believe that instead of making schooling free for all, there are many other ways to provide guidan ...
• Your company has extra money to spend on office upgrades. Your boss wants to build 5 additional parking spaces for the employees. One of your co-workers, though, suggests building 30 bike stands to promote a healthy lifestyle instead. The company asked you to respond to an opinion survey. I would like to opine in favour of the option B as this seems to be a far better and convincing choice for me than the other one. Though, the other choice is almost equally appealing, I would present a couple of reasons to substantiate my argument. To begin with, our office already have car parking ...
• In order to be Success in sport, some people think you have to be physical strong. others Believe that mental strength i s more importand. Discuss the both views and give your opinion. Traditionally, people believed that sports were in the domain of those who were bigger, faster, or stronger than their peers; however, nowadays people value mental strength and believe that this is the most important factor in attaining sporting prowess. This essay will look at both sides of the arg ...
• Some people believe you people have knowledge about international pop and movie stars but less much have their own famous people. Why is this? How can be created interests among them? Some perceive that today's young generation have knowledge about international pop as well as movie stars too much but they do not know much about the famous people who belong to their own country. There are some reasons behind them. Among them the lack of representation of famous people from respon ...
• You have recently bought a TV set but it does not work properly. Write a complaint letter to the manager of the shop where you bought it Dear Sir I am writing to express my concern about TV which I recently bought from your shop. After only 3 days, things started to go wrong. On April 10, I visited your shop with my husband in order to purchase TV set with large screen for our living room. A shop assistant gave all information about ...
• learning foreign language techniques Have you ever tried to learn new language? There are a couple ways to learn new languages. Every type comes with their advantages and disadvantages. You must realize your condition and what are you need. After that you can choose one among them. Many people think that studying on your own can be su ...
• table for electricity of world The table shows different sources of fuel for producing electricity and their percentage use in five Asian countries in 2005. Generally, the five countries showed a significant difference in their patterns of consumption. Taking nuclear fuel first, Japan had the highest percentage at 49%, with South ...

Free IELTS lessons signup

• Academic practice
• General practice
• Task 1 Academic
• Task 1 General
• Task 2 (essay)

Health writing task 2 questions for IELTS

Here you can find common IELTS essay questions for "Health" topic.

High job demands, stress and sense of commitment are among the main reasons people go to work when they are ill. This way they accomplish important tasks, but may infect others or get some serious health problems themselves.

In your opinion should people go to work if they are sick?

Support your point of view with relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

Today more people are overweight than ever before.

What in your opinion are the primary causes of this?

What measures can be taken to overcome this epidemic?

Some people claim that the government should provide free health care. Others think that the government will not provide the most innovative methods of treatment and it's better to invest those funds in education and culture.

What is your opinion?

Health education is an essential aspect of community health.

Do you agree or disagree?

Nowadays a growing number of boys and girls within normal weight ranges have an intense fear of gaining weight and therefore get anorexia.

Why do you think a lot of teenagers have a strong desire to be skinny?

What can be done to prevent this eating disorder?

Childhood obesity has become a serious problem in recent years.

What are the primary causes of this?

What measures should be taken to reduce childhood obesity?

• Practice Test
• Useful Tips – Tricks
• Full Writing Review
• General Writing Task
• Writing Task 1
• Writing Task 2
• Writing Exercises
• Writing Sample – Topics
• Writing Vocabulary
• Speaking Vocabulary
• Intro Question
• Speaking Part 1
• Speaking Part 2
• Speaking Part 2 – Audio
• Speaking Part 3
• IELTS Books
• Recent Exams
• IELTS Vocabulary
• Essay from Examiners
• IELTS Ideas

IELTS App - For Mobile

Ready for the IELTS exam with our IELTS app. Over 2 million downloads

Popular Last 24h

Writing task 2: some people believe women are better leaders than men, describe a quiet place where you would like to spend time, cue card 2020 #31: describe a place where you read and write, apart from your home, describe a successful business you know (part 2/3), ielts speaking part 1: band 8+ topic email, describe a creative person whose work you admire (part 2/3), writing task 2: solving the problem of road accidents.

• IELTS Test/Skills FAQs
• IELTS Scoring in Detail
• Forecast Speaking – 2023
• List IELTS Speaking Part 3
• List IELTS Speaking Part 1
• IELTS Writing 2023 – Actual Test

Our Telegram

Join our community for IELTS preparation and share and download materials.

The information on this site is for informational purposes only. IELTS is a registered trademark of the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, or IDP Education Australia.

Latest Articles

Ielts speaking part 1: travelling by plane (c.19), ielts speaking part 1: international food (c.19), describe a book – part 1, 2, 3, ielts speaking part 3: tips to answer questions, cue card – describe a gift you bought for someone, most popular, describe a film that made you laugh, describe a person whom you met for the first time and made you happy, topic: experience is the best teacher, describe something difficult you would like to succeed in doing, in many countries，today there are many highly qualified graduates without employment..

ieltspracticeonline All Rights Reserved

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Wiley Open Access Collection

Mental health effects of education

Fjolla kondirolli.

1 University of Sussex, Brighton UK

Naveen Sunder

2 Bentley University, Waltham Massachusetts, USA

Associated Data

World Health Survey data is available online at https://apps.who.int/healthinfo/systems/surveydata/index.php/catalog/whs/about . Demographic and Health Surveys data is available online at https://dhsprogram.com/ . Zimbabwe census data is available online at https://www.zimstat.co.zw/ .

We analyze the role of education as a determinant of mental health. To do this, we leverage the age‐specific exposure to an educational reform as an instrument for years of education and find that the treated cohorts gained more education. This increase in education had an effect on mental health more than 2 decades later. An extra year of education led to a lower likelihood of reporting any symptoms related to depression (11.3%) and anxiety (9.8%). More educated people also suffered less severe symptoms – depression (6.1%) and anxiety (5.6%). These protective effects are higher among women and rural residents. The effects of education on mental well‐being that we document are potentially mediated through better physical health, improved health behavior and knowledge, and an increase in women's empowerment.

1. INTRODUCTION

Mental health accounts for around seven percent of the global disease burden and 19% of all disability years (James,  2018 ; Rehm & Shield,  2019 ). In addition to being a valuable end in itself, mental well‐being is critical because it is a key determinant of a number of socio‐economic outcomes such as premature mortality (Graham & Pinto,  2019 ) and lower life expectancy (Wahlbeck et al.,  2011 ), and higher risk of other communicable and non‐communicable diseases (Hobkirk et al.,  2015 ; Prince et al.,  2007 ). In terms of economic outcomes, people with lower psychological well‐being have a higher likelihood of being unemployed (Frijters et al.,  2014 ), earn lower wages (Graham et al.,  2004 ), and are less productive (Oswald et al.,  2015 ). This makes them vulnerable to economic shocks and more likely to live in poverty (Lund et al.,  2011 ).

The negative effects of poor mental health are exacerbated in low‐ and middle‐income countries due to under‐treatment. Estimates suggest that under‐treatment is around 76–90% in low and middle‐income countries as opposed to 35–50% in developed countries (Patel et al.,  2010 ). Mental health is stigmatized in low‐income countries – evidence from a variety of contexts including Ethiopia (Shibre et al.,  2001 ), India (Koschorke et al.,  2014 ), and Nigeria (Oshodi et al.,  2014 ) demonstrates that individuals suffering from poor mental health fear being discriminated against and being ostracized by society, and consequently under‐report these issues and have a lower likelihood of seeking appropriate treatment. The under‐reporting of mental health issues, coupled with low investment in mental health infrastructure and diminished availability of human resources results in a higher treatment gap in these countries (Mascayano et al.,  2015 ). The high prevalence and low rates of treatment of mental disorders in developing countries creates a large welfare loss ‐ Bloom et al. ( 2011 ) estimate that by the year 2030, mental disorders are expected to lead to a loss in economic output amounting to around 20% of the global GDP. This necessitates the need to study factors that can help improve mental health. We explore the role of one such factor – education.

In particular, we examine the effect of years of education on long‐run mental health of individuals. We do so in the context of Zimbabwe. Before 1980, the country was under British colonial rule, and there were several discriminatory policies that restricted educational attainment among Black Zimbabweans. For example, primary education (grades 1–7) was free and compulsory only for White students, while Black students had to pay fees and were not required to enroll. Black students also had to take a competitive exam (for a limited number of seats) to gain admission into secondary school, while their White counterparts received automatic progression. Post‐independence (in 1980) the new government focused their efforts on improving educational outcomes, and implemented three critical reforms ‐ (1) free and compulsory primary education for all, (2) automatic progression into secondary school, and (3) the relaxing of age restrictions related to entry into primary school. These reforms benefited Black children who were of primary school‐going age at the time. Since Zimbabwean kids started school when they turned six, those who were 13 years or younger in 1980 disproportionately benefited from these policies (treatment group). Since the reform also allowed for some over‐age students to enroll in school, some children who were 14 or 15 years of age in 1980 might have also experienced some educational gains (the partially treated group). However, older individuals (16 years or above at the time) were significantly less likely to experience any such benefits, 1 and thus form our control group.

We utilize this age‐specific exposure to an educational reform in Zimbabwe in the 1980s as an instrumental variable (IV) for years of education to estimate the causal effect of schooling on later life mental health. We use an age cutoff of 15 years to define reform exposure – those who were 15 years and below in 1980 form the treated group, while those 16 years and older are considered as untreated. Our identification strategy rests on the assumption that individuals on either side of the age cutoff were, on average, conditionally indistinguishable, except for their exposure to this education policy, which led to higher levels of education among the treated. Our results indicate that the treated group eventually gained about three years of education and were 39% points more likely to attend secondary school. Our IV results suggest that this enhanced education led to better mental health later in life. We find significant effects of education on both the likelihood of having any adverse mental health related symptoms, and the severity of these symptoms. An extra year of schooling reduced the probability of reporting any symptoms related to depression (11.3%) or anxiety (9.8%) in adult life, and it also led to a decline in the severity of symptoms of both depression (6.1%), and anxiety (5.6%). Our findings suggest that the effects are larger among women and rural residents. We find evidence that improved physical health, better health‐related behavior and an increase in female empowerment might be some of the mechanisms through which education might have shaped mental health in the Zimbabwean context. We conduct a number of sensitivity analyses to show that our results are robust to various modifications in the empirical strategy, including levels at which the standard errors are clustered, and choice of bandwidth.

