Problems that young people face

Questions for discussion:

1) Are there any aspects of one generation’s lifestyle that another generation finds difficult to understand?

2) Do you believe there are any ways in which young people today behave worse, or better, than older people did at your age?

3) Can you think of any examples of one generation having mistaken beliefs or assumptions about another?

Task 1. Read the text about generation gap and find out what problems are raised in it.

Liam (16)

Young people aren’t treated fairly by the media. Every day there’s something

negative in the papers about people of my age – stuff like antisocial behaviour, or

drugs, or fights between gangs. The media create the idea that young people don’t

have enough respect for other members of society, and that all they care about is

having a good time. Well, all I know is that my friends aren’t like that. New technology is one of the things that make it harder for the different generations

to understand each other. Things like social networking sites are an everyday part of my life, but they’re a mystery to a lot of people of my parents’ age. Little things like that add to a sense of separation.

John (59)

Lots of people of my age seem to think the country’s going to the dogs, but I tell them they’re looking at the past through rose-coloured glasses. They say young people today are more individualistic, or even selfish, than in the past, and that their sense of right and wrong isn’t as strong as that of older people. There might be a little bit of truth in that, but in general I think the differences are exaggerated. I know I don’t look at my own kids, who are 19 and 23, and wish they were more like I was at their age. One thing that worries me slightly, though, is the possibility that kids today don’t appreciate what they’ve got. Young people in Britain have more money to spend than they did 50 years ago, and more choices available to them, but I don’t think they’re happier than we were.

Sally (85)

Of course there’s a gap between people my age and the younger generations. British people of my age have lived through a war, and many of us can remember poverty of a kind that hardly exists these days, at least in Britain. That really shapes your outlook on life. Most young people growing up today have never known hardship, so they’re less likely to appreciate what they’ve got. I’m sure youngsters’ behaviour hasn’t got worse in every way, but I do think some of

them lack respect for authority. They don’t have enough discipline. My granddaughter is a teacher, and tells me awful stories about some of the children in her school. In my day it would have been unthinkable to behave like they do – we would have got the cane, and rightly so.

 

Task 2. Here are some simple definitions for words that appear in the text above.

Find the words they refer to and fill in the gaps.

1. If you _ _ _ k at something through r _ _ _-c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ g _ _ _ _ _ s (idiom),

you consider it to be better than it really is.

2. _ _ v _ _ _ y (noun): a situation in which someone does not have enough money to pay for their basic needs

3. _ _ _ ia (noun) radio, television, newspapers, the internet, and magazines,

considered as a group

4. A person who is _ n _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ c (adjective) believes that what

individual people want is more important than what society or the government

wants.

5. _ i _ (noun – informal): child or, sometimes, teenager or young adult

6. If something or somewhere is _ _ _ ng to the _ o _ s (idiom), it is becoming

much worse than it used to be.

7. If you _ p _ _ _ _ _ _ te (verb) something, or a situation, you understand its true

nature. You would realize, for example, how good or important it is.

8. a _ _ _ or _ _ _ (noun): the people and institutions in society that have the power

to tell other people what to do (e.g. the police, and teachers)

9. un _ _ _ _ _ able (adjective): impossible to imagine

10. c _ _ _ (noun): a long, thin stick. (‘The c _ _ _ ’ is a punishment given to children in schools in which they are hit with a long thin stick. In Britain it has been illegal in all state schools since 1987, and in all private schools since 2003.)

11. y _ _ _ _ _ _ er (noun – informal): child or young person. (In Britain this is a word used mainly by old people.)

12. _ _ _ _ soc _ _ _ (adjective): showing a lack of care for other people or for society in general

13. h _ _ _ sh _ _ (noun): a situation in which life is very difficult

14. A s _ _ _ _ l _ etw _ _ _ _ _ _ s _ _ _ (noun), such as Facebook or MySpace,

allows you to communicate with friends and make new friends.

15. _ _ _ look (noun): your general attitude to things

 

Task 3. Decide for which of the three people (Liam, John, Sally) the following statements are true.

1. They mention other people of a similar age.

2. They mention economic changes.

3. They mention an idea other people have about young people, which they don’t (or don’t entirely) agree with.

 

Task 4. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F), or not stated (NS).

1. Liam thinks his friends are similar to the young people who are often written about in the newspapers.

2. Sally thinks life is harder for young people today than it was when she was growing up.

3. John totally disagrees with the idea that young people are more individualistic or

selfish than they used to be.

4. Liam tries to avoid reading newspapers.

5. John has a more positive opinion of young people than some other people of his

age.

6. From what her granddaughter tells her, Sally thinks schoolchildren today behave

worse than they did when she was at school.

7. None of the three people give an example of how young people today behave better than they did in the past.

8. Liam regularly uses social networking websites.

 

Task 5. Answer the questions below.

1. What is the idea about young people that John thinks there might be ‘a little bit of truth’ in?

2. In what way does Liam think technology can add to a sense of separation between the generations?

3. What does John not wish?

4. There is a similarity between something Sally says about young people and,

according to Liam, an idea the media have about young people. What is it?

