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IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

In many countries insufficient respect is shown to older people. What do you think may be the reason for this? What problems might this cause in society?

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

You should write at least 250 words.

Model Answer 1:
Respect shown to senior citizens is often considered by many as an important indicator of a civilised society and yet this is on the decline in many countries. In my opinion, lack of proper teaching at home and a paradigm shift towards a materialistic life are the reason for this trend. This trend can bring some negative consequences in our society which would be outlined in this essay.   

In regard to the declining respects for elderly people, the family bonding and parents teaching methods at home are to be blamed. The family value and bond are no longer important to the young generation these days. They are not entirely responsible for this social debasement as parents nowadays are too busy to teach their children morality. On top of that, young generation in this era is more occupied with materialistic possessions than reading history and learning about their traditions and cultures. As a result, they fail to understand how important it is to show respect to other members of the society, especially senior citizens. To illustrate an example, one of my classmates, Tony, was raised in a nuclear family and without his father. When he visited our house, he had no idea that my grandparents could live in our family. Certainly, he would not know how to spend time with people over 60 years old!

Among the negative consequences of this trend, the most severe one is the moral degradation of youth. Since they find it unnecessary to show proper respect to elder people, they will soon forget to respect other human beings. Moreover, they will fail to teach their next generation anything about mutual respect and family value, they will suffer even more when they become old. Finally, as a whole, the society would have selfish members who would not be able to maintain a social harmony.

To conclude, the society we live in is the contribution os the senior citizens and that is why the young generation should show their respect and gratitude to them. The lack of respect towards the elderly is a great concern and to mitigate this problem, parents should teach their children morality and importance or family bonds.

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