This paper contributes to two separate strands of literature. First, it adds to the growing evidence on the link between education and mental health. 2 While some studies find a positive impact of education on mental well‐being (Chevalier & Feinstein,  2006 ; Courtin et al.,  2019 ; Crespo et al.,  2014 ; Dursun & Cesur,  2016 ; Jiang et al.,  2020 ; Lager et al.,  2017 ; Li & Sunder,  2022 ; Mazzonna,  2014 ; Wang,  2021 ), others document a negative effect (Avendano et al.,  2020 ) or null effects (Begerow & Jürges,  2021 ; Böckerman et al.,  2021 ). In addition to the mixed results of education on mental health, the bulk of this literature is based on developed countries, such as the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, and Sweden. We build on this literature by introducing novel evidence on the effects of education on mental health in Africa, a context where this relationship has not yet been explored. Second, this paper adds to the vast literature exploring the effects of education on health, which largely builds on the model of health accumlation proposed by Grossman ( 1972 ) model of health accumulation. A recent review article finds that the effect of education on health outcomes (such as mortality and obesity) and health behaviors (such as smoking) is highly context specific (Galama et al.,  2018 ). This implies that evidence from one context might not be applicable to others, especially if they vary significantly. Moreover, it is unclear a priori whether the relationship between education and health extends to mental health. Our paper adds to the growing literature on the link between education and health by bringing forth evidence on mental health, a novel and understudied outcome. 3

2. DATA AND KEY VARIABLES

The data used in this analysis comes from the World Health Survey (WHS). The WHS was conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) across 70 countries between the years 2002 and 2004. The survey focused on topics related to health, and it aimed to generate detailed and synchronized information on population health and the state of health systems across the globe. We use data for Zimbabwe ‐ it was conducted in 2002 and sampled 4292 individuals across 4218 households. It is nationally representative, and the sample includes adults aged 18 years and above. Households were selected using a random, stratified sampling procedure, and one individual per household was selected for the interview. They also collected individual‐level information, including sociodemographic information, health state, health risk factors, chronic conditions, mortality, health care utilization, and social capital. We restrict our analysis to include people who were between the ages of zero and 30 in 1980, the year in which Zimbabwe implemented the education reform. This leaves us with a sample of 2604 individuals. Our analysis is based on the following self‐reported measures of mental health:

• Depression Index : This is based on the response to the following question: “Overall in the last 30 days, how much of a problem did you have with feeling sad, low or depressed?”. The responses are coded on a scale from one (“none”) to five (“extreme”).
• Any Depression Symptoms : This is a categorical variable that takes a value of one if the Depression Index takes a value greater than one.
• Anxiety Index : This is based on the response to the following question: “Overall in the last 30 days, how much of a problem did you have with worry or anxiety?”. The responses are coded on a scale from one (“none”) to five (“extreme”).
• Any Anxiety Symptoms : This is a categorical variable that takes a value of one if the Anxiety Index takes a value greater than one.
• Mean Index : This is a composite index created from the following measures: Depression Index, Anxiety Index, feeling depressed, 4 lost interest 5 and experiencing decreased energy. 6 For each covariate, we create a standardized measure (with zero mean and a standard deviation of one) and then average across these standardized measures to get this index.

The summary statistics corresponding to these measures are reported in Table  1 . The people in our sample have an average of around 8 years of education, and half of this sample has a secondary education. Around 70% of the individuals in our sample are male, and 60% live in rural areas. Nearly 40% of our sample reported suffering from some depression or anxiety‐related symptoms in the 30 days preceding the survey. The average severity of these reported symptoms in our sample are 1.8 for both depression and anxiety (measured on a scale ranging from one to five, where one is “none” and five is “extreme”).

Descriptive statistics

Note : This is based on data from the World Health Survey for Zimbabwe.

3. ZIMBABWE EDUCATION REFORM: BACKGROUND

Zimbabwe declared its independence from the British rule in 1980. Under colonial rule, the education policy in Zimbabwe was designed to favor White students at the expense of Black students. The Ministry of Education had separate departments for White and Black students, with widely varying budgets and policies, which discriminated against the Black population. The government spent 12 times more per primary school pupil (grades 1–7) and three times more per secondary school pupil (grades 8–11) in the “European” system as opposed to the “Black” system. Primary schooling was free and compulsory for White students, while Black students had to pay fees and enrollment was voluntary. There were limited number of seats in secondary school for Black schoolchildren, and allocation was based on a competitive exam. This was in contrast to White students who gained automatic progression into secondary schools (Dorsey,  1989 ; Nhundu,  1989 , 1992 ).

After independence, the government implemented three key reforms aimed at equalizing educational opportunities for all – (1) government‐mandated free and compulsory primary schooling for all Zimbabweans, (2) automatic progression into secondary schools for everyone completing primary school (grades 1–7), and (3) the removal of age restrictions to allow over‐age children to enter school. To accommodate for the large demand for education, the government undertook a massive school building and reconstruction program. Between 1979 and 1981, the number of primary schools increased by 54%, while the number of secondary schools increased by 236% in the same period. The share of the budget allocated to education also increased from 11.6% in 1979–80 to 22.1% in 1980–81 (Nhundu,  1992 ). 7 More details on the changes in number of schools, teachers, and education expenditure that accompanied this policy are provided in Appendix  A .

Overall, this resulted in sizable increases in enrollment into primary school (from around 800,000 in 1979 to 2.2 million in 1986) and secondary school (from 66,215 in 1979 to 537,427 in 1986). The larger proportional increase was experienced in secondary school enrollment because of the high levels of discrimination experienced in transition from primary to secondary schools in the pre‐reform period. Therefore, the policies targeted toward a smoother transition from primary to secondary school (removal of the mandatory exam) led to huge educational benefits for the Black population. This is also illustrated by the following statistic – the percentage of seventh graders who joined secondary school increased from 20% in 1979 to about 78% in 1986. This significant rise in the post‐reform period is demonstrated in Figure  1 – the plot shows that there was a large jump in the percentage of students who transitioned from primary to secondary school starting in the year 1980. This figure also shows that total secondary school enrollment, which had largely stayed constant before 1980, increased steadily in this period (Figure  1 ).

Trends in secondary school enrollment and transition for Zimbabwe. The estimates here are based on data from Riddell & Nyagura,  1991 , which in turn are curated from the UN statistical yearbooks from 1970 to 1988. The transition rate is the percentage of students who graduated from grade seven (highest grade in primary school) who end up enrolling in grade eight (secondary school). Secondary school enrollment is measured in thousands of students.

Put together, these reforms disproportionately benefited Black children who were in primary school (grades 1–7) at the time (and would have progressed to secondary school in the ensuing years). School starting age in Zimbabwe was 6 years – therefore, children aged 13 years and below at the time of the reform would have gained from the passage of this policy. In our main analysis, we consider this as our fully treated group. Since the reform also allowed for some overage children to enroll in school, there is the possibility that some 14 and 15 year old children could have also benefited due to the reforms – we consider them as partially treated. Those who were 16 years and above in 1980 were considerably less likely to have benefited from this policy change and hence form our control group.

4. EMPIRICAL METHODOLOGY

To explore the relationship between education and mental health, one would estimate the following specification:

where Y i is the mental health outcome for individual i , Education i is the education level of individual i , and X i includes gender, living in rural area, district and survey‐round fixed effects. OLS estimates of δ 1 , our coefficient of interest, would be biased because individuals with lower levels of education might also have other characteristics that could influence their mental health, such as lower income or worse physical health outcomes. To account for this bias, we use the exogenous shift in education caused by the Zimbabwean educational reform of 1980. As discussed earlier, this reform disproportionately increased access to education for Black children of primary school‐going age. Therefore, we create a categorical variable that divides our sample into a treated and a control group. Our treatment group consists of individuals who were 15 years or younger in 1980, and the control group consists of individuals who were 16 years or older at the same time. We implement a 2SLS‐IV framework, where the first stage equation uses the age‐specific exposure to the reform as an instrumental variable (IV) for years of education. In the second stage equation, we regress the outcome of interest on instrumented years of education. In this case, the equations of the first and second stage are as follows:

In Equation ( 3 ), β 1 represents the causal impact of education on long‐run mental health outcomes. Education i represents individual i 's education outcome, which in the main analysis will be years of education. In alternate specifications, we show that the results are robust to using a categorical variable for whether the individual had any secondary education (more than seventh grade). Treated i is a categorical variable that takes a value of one for individuals who were 15 years of age or below in 1980, and zero otherwise. The covariate f( Age80 i ‐15) accounts for different functional forms of age. In the main specifications we include linear polynomials, while in robustness checks we control for higher‐order polynomials (such as quadratic). This controls for any cohort‐specific effect on individuals born in a given year. 8

Standard errors are clustered at the level of the running variable, the age of the respondent in 1980. We control for gender, rural residence dummy, district fixed effects and temperature and rainfall shocks experienced by the individuals in their in‐utero period and infancy. The weather related controls are included to assuage concerns that these types of shocks experienced in childhood could be driving our findings (as shown by Adhvaryu et al.,  2019 , who find that temperature shocks in the in‐utero period increase depressive symptoms in adulthood in Africa). The data for rainfall and temperature is at the district level and comes from the Willmott and Matsura series (Matsuura & Willmott,  2018 ). 9 In Appendix  B , we further discuss the validity of this empirical strategy and present results from different checks, including McCrary density test (Figure  A7 ) and falsification check related to effect on pre‐determined outcomes (Figure  A8 ).

5.1. Impact of the 1980 reforms on educational attainment

We start by graphically examining the impact of the reform on educational attainment. To do this, we plot the highest grade attained ( y ‐axis) against age in the reform year ( x ‐axis). In Figure  2 we present graphs using the WHS data – the graph in the left panel demonstrates that years of education for the fully treated group (13 years and below) is considerably higher than that of the control group (16 years and above). The graph on the right in Figure  2 presents the same graph with the average years of education for 14 and 15 year olds (the partially treated group) included. The highest grade attained for the partially treated group is somewhere between the two aforementioned groups, confirming that some individuals of these cohorts benefited from the reforms. The same pattern is also observed using data from the Demographic and Health surveys 10 and 2012 Zimbabwe census data (Figure  A2 ). Since the reform particularly focused on the transition from primary to secondary school, it is instructive to see if there had been a significant rise in the rate of secondary schooling among the treated group. We present the graphs pertaining to the share of the sample with secondary schooling in Figure  A1 . The figure in the top panel suggests a discontinuous jump in the probability of attending secondary school among children aged 13 years and below, as compared to those who were 16 years or older at the time of the reform. Children who were 14 or 15 years of age again show a similar pattern as above (top panel, right graph). To demonstrate the robustness of the findings, we show that the effect of the reform is observed even when we use other datasets, the DHS (middle panel, Figure  A1 ) and the 2012 census data (bottom panel, Figure  A1 ).

Effects of the Reform on Education (First Stage effects). Authors' estimate based on Word Health Survey data. The y ‐axis represents the highest grade attained by individuals in our samples and the x ‐axis represents the age in 1980 when the reform was implemented. All estimations include gender, living in rural area, fixed effects for region and survey rounds. Standard errors are clustered by the age of respondent in 1980.

We further probe the effects of this reform on education by conducting regression analysis. In particular, in Table  2 , we present results corresponding to the first stage equation (Equation ( 2 )). In our analysis sample, treated individuals had on an average 3.4 additional years of schooling as compared to the untreated (Table  2 , column 1). This effect remains robust when restricting to smaller bandwidths around the age cutoff of 15 years (Table  2 , columns 2 and 3). The impact estimate remains statistically significant when we restrict the sample to individuals between 6 and 23 years of age (3.8 years, p ‐value < 0.001) and to those between 9 and 20 years of age (3.3 years, p ‐value < 0.001). The impact is larger and remains statistically significant among individuals living in rural areas (Table  2 , column 4). We present analogous results using any secondary education as an outcome in Table  A3 ‐ the results follow a similar pattern to the findings above. The coefficient estimates of the impact of the reform on education presented here are larger in comparison to other studies in the same context. We posit that this is plausibly due to differences in the datasets used and the corresponding sample sizes in these analyses.

