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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 6-7

    Children are very innocent creatures. They often behave according to their emotions and mood in public places. Today I would like to talk about the time when I saw children behave badly in public places. Last week I went to the public park which is just a stone's throw away from my home. I visited there after a long time. When I entered the park I saw a group of small children. They were almost 12-14 years old according to my perception. I saw them. They were shouting in the park while the elders were doing meditation and yoga at the corner of the park. They were getting disturbed but they were not saying them anything. Then they started uprooting the plants and flowers. Then I lost my temper. I immediately went to them and asked them to stop this activity. I told them that plants are also living beings.

    Band 6-7

    Here I want to talk about an incident which I saw in a wedding where a child behaved very weird in the public, in the guests that were invited in the wedding. He behaved very weird with her mom. He had been forced to his mom to buy some toys and he also slapped on her mother's face. People look at and they think it is very unoccasionally and very weird. His mom also felt very bad in front of the guests. I feel parents should give some manners to their children, how to behave in front of other people. I personally feel very bad after watching this incident.

    Band 6-7

    One instance that I could recollect is one evening when I was out for a walk. It was quite a pleasant day. So I decided to go to a park nearby, where I encountered a disheartening instance. There was this dog with her newly born cubs resting under the shades of a tree. After a moment, these children came by and started to disturb their peaceful environment, poking them with sticks or trying to steal one of her cubs. The dog looked really helpless and was evidently crying for help with her barking and trying to get their kids in a safe place. But these kids were so arrogant in nature and they decided to continue their play. But this was so awful to see. In fact, surprisingly, the people walking around this instance were ignorant of all this, which was really unpleasant for me. They were literally ignoring the sympathy barking from that dog. I felt really awful to the core of my heart and decided to go ahead and teach them some lesson since they were quite younger to me. I took the right approach of making them understand why this is not something that is expected of them and why this is considered to be a bad behavior in nature. Although at first they acted as a rebel, but later on, after some strict regulations which I implemented myself, they were forced to leave that dog alone, after which I had them in a shelter where they could be.

    Band 6-7

    So this time when I went to a mall with my mom, I noticed a girl, a little girl misbehave with one of the staff, mall staff. So I went into a clothing shop that is called as Pantaloon that was located in Manthri Mall near my house and here I noticed a girl nearly 6 years old misbehaving with one of the staff. So this happened when the staff obstructed the girl from touching an expensive glass item and the child was extremely rude. She was, she pushed the staff and she started complaining about, about how the staff, how could the staff even stop her from doing. She rudely claimed that she would be ready to pay all the damages that she would do so far and she took a glass bottle and just spat it across the surface of the wall and broke it ultimately. So I saw many people around witnessing this but nobody did react as I reacted. People were calm and busy in their own work, busy in their own shopping. The parents also didn't bother to stop the child. They instead were bearing the child's stubborn behaviour. So I felt extremely bad for the staff and felt that the child really needs counselling and the really child should be scolded for all she did. She should obviously be punished for her actions but as a third person, as an outsider, I didn't have much to say to the child because parents should be more concerned than what concern I would show but if it was my child at that place, I'd surely school her up and mostly I would have grounded her too for a week and I would have taught her how it is important to behave with everybody, treat everybody equally.

    Band 6-7

    Recently I was travelling in train for my work purpose, there I have some two brothers they were fighting with each others because of a toy with which they are playing when they are fighting to take toy from each other at that time I feel very bad because they are fighting very much and there was no one who is doing who is protecting them or helping them out at that time I feel very bad that I cannot do anything or can't help them out.

    Band 6-7

    A long time ago, I was in a supermarket, then I noticed children, he was shouting and crying. And when I not, after listening his shouting and crying, people gathered there, I also went there. So, when we are in front of him, what we see is, he was insisting his mother for some toys. He was crying and shouting to buy that toy or there were two toys, he was crying for, insisting for. It felt so bad to all, we were there, but unfortunately, it is a behavior of children. So, we were there, his mother tries to calm him down, but he was continuously shouting and crying, making such type of things.

    Band 6-7

    It happened a long years back, while I was studying in my school. After the school dispersal, I was walking towards the nearby bus stop with my friends. We did so much of chit-chatting and everything, but along with us I was noticing a boy who was walking along with us and whenever we are just slowing down our speed, he is also just slowing down. Then I noticed him many times and even I turned my head and looked upon him. So that time he will be walking on the other side and he pretends like he is doing something else. But all the time I came to see that he is having a mobile phone and it is always on. So I came to know he is taking pictures of one of the girls in our gang. So I got irritated and I stared upon him and he got angry and what I did I straight away walked towards him and asked what are you taking and I also warned him that this should not be repeated. Give me your phone, I want to delete the thing otherwise you won't leave from here.

    Band 6-7

    Well, I remember a day. I was in church. The worship was carried out there. The church was quiet and calm. Suddenly, a three-year-old boy started crying and skipped out from his mother's hand. Then he ran towards the place where the priest and others are standing. The boy was annoying others, hitting others, throwing the books which were neatly arranged on the table. His mother tried to take him back to her seat many times, but she failed. His father was also with her, but he doesn't care about it. I looked over this place, and no one is noticing him. Even the priest was disturbed for some time.

    Band 6-7

    Children are often considered as the gift of God but sometimes children behave not appropriately in front of people. It comes from the parenting of the parent but the children should also know how to react and behave in public. One time there was this situation wherein I was in a park and there were many people in the park around me and I saw a family in which there was a mother, a father and a son. The parents took the son to a walk and everything was in a very light hearted manner. But suddenly the child started crying. Initially no one noticed it but then the noise of the cry increased with time. The parents were not able to handle it. Then when I went closer to it and people started gathering around the child to look what happened actually, everyone could see that the small kid was crying for an ice cream. Then people asked his parents that why are they not providing him the ice cream or why are they not giving him. But then the parents said that he has cough and cold so they are not able to give him the ice cream. But it's not good for his health so they were avoiding it. But then the child was crying for a long time and he was trying to fight with the parents. This was a behaviour which I felt very bad that the parents should take strict action on the child so that he doesn't continue doing it.

    Band 6-7

    Now a days the appearance and behaviours of children are becoming a threat to the whole world. Last year in my home town there was a local festival called Kathirumsavam. It is mainly a religious program conducted by four groups in my neighbourhood, in our locality. And people from our locality are divided into four categories. And these four categories are called Deshams. And during the eve of that festival some children were doing unusual practices on the program. Because they were addicted to some type of synthetic drugs and liquor. Their minds are not in their control. They are just floating and flying. Moreover the adults in their neighbourhood are supporting their attitude. And the rest of them are simply watching what they are doing and performing. And my attitude to this type of practice was very harsh. And my friends and me shared so many comments about that issue. And it became a big problem on that.
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