Here is an IELTS writing task 2 essay question which was reported in the test on Saturday. Below are some ideas for your answer.

In some countries, fast food restaurants and companies give money to schools provided that the schools promote their products to school children.

What do you think is the positive and negative of this in the development of children?

Positive Effects

• children benefit from the additional resources and facilities that schools can afford due to the funding from companies
• children can learn the value of money in order to buy the products being promoted
  • learning to manage money is a useful life skill
  • children learn to be selective about what they buy

Negative Effects

• promoting companies such as fast food restaurants encourages a poor diet
  • poor diets, which include high quantities of salt and sugar, can be harmful to a child’s health
  • this sets children up to be unhealthy adults which can be expensive for the state in the long run
• advertising and promoting to children can be exploitative and unethical
  • they are easily influenced
  • they are not able to criticise or form their own opinion
  • this form of advertising is aimed at the parents through their children
  • children are unable to distinguish what is promotional and what is educational