First stage ‐ effect of reform on years of education

Note : Results are based on data from World Health Survey from Zimbabwe. The full sample includes individuals who were between the ages of 0 and 30 in 1980. All specifications exclude those who were 14 and 15 years old in 1980, and control for categorical variables for living in a rural area, fixed effects for survey round, and region and linear age trends, and rainfall/temperature shock in the year of birth. Standard errors are clustered by the age of the respondent in 1980.

* Significant at the 10 percent level. ** Significant at the 5 percent level. *** Significant at the 1 percent level.

We conduct two separate checks to demonstrate the robustness of the first stage effects. First, we use other datasets to show that the effect of the policy on education that we observe in the WHS dataset is present in other nationally representative surveys ‐ the Demographic and Health Surveys (Table  A1 ) and the 2012 Census data (Table  A2 ). We find a positive and statistically significant effect of the policy reform on education across different sub‐samples in both datasets. Additionally, we also show that the first stage effects are largely insensitive to changes in the bandwidth used ‐ in this check we restrict the sample of analysis to between 5 and 12 years on either side of the cutoff age and find that the reform's effect on education is preserved in the WHS data (Figure  A3 ), the DHS data (top panel of Figure  A4 ) and the 2012 census data (bottom panel of Figure  A4 ).

5.2. Impact of education on mental health

Having established that the reform had a significant effect on educational outcomes, we explore whether this reform‐induced increase in education led to improved long‐run mental health. We first examine this using a graphical approach. In Figure  3 , we plot the distribution of mental health indices by treatment status. This figure illustrates that the treated group are more likely to report any symptoms related to anxiety/depression and are less likely to experience more severe symptoms related to anxiety/depression. This points toward the fact that the reform had a positive effect on mental health.

Values of mental health indices by treatment status. Based on Zimbabwe World Health Survey data. The figures plot the distribution of our measures of mental health: depression and anxiety indices, which measure the severity of symptoms related to depression and anxiety, in the top panels, and probability of having depression‐ or anxiety‐related symptoms in the bottom panels, by treatment status. Treated includes individuals aged 15 years and younger in 1980 and the untreated group consists of individuals aged 16 years and older in 1980.

Further, in Figure  4 , we present a plot of the impact of the reform on mental health. From this figure, we can conclude that the fully treated group (13 years and younger in 1980) is less likely to report symptoms related to anxiety or depression (Figure  4 , right) and have lower intensity symptoms related to depression and anxiety (Figure  4 , left).

The impact of education on mental health. Based on author calculations using World Health Survey Zimbabwe. The figures plot different measures of mental health against the running variable (age in 1980). The upper panels represent depression index (left) which measures the severity of the symptoms and an indicator variable for having any depression‐related symptoms (right). The lower panels presents graphs for similar outcomes pertaining to anxiety‐related symptoms.

As discussed in the empirical strategy section, the OLS specification (results in Table  A4 ) will likely yield biased estimates of the impact of education on mental health due to the presence of other confounding factors such as income or physical health. Therefore, we conduct an IV analysis where years of education is instrumented using age‐based exposure to the Zimbabwean educational reform (based on Equations ( 2 ) and ( 3 )). These results are presented in Table  3 and suggest that an increase in education leads to better mental health, a consistent pattern across different mental health measures. Education decreases the probability of having any depression related symptoms by 11.3% (Table  3 , column 1) and those related to anxiety by 9.8% (Table  3 , column 2). 11 Additionally, education also reduces the severity of depressive symptoms by 6.1% (Table  3 , column 3) and anxiety by 5.6% (Table  3 , column 4). We also create a composite mental health index (combining the measures for depression and anxiety), where higher values indicate worse psychological health. We find that one more year of schooling leads to a decline in the composite mental health index by 0.06 standard deviations.

IV regressions – education and mental health

Note : Any Depression Symptoms and Any Anxiety Symptoms are categorical variables measuring whether the respondent suffered from any depressive or anxiety related symptoms. Depression Index and Anxiety index are measured on a scale of 1–5, where 5 represents more severe symptoms. The sample includes individuals who were between the ages of 0 and 30 in 1980. All specifications exclude those who were 14 and 15 years old in 1980, and control for categorical variables for living in a rural area, fixed effects for survey round, region and linear age trends, and rainfall/temperature shock in the year of birth. The control mean here refers to the mean of the outcome variable among those who were 16–30 years of age at the time of the reform. Results are based on data from World Health Survey from Zimbabwe. Standard errors are clustered by the age of the respondent in 1980.

* Significant at 10 percent. ** Significant at 5 percent. *** Significant at 1 percent.

Mechanisms – Physical health

Note : The sample consists of individuals who were between 0 and 30 years of age in 1980 (excluding 14 and 15 year old). The control mean here refers to the mean of the outcome variable among those who were 16–30 years of age at the time of the reform. Standard errors are clustered by the age of the respondent in 1980.

Source : World Health Survey Zimbabwe.

Comparing the coefficient estimates from the OLS specifications (Table  A4 ) with those from the IV specifications (Table  3 ) shows that the OLS estimates are underestimates of the true causal effect. This is consistent with other studies estimating the causal impact of education on health (Agüero & Bharadwaj,  2014 ; Cutler & Lleras‐Muney,  2010 ) and mental health specifically (Dursun & Cesur,  2016 ). The OLS could underestimate the true causal effect for a number of reasons. First, omitted variables (e.g., social norms such as gender roles) which might be negatively correlated with education might lead to a downward bias on the observed coefficient. Second, measurement error in education could lead to attenuation bias which would reduce the magnitude of the education coefficient. Third, IV estimates LATE, which is different from the average treatment effect estimated by OLS. The LATE is estimated based on compliers – this group consists of individuals who, in the absence of the reform, would not have had as much schooling, not because of any differences in their ability levels but because of higher‐than‐average costs of schooling due to the oppressive policies aimed at creating educational bottlenecks for the Black population. These are likely to be the more disadvantaged among the Black population, who in turn are likely to have worse mental health. Hence it is possible that these individuals demonstrate a higher marginal effect of education on mental health ‐ thus leading to the IV estimates being higher than the OLS.

Our results are akin to other studies that have found a positive impact of education on mental health in other contexts. For example, Crespo et al.,  2014 find that an additional year of schooling decreases the probability of suffering from depression by 6.5% points. As another example, Dursun & Cesur,  2016 find that an increase of 3 years of schooling in Turkey increased life satisfaction among women by 0.17 standard deviation. Studies that look at the impact of early‐life shocks/interventions also find similar results. Analyzing a compulsory schooling reform in China that increased schooling among beneficiaries, Li & Sunder,  2022 find that an increase of one year of schooling leads to a decrease of 26% in the likelihood of being depressed and a 10% decline in the severity of depressive symptoms.

We would like to note two potential caveats to our study. In comparison to administrative data, survey respondents are less likely to report mental health problems due to social stigma (Bharadwaj et al.,  2017 ; Greene et al.,  2015 ). Therefore it is possible that the prevalence of mental illness observed in our data is less than the actual rates. Another concern is that the reporting of mental health could be correlated with educational attainment. A priori it is unclear what the direction of the association would be – one could argue that more educated individuals are more likely to under report mental health issues due to social stigma, while on the other hand lesser educated individuals might face societal pressures that increase their likelihood of reporting a mental illness. However, due to lack of evidence directly linking education with self‐reports of mental health, we are unable to provide a direction to this bias. 12

5.3. Heterogenous effects

Having established that an increase in education in childhood improves mental health later in life, we examine whether the relationship differs based on different socio‐economic characteristics.

First, we look at the impact of education on mental health by gender. Enrollment data shows that the Zimbabwean reform had a larger effect on girls ‐ the number of girls who enrolled in secondary school increased by tenfold between 1980 and 1985 (Chikuhwa,  2008 ). Therefore, we might expect that this increased educational effect might translate into larger positive impacts on women's mental health. Results in Figure  5 provide suggestive evidence supporting this ‐ education has a larger effect on mental health for women. One more year of education among women reduces the probability of having depression (14.8%) and anxiety (13%) related symptoms, while it also lowers the and the severity of these symptoms – depression (8.2%) and anxiety (7.1%). These effect sizes are larger than the overall effects, but the difference is not statistically significant. However, these results provide suggestive evidence of higher mental health gains among women. This gender‐differentiated impact is critical for two reasons. First, women have a higher prevalence of mood‐related disorders than men, possibly due to biological differences as well as lower self‐esteem, the experience of gender‐based violence, and gender discrimination (Boyd et al.,  2015 ; Riecher‐Rössler,  2017 ). Our results suggest that education might mitigate some of these effects. Second, these mental health gains confer some intergenerational (indirect) benefits as well – studies have demonstrated that improved maternal mental health is associated with higher educational attainment, future household income, lower probability of criminal convictions (Johnston et al.,  2013 ), and better health outcomes (Le & Nguyen,  2018 ). Since a majority of women in our sample are in the reproductive age range, improved mental health can not only improve their own well‐being, but also have strong implications for the long‐term human capital accumulation of the next generation as well.

Heterogeneous impacts of education on mental health. The definitions of the mental health measures are the same as those used in Table  3 . The sample includes women who were between the ages of 0 and 30 in 1980. All specifications exclude those who were 14 and 15 years old in 1980, and control for categorical variables for living in a rural area, fixed effects for survey round, region, linear age trends, and rainfall/temperature shock in the year of birth. Results are based on data from World Health Survey from Zimbabwe. Standard errors are clustered by the age of the respondent in 1980.

Next, we assess the impact of education on mental health among individuals living in rural areas. This is motivated by prior studies have found higher effects of educational reforms in rural areas (Erten & Keskin,  2018 ; Li & Sunder,  2022 ). In our case, the treated group in rural areas had 3.5 more years of education (Table  2 , column 4). This large increase in education in rural areas does translate into a higher positive impact on their mental health. Rural residents were seven p.p. and four p.p. less likely to report any symptoms related to depression and anxiety respectively in adulthood (Figure  5 ).

Finally, we examine whether individuals belonging to households with lower wealth experience any heterogeneous effects. In low‐ and middle‐income countries, low income is strongly associated with mental disorders (Rehm & Shield,  2019 ). Additionally, in developing country contexts, like Zimbabwe, the lower access to mental health resources and the inability of the poor to afford any available resources further adds to the problem. In this study, we measure assets using a composite asset index (created using principal component analysis 13 ) and define a household having low assets if it lies in or below the 25th percentile of the composite asset index distribution. Results in Figure  5 show that the impact of one additional year of schooling on mental health is indeed larger for this sub‐sample.

5.4. Robustness checks

We conduct several robustness checks to examine the sensitivity of our main empirical findings.

