Towards academic level of performance in the English Language – 4° Year

4^th year students wrote a letter to the editor stating their point of view on adolescents’ attitude. Their papers become more formal and precise as they are reaching the CAE level.

Dear Editor,

I read your article in the newspaper regarding students and how we behave outside of school hours, stating that we disturb the citizens’ calmness by being every evening around the public spaces. I felt the need to respond to it because what you are saying, I believe, is far from the truth.

Even though it is true that some students are very selfish and act recklessly towards the town’s facilities, I think that most of us have been told since we were very young the importance of taking care of common spaces and being responsible all the time. An example of this is the weekly night park cleaning event that our class entirely organizes.

On the other hand, I strongly believe that students like me go out after school to enjoy our little free time together and relax our minds a bit, considering we must study for 8 straight hours every day. It is also worth pointing out that we occasionally gather outside of school hours with the city council to propose new ideas and projects to get young people involved in charity-related activities and make good use of their extra energy, truly contributing to the neighborhood’s peace.

I appreciate your intention to shed some light on this topic, but I feel that, to be objective, you must also include the other point of view, from a student’s testimony, and also write about the incredible amount of effort schools have made to make us participate in activities like the ones I have described. I am sure my school would like to meet you and tell you all about this and more.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Liam Roosevelt

Written by Tobias Lopez Matheu

Dear editor,

                I am writing to you, shortly after reading the latest article on how local students’ extracurricular behaviour is rather disrespectful, to express that such conclusion is not correct.

                To begin with, the article mentions a lack of community service or volunteering programs promoted by local teenagers. However, the truth is that these students have managed to organize and bring to life plenty of projects such as “A neighbour, a friend” or “Food-Sharing Time.” They did it quietly, as they were not pursuing popularity but effectiveness.

Furthermore, the article implies that at night-time, most of the damages to private property and public spaces are inflicted by them. It is worth pointing out that this idea does not consider that criminality does not distinguish ages, which means that both adults and teenagers can cause harm. Additionally, it is even more necessary to bear in mind that those few students who vandalize our town do so owing to utterly poor conditions, like a violent family environment or null formal education, and it is our duty, as grown-ups, to ensure that does not occur.

Overall, even though I appreciate your passionate interest in local students’ behaviour outside school hours, I hope this letter will not only expand your vision regarding the topic, but also encourage you to publish an article about adults’ behaviour outside work hours. I look forward to hearing from you.

                                                      Yours faithfully,

                                                                              Dan Brown

Written by Lorenzo Espósito Zabalza