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Describe a time you saw children behave badly in public: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Where was it?
  • What were the children doing?
  • How do others react to it?
  • And explain how you feel about it.
Show all 151 answers

Cue 1:Where was it?

  • Begin by describing the location where you witnessed the children's behavior, making it relatable and vivid.
  • Mention any specific details about the environment that contributed to the situation.

Example

I was at a busy shopping mall in Mumbai last summer, a place filled with families and children enjoying their day out. The mall was bustling with activity, and the atmosphere was lively, with music playing and people chatting.

Cue 2:What were the children doing?

  • Clearly explain the actions of the children that you considered to be bad behavior.
  • Provide specific examples of what they did that stood out to you.

Example

While I was waiting for my friend near a toy store, I noticed a group of three children, probably around 7 to 10 years old. They were running around, shouting loudly, and even knocking over some displays. At one point, one of them threw a toy at another child, which was quite alarming.

Cue 3:How do others react to it?

  • Describe the reactions of the adults and other children around the situation.
  • Mention if anyone intervened or if people just ignored the behavior.

Example

The adults around seemed quite shocked. Some parents looked at their children with concern, while others just shook their heads in disapproval. A store employee approached the group and asked them to calm down, but the children just laughed and continued their antics.

Cue 4:And explain how you feel about it.

  • Share your personal feelings about the situation, whether you found it amusing, concerning, or frustrating.
  • Reflect on what this behavior might indicate about parenting or social norms.

Example

I felt a mix of frustration and concern. It was troubling to see such behavior in public, as it reflects a lack of discipline. I wondered if the parents were aware of how their children were acting. I believe that children need guidance on how to behave in public spaces.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, witnessing children behave badly in public can be quite unsettling. It serves as a reminder of the importance of teaching children proper behavior and respect for others in shared spaces. Such experiences highlight the role of parents and society in shaping children's conduct.

    Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

    Tips to answer this Cue Card

    1: Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear. Candidates often fail to provide specific details about the situation, which can lead to a lack of engagement from the examiner.

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    Tip

    Include specific details about the location, actions of the children, and the reactions of others to create a vivid picture.

    2: Neglecting Personal Feelings

    Not expressing your personal feelings about the situation can make your response less engaging. Candidates often forget to share their emotional reactions, which are important for a complete answer.

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    Tip

    Reflect on how the behavior affected you and share your feelings to add depth to your response.

    Ignoring Others' Reactions

    Failing to mention how others reacted can leave your answer incomplete. Candidates sometimes focus only on the children and miss the broader context of the situation.

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    Tip

    Describe how bystanders or parents reacted to the children's behavior to provide a fuller picture of the event.

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    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band >7

    nowadays child are very aggressive and nowadays they are also not listening the parents last last weekend I had gone to watch a Punjabi movie and in the theater I see a child who was crying and fighting with their parents that I want to watch another movie it's not so good although it was a very good movie but his mood was to watch a movie with a cartoon movie because he was a child and for that he started crying and he was spoiling our mood for making it some more better he's his where his parents take out and give him something to eat and purchase him something that he was like to purchase and like this I experienced it and I think so this kind of thing should not be happen it's due to the due to the wrong treatment given by the parents and I think so this type of thing should be avoid because it can be avoid by since starting the parents should take care of their student of their child and they should not say they should not wrongly influence them

    Band 7

    One time I saw children behaving badly was at a shopping mall near my house. It happened like around last year when I went there with one of my friends to buy a gift. There were two young children, probably around 6 or 7 years old, running around the store screaming very loudly and grabbing items from the shelves. They were throwing toys and even pushing each other. At one point one of them knocked over a display of snacks and the staff had to come and fix everything. The other customers were clearly disturbed. Some looked annoyed, some moved away from that area, and a few people even started at the presence expecting them to take control. But surprisingly their parents didn't say anything at first. They were busy on their phones and seemed to ignore the situation completely. I personally felt really uncomfortable and a bit disappointed, especially with the parents. I understand that children can be energetic, but I think it's the responsibility of adults to teach them how to behave in public. Ignoring such behavior only makes it worse for everyone around.

    Band 7

    A child's behaviour is a mirror to how their parents are bringing them up at home as well as what environment is teaching them. Because there is this big question of nature and nurture that always comes into play when there is the talk of behaviour that we see in a child. Thereby, there was this one time, I saw a child behave really poorly in the public. They had been handed an ice cream and instead of being grateful, they smashed it to the ground and trampled on it with their feet. Their reasoning being that they did not like the flavour that their parent had given them. The parent tried to dismiss it in front of their friends saying that, you know how children are so into tantrums these days. But on a deeper sense, if you see, the parent should have handled the situation more maturely. They should have made the child understand that things will not always go according to what they feel. Things in life will not always be according to what they want. There are these small techniques in which a parent can actually guide their children through these situations such as reinforcement or negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is a great way to make children understand that there will be consequences but not by using punishment. For example, if the person is throwing away their ice cream, the negative reinforcement should be them having to do a chore like washing dishes, washing utensils. That can be a chore that they do and from the next time, if they don't behave in the way that they are now, the chore will not be there. So using psychology as a tactic, things like these can be implemented in a child if the parent so wishes to.