5.4.1. Bandwidth

We check whether our findings regarding the impact of education on mental health are robust to the use of different bandwidths around the age cutoff of 15 years. We replicate our main analysis using different bandwidths around the cutoff age – these bandwidths vary between 5 and 12 years, in 1‐year increments. The coefficient estimates from this exercise are presented in Figure  A5 – they indicate that the effects of education on mental health are always negative (more education leads to better mental health) and largely remain statistically significant. This suggests that our main findings are largely insensitive to changes in bandwidth.

5.4.2. Polynomial function

In our main specification, we use a linear polynomial to control for the running variable, the age of the individual in 1980 minus 15. As a robustness check, we control for the running variable using a quadratic polynomial. The results presented in Figure  A6 suggest that the impact of an extra year of education on all our measures of poor mental health remain negative and statistically significant.

5.4.3. Clustering of standard errors

We examine how sensitive our results are to clustering of the standard errors at different levels. In the main specification, standard errors are clustered by the age of the individual. But, there might be a high degree of correlation between the outcomes of people who live close to each other (in the same region), and hence including the region in the clustering may be desirable. Therefore, in Figure  A6 we present results using two‐way clustering of the standard errors at the region‐age level. The results remain statistically significant.

5.4.4. Including partially treated individuals

As mentioned earlier, our main analysis excludes individuals who were 14 and 15 year old in 1980 (since they were partially treated the reform). Therefore, as a robustness check, we include them in the treated sample and re‐run our analysis. We find that the results remain similar in both size and statistical significance (Figure  A6 ).

5.4.5. Changes in empirical strategy

Finally, we employ a slightly different empirical strategy than the one that is used in the main analysis (IV strategy). Here, we divide the treatment group into two separate categories – those who were completely treated, which includes individuals who were aged seven or below in 1980 (likely started primary school in/after 1980), and those who were partially treated, referring to people who were between 8 and 14 years of age in 1980 (likely to have already started primary school before the policy was implemented). The intuition behind creating these two groups is that individuals who were exposed to the policy throughout their primary schooling (completely treated) are likely to experience more benefits than those who were only benefited from it for a part of their primary schooling years (part treated). Results in Table  A6 show that one more year of education among completely treated individuals led to a larger decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as the probability of reporting depression or anxiety symptoms compared to those who were only part treated, which is in line with our prior expectations.

5.5. Mechanisms

Further, we probe the potential mechanisms that might drive the observed effects of education on mental health in this context. Using various strands of medical, economic, and psychological literature, we explore several possible channels through which the mental health effects that we observe could have been mediated.

5.5.1. Physical health

Across a variety of contexts, it has been shown that physical health is strongly positively associated with mental health (Ohrnberger et al.,  2017 ; Sabia & Rees,  2015 ; Willage,  2018 ). We examine whether improvements in education among the treated group in Zimbabwe led to improved physical health later in life. We measure physical health using the following indicators – self‐rated health (=1 if reported good health), whether the person had difficulty working in the past 30 days, whether they experienced any pain or discomfort in the last 30 days, and a categorical variable for whether their BMI was in the normal range (between 18.5 and 25). The results from this analysis are presented in Table  4 – they indicate that higher education led to better outcomes across all these indicators. More educated people reported better health (5 p.p.), experienced fewer difficulties/pain and had a five p.p. higher likelihood of having a BMI in the normal range. Additionally, they were seven p.p. and six p.p. less likely to report difficulty in working or any pain or discomfort, respectively. This implies that the Zimbabwean reform led to improved physical health outcomes, which in turn could be an important factor in driving the observed effects on mental health. 14

5.5.2. Health knowledge and behaviors

Past studies have demonstrated that improved health‐related practices (such as not smoking, lower alcohol consumption, and a healthy diet) are positively associated with mental well‐being (Buttery et al.,  2015 ; Parletta et al.,  2016 ). Therefore, we consider the following possibility: did educational gains among the treated cohorts also lead them to have improved health behaviors later in life, which in turn could have positively affected psychological health? In this analysis, we proxy health behaviors and knowledge using three different outcomes ‐ smoking/alcohol related behavior, HIV knowledge, 15 and knowledge/usage of various forms of contraception. With respect to smoking and alcohol consumption, we find that more educated individuals are less likely to be smoking (3 p.p.) or consuming alcohol (4 p.p.). The results in Table  5 also indicate a positive effect of schooling on enhanced knowledge of HIV among treated women – we find that women with higher education have more comprehensive knowledge about HIV (2 p.p.). Additionally, an increase in 1 year of education makes women five p.p. more likely to know about contraception 16 and increases their likelihood of using contraception by three p.p. (Table  5 , columns 4–5). Overall, this suggests that improved health‐related behaviors might be an important mediator of mental health gains.

Mechanisms – Health knowledge and behaviors

Source : DHS Zimbabwe 1994, 1999, 2005.

5.5.3. Women's empowerment

There is growing evidence of a robust negative association between the prevalence of gender‐based violence and various measures of psychological challenges, including suicides, depression, post‐traumatic stress, and eating disorders (Grose et al.,  2019 ). Using information from multiple rounds of the Zimbabwe DHS, we examine whether women's empowerment could have been a potential channel for the observed mental health effects. In particular, we explore the following three different dimensions of empowerment:

Mechanisms – Women's empowerment

Note : Sexual violence is an indicator that takes the value of one if the woman experienced sexual violence from her partner in the last 12 months, and zero otherwise. Sexual & physical & emotional violence is an indicator that takes a value of one if the woman has ever experienced sexual, physical, and emotional violence from her partner, and zero otherwise. The sample consists of individuals who were between 0 and 30 years of age in 1980 (excluding 14 and 15 year old). The control mean here refers to the mean of the outcome variable among those who were 16–30 years of age at the time of the reform. Standard errors are clustered by the age of the respondent in 1980.

• Prevalence of IPV: Our findings suggest that women in the treated group have a 22 percent lower likelihood (relative to control mean) of reporting being the victim of sexual violence by their partners in the past 12 months. They are also less likely to have ever experienced physical and sexual, and emotional violence by their current partner (17 percent) (Table  6 , Columns 2 and 3).

Put together, these results point toward the role of increased empowerment among women, in the form of education‐induced reductions in IPV prevalence and increases in employment, as one of the potential mediators of the mental health benefits that we document.

6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Mental health is a growing priority among policymakers, as indicated by its inclusion in the United Nations' Sustainable Goals (SDG). Despite the acknowledgment of its importance, investment in mental health has remained low, especially in Africa. 18 This has led to a shortfall in the availability of medicine, infrastructure, and health workers, which has resulted in large‐scale undertreatment of mental illness, the costs of which will become increasingly higher as the continent is expected to double its population in the next 3 decades (Sankoh et al.,  2018 ). To the extent possible, our study examines whether, in contexts with limited health infrastructure, other complementary investments in childhood, such as education, could help decrease the burden of poor mental health in adulthood.

We study whether there is a causal link between education and mental health. We do so by leveraging the exogenous shift in education caused by a policy intervention in Zimbabwe. This reform removed significant barriers to education that Black schoolchildren in Zimbabwe faced and was effective in improving educational outcomes among the target population. Using nationally representative survey data and IV‐2SLS methodology, we find that an additional year of education reduces the probability of reporting any symptoms related to depression (11.3%) and anxiety (9.8%). Also, increased education has a dampening effect on the severity of symptoms related to both depression (6.1%) and anxiety (5.6%). Our results also indicate that the impact of education on mental health is larger for women and rural residents. In terms of mechanisms, we find that physical health, health knowledge (and behaviors) and women's empowerment might be crucial drivers of our findings.

This evidence on the protective effects of education on mental health is especially significant when viewed in conjunction with the mixed results demonstrated by other direct (and indirect) mental health‐enhancing interventions in similar contexts. For example, a review of the evidence on the relationship between poverty and depression and anxiety found that the average impact of anti‐poverty programs is a decrease in 0.094 SD in common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety (0.138 SD for multi‐faceted anti‐poverty programs and 0.067 for cash transfer programs) (Ridley et al.,  2020 ). These interventions are one‐off, potentially resource‐intensive, and affect only a small share of the population. In contrast, in this study, we show that large‐scale policy reform such as an expansion of education has a large and persistent long‐term impact on mental health, complementing similar evidence from other countries (Chevalier & Feinstein,  2006 ; Courtin et al.,  2019 ; Crespo et al.,  2014 ; Dursun & Cesur,  2016 ; Jiang et al.,  2020 ; Lager et al.,  2017 ; Mazzonna,  2014 ; Wang,  2021 ). These benefits become even more significant (and cost‐effective) since these education policies were not specifically designed to target these health outcomes and are spillover effects.

Our paper adds to the growing evidence on the efficacy of education in improving health outcomes in general (Galama et al.,  2018 ) and to the understanding of the impact of interventions during adolescence on economic and social outcomes in adulthood (Cunha et al.,  2010 ; Heckman,  2007 ). Our findings motivate future research on the impact of large‐scale policies in developing countries on understudied outcomes such as mental health, even if the interventions themselves were not directly targeted toward it.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Supporting information

Supporting Information S1

Kondirolli, F. , & Sunder, N. (2022). Mental health effects of education . Health Economics , 31 ( S2 ), 22–39. 10.1002/hec.4565 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

1 Using multiple data sources (including census data), we demonstrate in our analysis that those who were 16 years or older had a much lower likelihood of experiencing educational gains due to this policy. This pattern has also been confirmed by other studies of the same policy intervention (Agüero & Ramachandran,  2020 ; Grépin & Bharadwaj,  2015 ).

2 Broadly, economic research on mental health has largely focused on developed countries, and has examined different determinants of mental well‐being, such as income (Baird et al.,  2013 ; Haushofer & Shapiro,  2016 ; Kahneman & Deaton,  2010 ; Kahneman & Krueger,  2006 ; Stevenson & Wolfers,  2013 ), poverty (Haushofer & Fehr,  2014 ; Lund et al.,  2011 ; Tsaneva & Balakrishnan,  2019 ), environment (Zhang et al.,  2017 ), socioeconomic status (Lorant et al.,  2003 ; Stewart‐Brown et al.,  2015 ), crime (Bor et al.,  2018 ; Cornaglia et al.,  2014 ; Dustmann & Fasani,  2016 ; Metcalfe et al.,  2011 ), early‐life circumstances (Adhvaryu et al.,  2019 ; Dinkelman,  2017 ; Persson & Rossin‐Slater,  2018 ), career choices (Bertrand,  2013 ), residential status (Katz et al.,  2001 ), and migration (Scheffel & Zhang,  2019 ).

3 Other papers that have looked at the effect of education on health (and related) outcomes in the African context include child mortality (Grépin & Bharadwaj,  2015 ; Keats,  2018 ), fertility (Osili & Long,  2008 ), HIV prevalence (Duflo et al.,  2015 ), and teenage pregnancy (Baird et al.,  2013 ).

4 Takes a value of one if the response to the following question is “Yes” (and zero otherwise): “During the last 12 months, have you had a period lasting several days when you felt sad, empty or depressed?”

5 Takes a value of one if the response to the following question is “Yes” (and zero otherwise): “During the last 12 months, have you had a period lasting several days when you lost interest in most things you usually enjoy such as hobbies, personal relationships or work?”

