Topic of the week: TEEN CULTURE
There are so many cliches flying around about teenagers, it’s hard to know where to begin. If you believe everything you read in the papers, they eat too much, binge drink too much, have lots of casual sex, spend most of their time online, hate school but spend thousands on grinds and are generally speaking lazy and selfish. On the other hand, most of the teenagers I know are sick and tired of these stereotypes. Many are creative, entreprenurial and extremely active in their communities. So which ‘version’ of youth should we believe?
Here are some sample questions from the exam papers:
2011 Write an article for a popular magazine in which you outline your views about the impact of technology on the lives of young people.
2009 Write a short speech in which you attempt to persuade a group of parents that older teenagers should be trusted to make their own decisions.
2009 Imagine your art teacher is compiling a photographic exhibition to reflect the lives of young people today. Write a letter to your art teacher proposing five images that you believe should be included & give reasons for your decision in each case.
2008 Write a letter to Jon Savage responding to this extract from his book and giving your own views on today’s teenage culture.
2008 Write a short story in which the central character is a rebellious teenager (male or female)
2007 Write a personal essay on the idealism and passions of youth.
2001 Write a letter to Martin Mansergh in which you outline your response to his view of young Irish people (you need to read this article to write your ans).