Task 6. Complete the sentences with the words from the box.

comfort  take a stand take over anxiety depression ignore slogan

1. Bullying can cause _______________ (feeling very sad) and _______________ (an uncomfortable feeling of worry or nervousness).

2. Some children might _______________ (support and make feel better) the person who is being bullied.

3. Why not create an anti-bullying _______________ (a phrase that is easy to remember) and make posters?

4. You could also _______________ (take control of) the school's social media for a week to send out anti-bullying messages.

5. To stop bullying we need everyone to _______________ (be strong and say your opinion).

6. Don’t laugh or _______________ (not react or do anything) what's happening – do something!

 

Task 7. Listen to the audio and fill the gaps.

Source: https://listenaminute.com/b/bullying.html

Bullying

(1)_______________________ bullying. Why do people have to make the life of another person so miserable? Why do they think (2)_______________________ punch and kick someone they think is weaker than them. I was bullied when I was a child. (3)_______________________. I was really afraid to go to school, for many, many years. I knew I was (4)_______________________ times. It was always a group of (5)_______________________ in the corridors, or on the playing fields. They made me hate school. I know they also (6)_______________________. I have no confidence now. I’m 32 years old but I’m afraid (7)_______________________. The school bullies took away my belief in myself. They didn’t know that they would scar me for life. The physical (8)_______________________ not the emotional ones.

Task 8. Put the correct words written below into the article.

Bullying is one of the nastier, (1)__________ sides of human nature. We see it everywhere, from our early days at school to our place of work. What is it that makes bullies want to tease, hurt, humiliate and (2)__________ others? In many cases, people who are bullied (3)__________ their own lives. It’s so sad this can happen in today’s society. But it does happen and it’s allowed to happen. Many terrible things happen in school – children are (4)__________ every day. If this happened to an adult on the street, the bully would be called an attacker or mugger and would be arrested. In school it’s called “part of (5)__________ up”. The bully gets away with criminal assault; the bullied child (6)__________ long-term physical or emotional damage.

Victims of bullies used to feel (7)__________ in their home. The school or office bully could not reach them there. This has all changed with cyber-bullying. Today, cyber-bullies (8)__________ people online. They (9) __________ malicious gossip about them on facebook and other social network sites. Bullies blackmail people, threaten them, attack their families. They feel they have a lot of power (10)__________ behind their computer. There are many websites to help those being bullied online. A good place to start is cyberbullying.us. The link is (11)__________. On this Anti-Bullying Day, take some time to look at this site and think about how harmful all forms of bullying are. Maybe one day we can (12)__________ a stop to it.

http://cyberbullying.us/blog/advice-for-adult-victims-of-cyberbullying.html

 

1.	(a)	darkly	(b)	darker	(c)	darkness	(d)	darken
2.	(a)	injure	(b)	injures	(c)	injury	(d)	injuries
3.	(a)	make	(b)	fake	(c)	bake	(d)	take
4.	(a)	beating	(b)	beats	(c)	beaten	(d)	beat
5.	(a)	growth	(b)	grows	(c)	growing	(d)	grown
6.	(a)	suffers	(b)	abuses	(c)	sends	(d)	hurts
7.	(a)	safety	(b)	safe	(c)	safely	(d)	safes
8.	(a)	victims	(b)	victimizing	(c)	victim	(d)	victimize
9.	(a)	spared	(b)	speed	(c)	spread	(d)	speared
10.	(a)	hiding	(b)	standing	(c)	working	(d)	coming
11.	(a)	down	(b)	below	(c)	decreasing	(d)	less
12.	(a)	get	(b)	have	(c)	be	(d)	put

 

Task 9. Answer the following questions.

1) What does society need to do to stop bullying?

2) Should bullying be made a crime?

3) Should bullying be a crime?

4) Is bullying simply a part of teen age?

5) Should bullied children go to the police and get the bully arrested?

6) What should parents do about bullying?

7) How can we teach bullies their actions are wrong?

8) What questions would you like to ask a bully?

9) Why do people bully others?

10) Is it worse to be bullied as a child or adult?

11) What mental health problems might bullied children have?

12) What happens to people who have depression?

13) Why do schools not act when one teenager physically hurts another?

14) What advice would you have for someone who is bullied?

15) Should bullied children just learn how to deal with bullies?

Task 10. Role play

Role A – Bullying

You think bullying is the biggest thing children have to worry about. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't such a cause of worry. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): exams, parents or money.

 

Role B – Exams

You think exams are the biggest thing children have to worry about. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't such a cause of worry. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): bullying, parents or money.

 

Role C – Parents

You think parents are the biggest thing children have to worry about. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't such a cause of worry. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): exams, bullying or money.

 

Role D – Money

You think money is the biggest thing children have to worry about. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't such a cause of worry. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): exams, parents or bullying.

Unit 3