6 Takes a value of one if the response to the following question is “Yes” (and zero otherwise): “During the last 12 months, have you had a period lasting several days when you have been feeling your energy decreased or that you are tired all the time?”

7 The demand for education could not be met with a proportional increase in the supply of teachers in years immediately after 1980, which possibly led to the government hiring untrained and under‐qualified teachers (according to some sources the share of untrained teachers was as high as 43 percent in 1987 (Nhundu,  1992 )). To increase the supply of trained teachers, the University of Zimbabwe offered a 2‐year part‐time course for teachers who were already working in secondary schools and the government introduced the Zimbabwe Integrated National Teacher Education Course, that consisted of an one‐term teaching course followed by a three and half years of teaching in primary (and subsequently secondary) schools.

8 Any differences between the treatment and control cohorts due to factors not controlled for in our specification would be a concern if they were to differentially affect those that are just below and those just above the cutoff age – which we think this is unlikely to be the case. Having said that, we note this as a caveat of this analysis. Additionally, we do not know of any other policies or reforms implemented concurrently in Zimbabwe that was targeted in the same manner as this education reform.

9 Rainfall and temperature shocks are defined using the following formula: log(average over a given 12 month period) minus log(long term mean).

10 We use the 1994, 1999, and 2005 rounds of the Demographic and Health surveys in Zimbabwe.

11 The effect sizes are relative to control group mean. Since the reform targeted entry into secondary school, in an alternate specification we use a categorical variable for having any secondary education as the main independent variable of interest (instead of years of education). As expected, having any secondary education has a large positive impact on mental health (estimates in Table  A5 ).

12 Some studies show that people with more education are less likely to self‐report being sick (Subramanian et al.,  2009 ) and have a lower likelihood of reporting worse health status (Subramanian et al.,  2010 ). Using WHS data, Subramanian et al.,  2010 show that this pattern is observed across countries with different income status. This indicates that more educated people are less likely to report worse health, and there is a possibility that a similar pattern may exist for mental health as well.

13 This composite asset index is based on household ownership of the following items – bicycle, clock, bucket, washing machine, refrigerator, telephone, mobile phone, television, computer, wheel‐barrow, cart and radio. Note that the wealth heterogeneity results should be interpreted with the caveat that we are stratifying on a post‐treatment (endogenous) variable.

14 It is to be noted that the mechanisms analysis presented here is suggestive in nature, and that a bulk of the outcomes examined here are measured contemporaneously with the mental health measure.

15 We use HIV because Zimbabwe has the fifth highest prevalence of HIV in the world with, 12.8 percent of the population aged 15–49 years old infected (The World Bank,  2015 ). Here, comprehensive knowledge of HIV is a categorical variable that takes the value of one if an individual knows that they can reduce HIV risk by limiting the number of partners and using condoms, that a healthy person can have HIV, that HIV cannot be transmitted by mosquito bites or supernatural means, and zero otherwise. These findings are consistent with those of Agüero and Bharadwaj ( 2014 ).

16 These methods of contraception include female sterilization, male sterilization, pill, IUD, injectables, implants, male condoms, female condom, diaphragm, standard days method, LAM, emergency contraception, rhythm method, and withdrawal method.

17 These decision‐making categories include the following: her own health, large household purchases and visiting friends/family. We create a categorical variable for each of these, where it takes a value of one if the woman is involved in the decision (either deciding by herself or jointly with the husband). We also create an additional composite variable on whether the woman is involved in making all of the above decisions – this takes a value of one if she is involved in all of the decisions, and zero otherwise; and a variable that represents the number of decisions she is involved in.

18 In 2017 the median per‐capita mental health expenditure in Africa was 10 cents, as compared to a global average of USD 2.5 (WHO,  2018 ). This has led to low levels of health personnel (per‐capita median number of mental health workers in Africa is 1/50th that of Europe), and admission rates to mental health institutions (0.2 per 1000 population as compared to 4.5 per 1000 population in Europe).

