Essay 019 (Children over 15 years)

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: Children over 15 years should be allowed to make decisions about their lives without the interference of their parents or teachers. Society should accept that children mature at a younger age these days and should adjust the law accordingly. Discuss this statement in relation to your own society or a society that you know well. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. You should write at least 250 words.

Because of the easy access to information, and better education system today, children above the age of 15 in my country, have greater knowledge and confidence, but this has not given them the emotional maturity or experience to take important decisions without the active participation of parents or teachers. Hence, there is no need to change the present law to accommodate the rights of children of this age group.

In the first place, if the law is amended to protect the rights these children, both parents and teacher would completely lose their control over them both at home and in school.Since this is psychologically a vulnerable age, they can easily be lured by misleading elements in the society, who can exploit them physically and emotionally. Furthermore, they could be deviated to bad habits like drug addiction, alcoholism and uncontrolled sexual indulgence. Elders would require a lawful control over them at this age to safeguard them from such potential dangers.

Secondly, the important decisions that children take, can easily go wrong, because of the lack of experience and the temperamental nature of their decision making process. Since children would be able to make decisions about their personal, professional or education life, like career choices or life partners, wrong decisions can prove to be detrimental to their success in future life. For example, as the age of 15 is crucial period for them to lay a foundation in their educational career, if not properly guided, there could be a danger of greater school dropouts and career choices that would not match their intellectual aptitudes.

Parents and teachers who have greater experience and emotional maturity should guide them at this age, but at the same time should not impose their ideas on them.