    Band 7

    The last time that I saw a child behave badly in public was at a really famous monument in India. It was at the Taj Mahal. There is a linear water body right in front of the monument and it was at this place that this child was behaving really badly. So in this water body specifically, he was playing with a plastic bottle and he was throwing other kinds of garbage into the water body, thus disrupting the flow of water. And the spectators were clearly irritated by the child's behavior and one of them even stood up and told the parents that the child was indulging in such kind of behavior. But the parents did not seem to bother much about it and hence the child just continued doing whatever he was doing. And at that time, how exactly I felt was, no matter what happens, the child's doing is a parent's responsibility at least until an age till the child has some mental maturity. So in such cases, the parents should be more attentive to what their child is doing in a public space and whatever the child might be doing, it should be in a way that it does not disrupt the peace of others and the public space as such. In this case, the child was indulging in very heinous behavior because not only was it disrupting the view and it was really bad to see this happening at a national monument, which is a spectacle for everybody to see. And the parents having no say to whatever the child was doing was just disheartening to see as a whole and I feel that the child should be educated on public behavior and on how to behave in certain spaces while they are out.

    Band 7

    As my profession is an Occupational Therapist, I work and deal with the children's only and with their behavior. So I work in a clinic where daily, regularly, the children come with the behavioral issues like anger, tantrums and all. And recently, there is a child who used to bite her mother and give her bruises and once he was trying to bite me and how nicely I handled him and with love and care. Her mother got shocked and she was like, in few friction of seconds, his meltdown changes and calm down.

    Band 7

    During my visit at my distant cousin's wedding, I encountered an unfortunate incident where a few of my younger cousins were misbehaving and were creating a mess during the wedding ceremony. Even after being calmly advised and guided by the elders, the children continued to create a mess and behave repulsively with the others. Even though it was a sophisticated setting, still many of us felt ashamed and felt out of control in the given situation. The children were not only misbehaving amongst each other but were also shouting and abusing their elders, which literally broke my heart seeing that it actually created a big mess in the ceremony and left my cousin feeling disheartened as the children were uncontrollable and their parents were least bothered or were helpless in trying to manage their kids. I feel that this sort of behaviour should be strictly handled and at times parents should follow a strict parenting when handling children in a public setting.

    Band 7

    I recall a time when I was shopping with my friend at a mall and we witnessed a child behaving badly in public. The child, who seemed to be around 4 or 5 years old, was throwing a tantrum in the middle of the store because his parents had refused to buy him a toy. He was screaming, crying and stomping his feet, drawing attention from everyone around him. What struck me was how the parents handled the situation. They seemed embarrassed and frustrated, but they didn't scold or punish the child. Instead, they calmly tried to reason with him and distract him with a snack. Eventually, the child calmed down and the situation was diffused. I was impressed by the parents' patience and composure in a challenging situation. It's not always easy to manage a child's behavior in public, but they handled it with grace and understanding. The experience made me realize the importance of teaching children how to manage their emotions and behave appropriately in public.

    Band 7

    I went out to a restaurant where I was eating with my family and I saw that there were two children in the next table with their parents. The children were fighting over a doll and they started yelling loudly in public. One of the children started crying and the other one started shouting. The mother was trying to calm them down and she was also getting a little worked up because the children were loudly fighting in public. The others around, in the tables next to that, there were a few people who were getting a little annoyed and agitated because the children were fighting very loudly. And I was also getting a little annoyed. I felt a little bad for the mother who was trying to calm them down and finally it was the father who took both the children out, calmed them down, talked to them about it and was able to resolve the issue. He had ended up going out and buying a similar doll for the other child so that they would stop fighting over it. And after all this, peace was finally restored in the table. So the others in the restaurant were feeling a little calm and happy after the children stopped fighting. I was able to get a deep understanding of parenting and how difficult it is to manage children, especially stepping out.

    Band 6-7

    I'd like to share my experience when I saw a five-year-old kid who was behaving very badly when I was traveling in a public transport. Actually I was sitting in two-seated seats near the child and she was sitting parallel to me on the other side of the bus. She was stamping the seat in front of hers. Her mother is noticing but she is not telling the child not to stamp the seat because the other person who is sitting on the front seat is disturbed. So that was a very disgusting scene that I could see how the child was behaving. The person sitting on the front seat before the child, she was so much helpless whether to scold the child or to complain the child to her mother. But seeing that helplessness of that person sitting on the front, I just opened up and I instructed the mother not to leave the child like that because some sort of that civic sense should be taught in this tender age. So I humbly requested the mother to advise her child not to disturb any other co-passengers while traveling and this is not appropriate behavior that a child could ever have.

    Band 6-7

    Well, I would like to talk about an instance where I visited a slum area nearby. It was due to some documentation. There was a small adharkend where I have to visit. So there I saw a bunch of kids like age between 10 to 12, maximum 12. There were like 2-3 boys standing in the corner and they had this one cigarette. And they were smoking it like by turns, one by one, they were coughing and smoking. People are there. It was a very busy street. People are there. They are just looking and ignoring this. Moreover, they also encouraged, they were also abusing each other, like using very coarse language towards each other. So I felt very bad that day that we humans failed as a society that these small kids are turning to this extent that like 10-year-old children are going ahead and smoking in public and no one is going to, no one is there to stop them. My main reason can be the lack of parental control or it's a slum area. So obviously there is no or very less educated people and there is a scarcity of money as well. It can be said that both parents go to their livelihood and children are unbothered and unmonitored. That's not a good thing in my opinion. However, there are some societies and some organizations who take care of these children and educate them about the harmful effects of smoking in very early age. Because as per Indian government, smoking is not allowed until you are 21 years old.
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