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

• Adhvaryu, A. , Fenske, J. , & Nyshadham, A. (2019). Early life circumstance and adult mental health . Journal of Political Economy , 127 ( 4 ), 1516–1549. 10.1086/701606 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Agüero, J. M. , & Bharadwaj, P. (2014). Do the more educated know more about health? Evidence from schooling and HIV knowledge in Zimbabwe . Economic Development and Cultural Change , 62 ( 3 ), 489–517. 10.1086/675398 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Agüero, J. M. , & Ramachandran, M. (2020). The intergenerational transmission of schooling among the education‐rationed . Journal of Human Resources , 55 ( 2 ), 504–538. 10.3368/jhr.55.2.0816.8143r [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Anderberg, D. , Rainer, H. , Wadsworth, J. , & Wilson, T. (2016). Unemployment and domestic violence: Theory and evidence . Economic Journal , 126 ( 597 ), 1947–1979. 10.1111/ecoj.12246 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Avendano, M. , de Coulon, A. , & Nafilyan, V. (2020). Does longer compulsory schooling affect mental health? Evidence from a British reform . Journal of Public Economics , 183 , 104137. 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104137 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Baird, S. , de Hoop, J. , & Özler, B. (2013). Income shocks and adolescent mental health . Journal of Human Resources , 48 ( 2 ), 370–403. 10.1353/jhr.2013.0014 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Begerow, T. , & Jürges, H. (2021). Does compulsory schooling affect health? Evidence from ambulatory claims data . The European Journal of Health Economics , 1 , 1–16. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bertrand, M. (2013). Career, family, and the well‐being of college‐educated women . The American Economic Review , 103 ( 3 ), 244–250. 10.1257/aer.103.3.244 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bharadwaj, P. , Pai, M. M. , & Suziedelyte, A. (2017). Mental health stigma . Economics Letters , 159 , 57–60. 10.1016/j.econlet.2017.06.028 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bloom, D. E. , Cafiero, E. , Jané‐Llopis, E. , Abrahams‐Gessel, S. , Bloom, L. R. , Fathima, S. , Feigl, A. B. , Gaziano, T. , Hamandi, A. , Mowafi, M. , Pandya, A. , Prettner, K. , Rosenberg, L. , Seligman, B. , Stein, A. Z. , & Weinstein, C. (2011). The global economic burden of noncommunicable diseases . World Economic Forum. [ Google Scholar ]
• Böckerman, P. , Haapanen, M. , Jepsen, C. , & Roulet, A. (2021). School tracking and mental health . Journal of Human Capital , 15 ( 2 ), 291–345. 10.1086/712728 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bor, J. , Venkataramani, A. S. , Williams, D. R. , & Tsai, A. C. (2018). Police killings and their spillover effects on the mental health of black Americans: A population‐based, quasi‐experimental study . The Lancet , 392 ( 10144 ), 302–310. 10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31130-9 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Boyd, A. , Van De Velde, S. , Vilagut, G. , De Graaf, R. , O’Neill, S. , Florescu, S. , Alonso, J. , & Kovess‐Masfety, V. (2015). Gender differences in mental disorders and suicidality in Europe: Results from a large cross‐sectional population‐based study . Journal of Affective Disorders , 173 , 245–254. 10.1016/j.jad.2014.11.002 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Buttery, A. K. , Mensink, G. B. , & Busch, M. A. (2015). Healthy behaviours and mental health: Findings from the German health update (GEDA) . The European Journal of Public Health , 25 ( 2 ), 219–225. 10.1093/eurpub/cku094 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chevalier, A. , & Feinstein, L. (2006). Sheepskin or prozac: The causal effect of education on mental health . SSRN Electronic Journal . 10.2139/ssrn.923530 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chikuhwa, J. (2008). Zimbabwe: Beyond a school certificate .
• Cornaglia, F. , Feldman, N. E. , & Leigh, A. (2014). Crime and mental well‐being . Journal of Human Resources , 49 ( 1 ), 110–140. 10.1353/jhr.2014.0005 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Courtin, E. , Nafilyan, V. , Glymour, M. , Goldberg, M. , Berr, C. , Berkman, L. F. , Zins, M. , & Avendano, M. (2019). Long‐term effects of compulsory schooling on physical, mental and cognitive ageing: A natural experiment . Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health , 73 ( 4 ), 370–376. 10.1136/jech-2018-211746 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Crespo, L. , López‐Noval, B. , & Mira, P. (2014). Compulsory schooling, education, depression and memory: New evidence from SHARELIFE . Economics of Education Review , 43 , 36–46. 10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.09.003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cunha, F. , Heckman, J. J. , Schennach, S. M. , Attanasio, O. , Becker, G. , Cattan, S. , Eisenhauer, P. , Gen‐Sowski, M. , Grogger, J. , Hansen, L. , Hansman, C. , Murphy, K. , Todd, P. , Williams, B. , Wolpin, K. , Yi, J. , Cunha, F. , Heckman, J. J. , & Schennach, S. M. (2010). Estimating the technology of cognitive and noncognitive skill formation . Econometrica , 78 ( 3 ), 883–931. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cutler, D. M. , & Lleras‐Muney, A. (2010). Understanding differences in health behaviors by education . Journal of Health Economics , 29 ( 1 ), 1–28. 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2009.10.003 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dinkelman, T. (2017). Long‐run health repercussions of drought shocks: Evidence from South African homelands . Economic Journal , 127 ( 604 ), 1906–1939. 10.1111/ecoj.12361 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dorsey, B. J. (1989). Educational development and reform in Zimbabwe . Comparative Education Review , 33 ( 1 ), 40–58. 10.1086/446811 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Duflo, E. , Dupas, P. , & Kremer, M. (2015). Education, HIV, and early fertility: Experimental evidence from Kenya . The American Economic Review , 105 ( 9 ), 2757–2797. 10.1257/aer.20121607 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dursun, B. , & Cesur, R. (2016). Transforming lives: The impact of compulsory schooling on hope and happiness . Journal of Population Economics , 29 ( 3 ), 911–956. 10.1007/s00148-016-0592-1 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dustmann, C. , & Fasani, F. (2016). The effect of local area crime on mental health . Economic Journal , 126 ( 593 ), 978–1017. 10.1111/ecoj.12205 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Erten, B. , & Keskin, P. (2018). For better or for worse? Education and the prevalence of domestic violence in Turkey . American Economic Journal: Applied Economics , 10 ( 1 ), 64–105. 10.1257/app.20160278 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Frijters, P. , Johnston, D. W. , & Shields, M. A. (2014). The effect of mental health on employment: Evidence from Australian panel data . Health Economics , 23 ( 9 ), 1058–1071. 10.1002/hec.3083 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Galama, T. J. , van Kippersluis, H. , & Lleras‐Muney, A. (2018). The effect of education on health and mortality: A review of experimental and quasi‐experimental evidence . National Bureau of Economic Research , 53 ( 9 ), 287. [ Google Scholar ]
• Graham, C. , Eggers, A. , & Sukhtankar, S. (2004). Does happiness pay? An exploration based on panel data from Russia . Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization , 55 ( 3 ), 319–342. 10.1016/s0167-2681(04)00047-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Graham, C. , & Pinto, S. (2019). Unequal hopes and lives in the USA: Optimism, race, place, and premature mortality . Journal of Population Economics , 32 ( 2 ), 665–733. 10.1007/s00148-018-0687-y [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Greene, W. H. , Harris, M. N. , & Hollingsworth, B. (2015). Inflated responses in measures of self‐assessed health . American Journal of Health Economics , 1 ( 4 ), 461–493. 10.1162/ajhe_a_00026 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Grépin, K. A. , & Bharadwaj, P. (2015). Maternal education and child mortality in Zimbabwe . Journal of Health Economics , 44 , 97–117. 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.08.003 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Grose, R. G. , Roof, K. A. , Semenza, D. C. , Leroux, X. , & Yount, K. M. (2019). Mental health, empowerment, and violence against young women in lower‐income countries: A review of reviews . Aggression and Violent Behavior , 46 , 25–36. 10.1016/j.avb.2019.01.007 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Grossman, M. (1972). On the concept of health capital and the demand for health . Journal of Political Economy , 80 ( 2 ), 223–255. 10.1086/259880 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Haushofer, J. , & Fehr, E. (2014). On the psychology of poverty . Science , 344 ( 6186 ), 862–867. 10.1126/science.1232491 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Haushofer, J. , & Shapiro, J. (2016). The short‐term impact of unconditional cash transfers to the poor: Experimental evidence from Kenya . Quarterly Journal of Economics , 131 ( 4 ), 1973–2042. 10.1093/qje/qjw025 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Heckman, J. J. (2007). The economics, technology, and neuroscience of human capability formation . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 104 ( 33 ), 13250–13255. 10.1073/pnas.0701362104 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hobkirk, A. L. , Towe, S. L. , Lion, R. , & Meade, C. S. (2015). Primary and secondary HIV prevention among persons with severe mental illness: Recent findings . Current HIV , 12 ( 4 ), 406–412. 10.1007/s11904-015-0294-4 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• James, S. L. (2018). Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990‐2017: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017 . The Lancet , 392 ( 10159 ), 1789–1858. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jiang, W. , Lu, Y. , & Xie, H. (2020). Education and mental health: Evidence and mechanisms . Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization , 180 , 407–437. 10.1016/j.jebo.2020.09.032 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Johnston, D. W. , Schurer, S. , & Shields, M. A. (2013). Exploring the intergenerational persistence of mental health: Evidence from three generations . Journal of Health Economics , 32 ( 6 ), 1077–1089. 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2013.09.001 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kahneman, D. , & Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well‐being . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 107 ( 38 ), 16489–16493. 10.1073/pnas.1011492107 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kahneman, D. , & Krueger, A. B. (2006). Developments in the measurement of subjective well‐being . The Journal of Economic Perspectives , 20 ( 1 ), 3–24. 10.1257/089533006776526030 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Katz, L. F. , Kling, J. R. , & Liebman, J. B. (2001). Moving to opportunity in Boston: Early results of a randomized mobility experiment . Quarterly Journal of Economics , 116 ( 2 ), 607–654. 10.1162/00335530151144113 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Keats, A. (2018). Women’s schooling, fertility, and child health outcomes: Evidence from Uganda’s free primary education program . Journal of Development Economics , 135 , 142–159. 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.07.002 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koschorke, M. , Padmavati, R. , Kumar, S. , Cohen, A. , Weiss, H. A. , Chatterjee, S. , Pereira, J. , Naik, S. , John, S. , Dabholkar, H. , Balaji, M. , Chavan, A. , Varghese, M. , Thara, R. , Thornicroft, G. , & Patel, V. (2014). Experiences of stigma and discrimination of people with schizophrenia in India . Social science medicine (1982) , 123 , 149–159. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.035 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lager, A. , Seblova, D. , Falkstedt, D. , & Lövdén, M. (2017). Cognitive and emotional outcomes after prolonged education: A quasi‐experiment on 320 182 Swedish boys . International Journal of Epidemiology , 46 ( 1 ), 303–311. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Le, H. T. , & Nguyen, H. T. (2018). The impact of maternal mental health shocks on child health: Estimates from fixed‐effects instrumental variables models for two cohorts of Australian children . American Journal of Health Economics , 4 ( 2 ), 185–225. 10.1162/ajhe_a_00100 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li, Y. and Sunder, N. (2022). Education and mental health: Evidence from China . Working Paper.
• Lorant, V. , Deliège, D. , Eaton, W. , Robert, A. , Philippot, P. , & Ansseau, M. (2003). Socioeconomic inequalities in depression: A meta‐analysis . American Journal of Epidemiology , 157 ( 2 ), 98–112. 10.1093/aje/kwf182 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lund, C. , De Silva, M. , Plagerson, S. , Cooper, S. , Chisholm, D. , Das, J. , Knapp, M. , & Patel, V. (2011). Poverty and mental disorders: Breaking the cycle in low‐income and middle‐income countries . The Lancet , 378 ( 9801 ), 1502–1514. 10.1016/s0140-6736(11)60754-x [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Majlesi, K. (2016). Labor market opportunities and women’s decision making power within households . Journal of Development Economics , 119 , 34–47. 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2015.10.002 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mascayano, F. , Armijo, J. E. , & Yang, L. H. (2015). Addressing stigma relating to mental illness in low‐ and middle‐income countries . Frontiers in Psychiatry , 6 . 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00038 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Matsuura, K. , & Willmott, C. (2018). Willmott, Matsuura and collaborators climate resource .
• Mazzonna, F. (2014). The long lasting effects of education on old age health: Evidence of gender differences . Social Science & Medicine , 101 , 129–138. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.10.042 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Metcalfe, R. , Powdthavee, N. , & Dolan, P. (2011). Destruction and distress: Using a quasi‐experiment to show the effects of the September 11 attacks on mental well‐being in the United Kingdom . Economic Journal , 121 ( 550 ), 81–F103. 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02416.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nhundu, T. J. (1989). The financing and provision of education in Zimbabwe: Towards greater equality? Educational Review , 41 ( 3 ), 243–253. 10.1080/0013191890410304 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nhundu, T. J. (1992). A decade of educational expansion in Zimbabwe: Causes, consequences, and policy Ccntradictions . The Journal of Negro Education , 61 ( 1 ), 78. 10.2307/2295630 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ohrnberger, J. , Fichera, E. , & Sutton, M. (2017). The relationship between physical and mental health: A mediation analysis . Social Science & Medicine , 195 , 42–49. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.008 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Oshodi, Y. O. , Abdulmalik, J. , Ola, B. , James, B. O. , Bonetto, C. , Cristofalo, D. , Bortel, T. V. , Sartorius, N. , & Thornicroft, G. (2014). Pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination among people with depression in Nigeria: A cross‐sectional study . Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology , 49 ( 2 ), 259–266. 10.1007/s00127-013-0737-4 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Osili, U. O. , & Long, B. T. (2008). Does female schooling reduce fertility? Evidence from Nigeria . Journal of Development Economics , 87 ( 1 ), 57–75. 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2007.10.003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Oswald, A. J. , Proto, E. , & Sgroi, D. (2015). Happiness and productivity . Journal of Labor Economics , 33 ( 4 ), 789–822. 10.1086/681096 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Parletta, N. , Aljeesh, Y. , & Baune, B. T. (2016). Health behaviors, knowledge, life satisfaction, and wellbeing in people with mental illness across four countries and comparisons with normative sample . Frontiers in Psychiatry , 7 ( AUG ), 22. 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00145 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Patel, V. , Maj, M. , Flisher, A. J. , De Silva, M. J. , Koschorke, M. , Prince, M. , Zonal, W. P. A. , Riba, M. , Sanchez, M. , Campodonico, F. D. , Risco, L. , Gask, L. , Wahlberg, H. , Roca, M. , Lecic‐Tosevski, D. , Soghoyan, A. , Moussaoui, D. , Baddoura, C. , Adeyemi, J. , …, & Richardson, G. (2010). Reducing the treatment gap for mental disorders: A WPA survey . World Psychiatry , 9 ( 3 ), 169–176. 10.1002/j.2051-5545.2010.tb00305.x [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Persson, P. , & Rossin‐Slater, M. (2018). Family ruptures, stress, and the mental health of the next generation . The American Economic Review , 108 ( 4–5 ), 1214–1252. 10.1257/aer.20141406 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Prince, M. , Patel, V. , Saxena, S. , Maj, M. , Maselko, J. , Phillips, M. R. , & Rahman, A. (2007). No health without mental health . Lancet , 370 ( 9590 ), 859–877. 10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61238-0 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rehm, J. , & Shield, K. D. (2019). Global burden of disease and the impact of mental and addictive disorders . Current Psychiatry Reports , 21 ( 2 ), 10. 10.1007/s11920-019-0997-0 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Riddell, A. R. , & Nyagura, L. M. (1991). What causes differences in achievement in Zimbabwe’s secondary schools? Population and Human Resources Department, World Bank. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ridley, M. , Rao, G. , Schilbach, F. , & Patel, V. (2020). Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms . Science , 370 ( 6522 ). 10.1126/science.aay0214 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Riecher‐Rössler, A. (2017). Sex and gender differences in mental disorders . The Lancet Psychiatry , 4 ( 1 ), 8–9. 10.1016/s2215-0366(16)30348-0 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sabia, J. J. , & Rees, D. I. (2015). Body weight, mental health capital, and academic achievement . Review of Economics of the Household , 13 ( 3 ), 653–684. 10.1007/s11150-014-9272-7 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sankoh, O. , Sevalie, S. , & Weston, M. (2018). Mental health in Africa . Lancet Global Health , 6 ( 9 ), e954–e955. 10.1016/s2214-109x(18)30303-6 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Scheffel, J. , & Zhang, Y. (2019). How does internal migration affect the emotional health of elderly parents left‐behind? Journal of Population Economics , 32 ( 3 ), 953–980. 10.1007/s00148-018-0715-y [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shibre, T. , Negash, A. , Kullgren, G. , Kebede, D. , Alem, A. , Fekadu, A. , Fekadu, D. , Medhin, G. , & Jacobsson, L. (2001). Perception of stigma among family members of individuals with schizophrenia and major affective disorders in rural Ethiopia . Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology , 36 ( 6 ), 299–303. 10.1007/s001270170048 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stevenson, B. , & Wolfers, J. (2013). Subjective well‐being and income: Is there any evidence of satiation? The American Economic Review , 103 ( 3 ), 598–604. 10.1257/aer.103.3.598 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stewart‐Brown, S. , Samaraweera, P. C. , Taggart, F. , Kandala, N. B. , & Stranges, S. (2015). Socioeconomic gradients and mental health: Implications for public health . British Journal of Psychiatry , 206 ( 6 ), 461–465. 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.147280 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Subramanian, S. V. , Huijts, T. , & Avendano, M. (2010). Self‐reported health assessments in the 2002 world health survey: How do they correlate with education? Bulletin of the World Health Organization , 88 ( 2 ), 131–138. 10.2471/blt.08.067058 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Subramanian, S. V. , Subramanyam, M. A. , Selvaraj, S. , & Kawachi, I. (2009). Are self‐reports of health and morbidities in developing countries misleading? Evidence from India . Social Science & Medicine . [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• The World Bank . (2015). Prevalence of HIV, total . (% of population ages 15‐49).
• Tsaneva, M. , & Balakrishnan, U. (2019). The effect of a Workfare programme on psychological wellbeing in India . Journal of Development Studies , 55 ( 12 ), 2593–2609. 10.1080/00220388.2018.1502879 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wahlbeck, K. , Westman, J. , Nordentoft, M. , Gissler, M. , & Laursen, T. M. (2011). Outcomes of Nordic mental health systems: Life expectancy of patients with mental disorders . British Journal of Psychiatry , 199 ( 6 ), 453–458. 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.085100 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang, T. (2021). The impact of education on mental health: Evidence from compulsory education law in China . 10.1080/13504851.2021.1946002 [ CrossRef ]
• WHO . (2018). Mental health atlas 2017 .
• Willage, B. (2018). The effect of weight on mental health: New evidence using genetic IVs . Journal of Health Economics , 57 , 113–130. 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.11.003 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zhang, X. , Zhang, X. , & Chen, X. (2017). Happiness in the air: How does a dirty sky affect mental health and subjective well‐being? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management , 85 , 81–94. 10.1016/j.jeem.2017.04.001 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses.

