Classmates or Parents: Who Is More Influential?

Topic:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Classmates have more influence on a child’s success in school than parents do.

Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

SAMPLE ESSAY

I recently read an article about how classmates are more influential to a young student’s success than his or her parents. I fully agree with this study. [Thesis statement; In my experience, classmates are much more likely than the student’s parents to help a young student succeed in school.

For one, students spend much more time with their classmates than with their parents. In my case, I am at school with my classmates at least from eight a.m. to five p.m. I also spend much time with my friends after school and on weekends. We go to the same hakwon (private cram school), play baseball or soccer, go bicycling, go to the movies, and do other activities together. Therefore, I cannot overstate how my classmates have influenced me to become the person I am today. In contrast, I only spend time with my parents for a couple of hours each night. That is not enough time to be influential.

Classmates can also help each other study because they know the material they must learn. In the past, I have sometimes asked my parents for help with my studies. But some material, like math questions, was too hard for my parents. Thus, I had to ask my friends for assistance, and they helped me very easily. Additionally, when we have a big test coming up, we often form study groups. This lets us learn much faster and better. Even if one member in a group is not doing well, we can encourage him to study harder and work together to improve his level. These are things that our parents cannot help us to do.

It is obvious that classmates are much more influential than parents at helping young students to succeed in school. Classmates spend more time with each other, and they are familiar with the material the students need to learn. This has definitely been true in my experience as a student.

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