Name: Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Trúc

Class: 16E24

READING-WRITING DIARY

TABLE OF CONTENT
Topic of the essay:..........................................................2
ESSAY OUTLINE..............................................................2
I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................2
II. BODY..................................................................2
III. CONCLUSION.........................................................3
GLOSSARY....................................................................4
Reference List...............................................................5
Topic of the essay:
To what extent do you agree with the statement: ”School is bad for
children?”. Support your claims with appropriate grounds and warrants.

ESSAY OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION

It is the conventional wisdom that the coercive system of schooling is a

breakthrough of humanity. Since the Protestant Reformation, school
was believed to be a place for nurturing critical thought, creativity and
self-initiative as a bad-tasting medicine but good for children in the long
run. However, the most cherished institution(school) has been exerting
destructive effects on children’s mental, physical and intellectual
development rather than remarkable impacts as the human race
expected.

II. BODY

1. TOPIC SENTENCE 1: Children are experiencing anxiety and depression

under pressure of endless targets, examinations and homework at
school.

- According to a research study conducted by Mihaly and Jeremy:

 Over 4 in 10 students reported the conditions of anxiety and stress;
 The lowest levels of happiness occurred when they were in school
and the highest levels occurred out of school.

- Study of 4,300 students at 10 high-performing high schools in

California:
 More than 70 percent are stressed;
 56 percent lists homework as a primary stressor.

TOPIC SENTENCE 2: Children have to endure frequent physical

symptoms and lack of physical literacy.

- Anxiety and depression cause messed-up sleep, reduced appetites and

needs for prescription medication;
- School-age boys and girls spend an average of 7–8 h a day being
sedentary due to obligatory sitting in lessons at school (Craig, Mindell &
Hirani, 2008):
 They are now developing non-communicable chronic diseases which
were considered afflictions of later life;
 Cholesterol and fatty streaks appearing in the aorta, the arteries of
the heart, brain and peripheral arteries;
 20% are obese when they start schooling (de Ferranti, 2014).

- Only 33% of boys and 21% of girls from 4–15 years old in England meet
the minimum levels of physical activity.

TOPIC SENTENCE 3: Indoctrination and obedience training system of

school constrains children’s intellectual development.

- A number of the world’s greatest scientists and innovators left school

from an early age;
- Children have to hide their curiosity, listen to teacher’s guide, have no
chance to find out who they are and accept the adults’ evaluation of
them (John Holt, 2005);
- Being corrected repeatedly, children lose faith in their ability.
Consequently, they cannot trust themselves and become passive
learners (John Holt, 2005).
=> Many young people try to seek the awareness of the world and
responsiveness to it with drugs.
=> Medicating to surmount the obstacles of school depletes their
aspiration of figuring out who they were really meant to be.

III. CONCLUSION

As the most effective approach to learning and self-improvement is

through their own desire, children endowed by natural derives can self-
motivate their education. There are still various common denominators
of people who have been responsible for their life and successfully
pursuing happiness without any compulsory schooling process.

GLOSSARY
No. Vocabulary Meaning Note
Pain and suffering or something He suffered from an
1 Affliction that causes it affliction of the eyes
from an early age.
- (especially of a disease) lasting Chronic diseases
for a long time; difficult to cure or
2 Chronic get rid of;
- Having had a disease for a long
time
Any of the tubes that carry blood
3 Artery from the heart to other parts of
the body
Not as important as the main aim,
4 Peripheral
part, etc. of something
The act or process of forcing political/religious
somebody to accept a particular indoctrination
5 Indoctrination belief or set of beliefs and not
allowing them to consider any
others
To deal successfully with a
6 Surmount
difficulty
The number below the line in
a fraction showing how many
7 Denominator
parts the whole is divided into,
for example 4 in ¾

Reference List

1. Holt, J. (2005). The underachieving school. Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications.

2. Weiler, R., Allardyce, S., Whyte, G. and Stamatakis, E. (2013). Is the lack of physical
activity strategy for children complicit mass child neglect?. British Journal of Sports
Medicine, 48(13), pp.1010-1013.

3. Gray, P. (2018). School is a prison — and damaging our kids. Retrieved from
https://www.salon.com/2013/08/26/school_is_a_prison_and_damaging_our_kids/

4.Levy, S. (2017). Is Too Much Homework Bad for Kids' Health?. Retrieved from
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-more-homework-means-more-
stress-031114