Información en español

Celebrating 75 Years

Research. discovery. hope..

Explore our Events and Stories ​

Health Topics

• Anxiety Disorders
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Bipolar Disorder
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Eating Disorders
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Suicide Prevention
• More Topics

Featured Topics

Director’s Message: Driving Innovation in Mental Health Technology Through Small Business Programs

FY 2024 Budget Fact Sheet

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

Science updates.

Understanding the Availability of Mental Telehealth Services

Amplifying Voices and Building Bridges

Digital Autism Screening Tool Could Enhance Early Identification

Meetings and events, workshop: translational research domains and key questions, nimh intramural research program training opportunities.

Acting Director of NIMH

Shelli Avenevoli, Ph.D.

NIMH Strategic Plan

Read about our plan for the institute's research priorities.

Inside NIMH

Funding News for Current and Future NIMH Awardees.

Find NIMH funding opportunities and announcements, including those specific to clinical research and training, and learn more about NIMH funding strategies, the application process, and grants management.

Finding Treatment

If you or someone you know has a mental illness, there are ways to get help. Use these resources to find help for yourself, a friend, or a family member.

Join A Study

Learn more about how to participate in outpatient and inpatient studies at the NIH Clinical Center, a hospital dedicated to the highest quality research.

Featured Resources

Brochures and Fact Sheets

Explore NIMH brochures and fact sheets. En español .

Learn more about our research areas, policies, resources, and initiatives.

Investigators

Learn more about scientists, physicians, and clinicians in NIMH’s Division of Intramural Research Programs (IRP).

Learn more about Research Domain Criteria Initiative (RDoC), a research framework that supports new ways of studying mental disorders.

Social Media

Connect with Us on X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Support for Clinical Trials

Learn more about clinical trials and funding opportunity announcements.

The official IELTS by IDP app is here! Download it today.

IELTS Academic

IELTS Academic assesses how well you can use English in an academic environment.

IELTS General training

Students applying to high schools or vocational training programs in English-speaking countries might need to take this test.

If you would like to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level in the UK, you can take IELTS UKVI.

• IELTS One Skill Retake

Didn't get the band score you require? Check to see if you're eligible for a One Skill Retake.

English self-assessment tool

Check your language level and get personalised suggestions on how to improve your English and prepare for IELTS.

Get your results

Check your provisional IELTS results online and do more.

IELTS Community

Join the IELTS community and meet with other IELTS test takers from all over the world!

Had a great and memorable experience with IELTS - IFI. The staffs are supportive and very accommodating. Venue is stellar and conducive for testing. Not to mention, the online review is comprehensive and mock exam is absolutely helpful.

Gabriel Yumul

Các dạng bài & cách viết ielts writing task 1, các dạng writing task 2 thường gặp và định hướng làm bài, ielts speaking part 1: các chủ đề thường gặp và bí quyết trả lời, tổng hợp bộ từ vựng ielts writing task 1, từ vựng ielts theo chủ đề phổ biến, bảng quy đổi điểm toeic sang ielts chi tiết nhất, cách viết ielts writing task 1 dạng line graph, cách viết writing task 1 dạng bar chart chỉ với 3 bước cực hiệu quả, cách viết writing task 1 dạng map đạt điểm cao, hướng dẫn viết dạng bài writing task 1 process/diagram chi tiết.

• Simplified Chinese

Cause and Effect essay: Cấu trúc, Từ vựng và Bài mẫu

Nắm rõ cách viết Cause and Effect essay là một kỹ năng quan trọng mà bạn không nên bỏ qua. Cùng IDP tìm hiểu cấu trúc và cách viết dạng bài này nhé.

Chủ đề bài viết

Trong quá trình học tiếng Anh, bạn sẽ dần được làm quen với việc lập dàn ý và triển khai viết một bài luận (Essay). Các bạn có thể áp dụng nhiều chiến lược viết bài cho từng dạng bài khác nhau, và một trong những dạng bài truyền tải đầy đủ và chính xác mọi thông tin đến người đọc là Cause and Effect essay , hay còn gọi là bài luận về nguyên nhân và kết quả. 

Nắm rõ cách viết một bài luận Nguyên nhân - Kết quả là một kỹ năng quan trọng mà hầu hết sinh viên ở mọi lĩnh thuật học thuật cần phải biết, đặc biệt là những bạn đang chuẩn bị cho kỳ thi IELTS sắp tới. Bài viết này sẽ giúp bạn tìm hiểu về cấu trúc cơ bản, cách sắp xếp luận điểm cũng như bỏ túi nhiều ý tưởng qua những bài mẫu Cause and Effect essay nhé.

1. Cách nhận biết dạng bài Cause and Effect

Bài luận Cause and Effect essay là một dạng bài đòi hỏi người viết phải trình bày mối liên hệ giữa nguyên nhân và sự ảnh hưởng của một vấn đề. Tương tự như các bài luận khác, bài luận về nguyên nhân và kết quả cũng đóng vai trò cung cấp kiến thức cho người đọc. Tuy nhiên, bạn cần thể hiện được tư duy và cái nhìn khách quan, thể hiện được kỹ năng phân tích logic về một chủ đề và rút ra được những cách giải quyết của riêng mình. 

Một ví dụ của tình huống Cause and Effect 

Các yếu tố chính của dạng bài Cause and Effect essay:

Nguyên nhân (Cause): Đây là những yếu tố hoặc lý do xảy ra một tình huống cụ thể. 

Kết quả (Effect): Kết quả là những hậu quả hoặc hệ lụy do các nguyên nhân được xác định gây ra.

Mối liên hệ giữa Cause và Effect: Trọng tâm chính của bài luận dạng này luôn nằm ở việc chứng minh mối liên kết giữa nguyên nhân và kết quả. Không chỉ đơn giản là liệt kê các luận điểm, bạn còn phải giải thích một cách logic và mạch lạc tại sao những yếu tố này lại dẫn đến các kết quả như vậy. 

Những Cause and Effect essay topics phổ biến trong IELTS Writing Task 2

It is seen that older adults are not given enough respect and facilities in many countries. What could be the reason for this? What are the effects of this?

The percentage of overweight children in Western society has increased by almost 20% in the last 10 years. Discuss the causes and effects of this disturbing trend.

Childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem in many countries. Explain the main causes and effects of this problem, and suggest some possible solutions.

2. Cấu trúc dạng bài Cause and Effect essay

Có rất nhiều phương pháp giúp bạn lập một dàn ý hoàn chỉnh, tuy nhiên, hãy luôn xây dựng một bố cục rõ ràng, có tính liên kết vững chắc giữa các ý tưởng. Một dàn ý tốt sẽ giúp bạn duy trì được mạch thông tin logic và truyền tải hiệu quả mối quan hệ nhân quả giữa các luận điểm.

Dưới đây là một cấu trúc dạng bài Cause and Effect essay cơ bản: 

3. Cách viết Cause and Effect essay và lập dàn ý

Sau khi đã nắm rõ những kiến thức về cách lên ý tưởng và viết essay Cause and Effect, hãy cùng làm quen cách phân tích và lập dàn ý đối với đề bài sau: 

Today more people are overweight than ever before. What is your opinion are the primary causes of this? What are the main effects of this?

Đọc cẩn thận và phân tích đề bài:

Khi đi vào phân tích đề bài, hãy xác định xem đây là dạng bài gì, chủ đề trong bài như thế nào? Bạn cũng cần nắm rõ đề bài muốn nhấn mạnh vào nguyên nhân, kết quả ảnh hưởng hay cả hai khía cạnh. 

Đối với đề bài này, vấn đề đang được nhắc đến là “ a growing number of overweight people ” - số lượng những người mắc tình trạng béo phì đang gia tăng khá cao hiện nay. 

Lập dàn ý chi tiết:

Viết bài và chỉnh sửa những lỗi sai (nếu có)

Sau khi đã hoàn thành dàn ý trên, hãy viết thành một bài luận hoàn chỉnh. Đối với bước cuối cùng, đừng quên kiểm tra về lỗi lập luận, các cấu trúc ngữ pháp để đảm bảo bài viết được trình bày hoàn chỉnh nhất.

4. Từ vựng phổ biến trong dạng bài Cause and Effect essay

Đối với phần thi IELTS Writing 2 - Dạng bài Cause and Effect essay questions, bạn cần sử dụng thuần thục các từ nối (linking words) hoặc những cụm từ giúp chuyển tiếp về mặt ý nghĩa. Bên cạnh đó, hãy ghi nhớ các nhóm từ vựng giúp diễn tả thông tin theo từng chủ đề khác nhau. 

Các từ vựng và cụm từ chỉ nguyên nhân

Các từ vựng và cụm từ chỉ kết quả

Các cụm từ nối những luận điểm: 

To what extent does A cause B?: A ảnh hưởng đến B ở mức độ nào?

What are the main causes of ….?: Những nguyên nhân chính của …. là gì?

What are the short-term and long-term effects of ….?: Các tác động ngắn hạn và dài hạn là gì?

How can we reduce the negative effects of …?: Làm thế nào để giảm thiểu những tác động tiêu cực của .…?

5. Bài mẫu Cause and Effect essay

Đề bài: In many urban areas, the rise in air pollution is becoming a significant concern. What are the main causes of this increase, and what effects does it have on the environment and public health?

Bài làm mẫu:

The escalating levels of air pollution in urban environments have emerged as a pressing issue. This essay will explore the primary causes behind this surge and its repercussions on both the environment and public health.

One prominent cause of escalating air pollution is the exponential growth of vehicular traffic. The increasing number of automobiles, coupled with outdated emission standards , releases a significant volume of pollutants into the air. Additionally, industrial activities contribute to the problem, with factories emitting pollutants such as particulate matter and greenhouse gasses.

The effects on the environment are devastating . Air pollution accelerates climate change, leading to unpredictable weather patterns and ecological imbalances . Moreover, public health bears the brunt , as respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular diseases become more prevalent due to prolonged exposure to polluted air.

In conclusion, the surge in air pollution in urban areas is primarily attributable to vehicular emissions and industrial activities. The adverse effects on both the environment and public health necessitate urgent measures, such as the implementation of stricter emission standards and the promotion of sustainable transportation. Only through concerted efforts can we mitigate the impact of air pollution and safeguard the well-being of both the planet and its inhabitants.

Vocabulary ghi điểm: 

prominent cause: nguyên nhân quan trọng

exponential growth: tăng trưởng theo cấp số nhân

emission standards: tiêu chuẩn phát thải

significant volume: lượng lớn

devastating: tàn phá

accelerates: thúc đẩy

ecological imbalances: mất cân bằng sinh thái

bears the brunt (idiom): chịu đựng

respiratory illnesses: bệnh đường hô hấp (bệnh phổi)

cardiovascular diseases: bệnh tim mạch

prevalent: phổ biến, thịnh hành

Tự tin chinh phục dạng bài Cause and Effect essay khi ôn luyện cùng IDP!

Hiểu rõ về cấu trúc Cause and Effect essay cùng cách trình bày bài viết hoàn chỉnh sẽ giúp bạn khám phá ra những mối liên hệ mật thiết giữa các chủ đề khác nhau. Hy vọng với những thông tin trên, bạn có thể dễ dàng trình các luận điểm của mình một cách rõ ràng và có logic nhất.

Để có thể chinh phục điểm số cao khi gặp dạng bài này, đừng quên luyện tập thường xuyên với những tài liệu ôn tập miễn phí từ IEDP. Bạn cũng đừng quên tìm hiểu cách tính điểm IELTS Writing để nắm rõ những tiêu chí được giám khảo chú trọng đánh giá. Từ đó, bạn sẽ tập trung vào việc thể hiện bài viết hoàn chỉnh và ghi điểm cao hơn. 

Và khi bạn đã sẵn sàng, hãy đăng ký thi IELTS với IDP ngay

Về bài viết

Published on May 07, 2024

Quỳnh Khanh

Tôi là Quỳnh Khanh - Content Writer có hơn 5 năm về lĩnh vực giáo dục

Chia sẻ bài viết

Các dạng câu hỏi thì hiện tại đơn: Công thức và cách dùng chi tiết

[GIẢI ĐÁP] IELTS 6.0 là cao hay thấp và làm được gì?

Điểm IELTS 6.5 làm được gì, có dễ đạt được band điểm này không?

IELTS 5.5 là cao hay thấp? Cách đạt band 5.5 trong thời gian ngắn nhất

IELTS 9.0 - Band điểm mơ ước của hàng triệu thí sinh

PTE và IELTS, lựa chọn bài thi nào để định cư tại Canada?

Những điều cần biết về chứng chỉ IELTS 5.0 để xây dựng mục tiêu học tập phù hợp

TOEFL và IELTS: Bài thi nào dễ hơn?

7 thói quen hàng ngày giúp cải thiện tiếng Anh hiệu quả

IELTS 8.5 làm được gì? Lộ trình tự học IELTS 8.5 có khó không?

• Hình thức thi IELTS
• Các tổ chức công nhận IELTS
• Tin tức và bài viết cập nhật
• Sự kiện IELTS
• Hình thức thi nào phù hợp với tôi?
• Chương trình ưu đãi IELTS
• Đối tác IDP IELTS tại Việt Nam
• Câu chuyện thành công
• IELTS - Tấm vé vàng để đi du học
• Liên hệ IDP IELTS
• Thi IELTS trên máy tính
• Thi IELTS trên giấy
• IELTS Học thuật
• IELTS Tổng quát
• IELTS UKVI Học thuật
• IELTS UKVI Tổng quát
• IELTS UKVI Life Skills
• Đăng ký thi IELTS
• Lịch thi IELTS
• Lệ phí thi IELTS
• Tìm địa điểm thi IELTS
• Câu hỏi thường gặp về IELTS
• Bài kiểm tra IELTS Familiarisation
• Ứng dụng IELTS by IDP
• IELTS Masterclass
• Tải các mẫu đơn
• Cam-pu-chia
• Cộng hòa Síp
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Ả Rập Xê Út
• Quần đảo Solomon
• Tây Ban Nha
• Quần đảo Ellice
• Các Tiểu Vương quốc Ả Rập Thống nhất
• Liên hệ với chúng tôi
• Thông báo pháp lý
• Chính sách quyền riêng tư
• Chính sách cookie
• Bản quyền 2024 IDP IELTS

• Share full article

Advertisement

The Morning

The week after the debate.

Where does President Biden’s campaign go from here?

By David Leonhardt

Whatever its ultimate effect on the campaign, the first presidential debate of 2024 certainly did not cast the United States in a favorable light.

It featured two elderly men — one 81, one 78 — who insulted each other and who most Americans wished were not the two major-party candidates for president. One candidate told frequent lies and portrayed the country in apocalyptic terms. The other struggled at times to describe his own policies or complete his sentences.

The image of the nation as some combination of unhinged and doddering was especially striking at a time when the U.S. is supposed to be leading the fight against a rising alliance of autocracies that includes China, Russia and Iran. “I am worried about the image projected to the outside world,” Sergey Radchenko, a historian at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, wrote on social media. “It is not an image of leadership. It is an image of terminal decline.”

Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, seemingly compared President Biden’s performance to Marcus Aurelius’ failure to find a competent successor in ancient Rome, which hastened the empire’s decline. “It’s important to manage one’s ride into the sunset,” Sikorski tweeted.

Russian officials — whose recent online behavior suggests that they are rooting for Donald Trump — portrayed the debate as a sign of American weakness and disarray. The result “is good for us,” Dmitri Novikov, a Russian lawmaker, said on state television. “Destabilization inside an adversary is always a good thing.”

Where does the campaign go from here? That’s the subject of today’s newsletter.

Solid vs. shaky

Most Republicans are committed to Trump, even as he continues to tell lies and reject core principles of democracy . The situation with Democrats and Biden is obviously more uncertain.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Article Menu

• Subscribe SciFeed
• Recommended Articles
• Google Scholar
• on Google Scholar
• Table of Contents

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

JSmol Viewer

Griby i mukhi : a historical contextualization of the esoteric mushroom religion of moscow conceptualism: fungal erotic imagery of entheogens and insects.

“ The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness .” Albert Einstein ( 1954 ).

1. Preliminary Remarks

2. introducing the subject: esoteric context and the fungi.

“I have come to the conclusion that much can be learned about music by devoting oneself to the mushroom.”. —John Cage, 1954

2.1. Mushrooms, Humans, and Religious Systems: Analytical Observations

2.2. new age esotericism, gnosticism, and the world of fungi: the problematics of spermic religious imagery.

Zohar Sitrei Torah 1: 147b–148b, ( Jacob’s Journey ) ‘ The secret of secrets: Out of the scorching noon of Isaac , out of the dregs of wine, a fungus emerged, a cluster , male and female together, red as a rose , expanding in many directions and paths . The male is called Sama’el , his female is always included within him . Just as it is on the side of holiness , so it is on the other side: male and female embracing one another . The female of Sama’el is called Serpent , Woman of Whoredom, End of All Flesh, End of Days . Two evil spirits joined together: the spirit of the male is subtle; the spirit of the female is diffused in many ways and paths but joined to the spirit of the male .’ ( Sitrei Torah is translated in ( Zohar 1983, p. 77 ))

“ If you force me to say something still more daring, it is his essence to be pregnant (kuein) with all things and to make them .”

“ We know you, O intellectual Light, O Life of life, We know you, O Womb of every creature, We know you, O Womb pregnant by the member [physis = phallus] of the Father. We know you, O eternal permanence of the begetting/pregnant Father .”

2.3. Fungal Eros: Phallic Occult Esotericism and Russian Cultural Links

2.4. mushroom art: several important visual models, 3. russian post-avant-garde conceptualism: the case of moscow milieus, the world of flies complements the universe of fungi.

In the garden, if you glance, you’ll see insects, old friends by chance , As if in cages, they now stay, perched on branches in dismay . Bees and flies, a buzzing sound, they once would dance and circle ‘round , In your ear, a letter Zh , 22   they’d bite you and your Shura, free . Now unhealthy, pale to see, Petrova the flea, sadly , Not a sight for pleasant eyes, trapped beneath the somber skies . Life is harsh, no comfort found, dawn winds howl with mournful sound , Wolves tear at the hapless hare, life’s cruel tale laid bare . From the oak, a bird takes flight, seeking food by day and night , Providence, with brutal charm, offers worms instead of farm . Calves beneath the butcher’s blade, fish ensnared in nets displayed , Lions roar through night’s domain, cats on chimneys cry in pain . In this world, a sorrowed dance, bourgeois, worker, no chance , Both these beetles in their class plight, struggle through the endless night . (1932). 23

“ Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you:   He eats grass like an ox . Look at his strength in his balls, and his power in the muscles of his penis . He makes his penis stiff like a cedar, the sinews of his balls are tightly wound . His balls are tubes of bronze, His balls like bars of iron ”. (Quick 345)

4. Concluding Remarks: Fungi, Esoteric Sensual Occult, and Russian (Post)-Avant-Garde

Fa-Fa I’m nervous, I’m loyal, so far… I’m tender . Fa-fa, fa-fa, fa-fa, fa-fa . Hallucinogens, the South… There’s plenty of us! The essence is coming . I’m a fugitive, I’m poor, so far… I’m white Fa-fa, fa-fa, fa-fa, fa-fa . Smokey grandfathers, snow… I’d like to go on the run , There’s an essence… Aha! I’m nervous, I’m loyal, bye-bye . I’m harmful . Fa-fa, fa-fa, fa-fa, fa-fa, fa-fa . If I were magic, taiga … I’d be on fire, I’d be living … The essence is coming! yeah . 25

… you inspire knowledge To both heart and mind: The distance is clearer When you look at the moon And time and separation , And the aunt of the arts The occult science , And many different feelings . The faces of the dead You make them pretty , And sometimes you dream …you’ll make a mindless mouse You confuse, you broadcast , You tumble your sickle And you accurately mark Only profit and damage . Your name is Hecate , Your name is Shepherd , The cats are your pay And a crowing rooster . 29

Share and Cite

Ioffe, D. Griby i Mukhi : A Historical Contextualization of the Esoteric Mushroom Religion of Moscow Conceptualism: Fungal Erotic Imagery of Entheogens and Insects. Religions 2024 , 15 , 777. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070777

Ioffe D. Griby i Mukhi : A Historical Contextualization of the Esoteric Mushroom Religion of Moscow Conceptualism: Fungal Erotic Imagery of Entheogens and Insects. Religions . 2024; 15(7):777. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070777

Ioffe, Dennis. 2024. " Griby i Mukhi : A Historical Contextualization of the Esoteric Mushroom Religion of Moscow Conceptualism: Fungal Erotic Imagery of Entheogens and Insects" Religions 15, no. 7: 777. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070777

Article Metrics

Article access statistics, further information, mdpi initiatives, follow mdpi.

Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals