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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

    Well, when I went to the market, I usually saw kids crying and doing a lot of, you know, crazy stuff, because the parents are not actually buying the kids what they want, the toys. And generally parents always think a lot before buying the stuff like that, because the money matters a lot. And I think it's quite fascinating, because kids are so persistent, if they like something they want it, no matter what. And the parents also try to convince them and try to make them listen to what they say. They try to convince by using different techniques, like they will say that they will buy something else, sweets or something else. But at the end of the day, what happens is that the kid wants most of the time, and sometimes they cry and shout in the public, which I found it to be quite often an issue. That's it.

    Band 6-7

    I could remember a vivid incident which happened when I was pursuing my degree in Bangalore. When I was crossing through the street in Chhatt Street, I saw a kid who was chasing two people and asking for money and he was insisting them to give him a new cloth. When they gave some money, then again he was asking them to give more money, give more food, give more... One of the very vivid experience I faced when I was pursuing my degree in Bangalore. When I was crossing through Chhatt Street, I saw a kid who was laying on the street and asking for money. After a few minutes, I saw that the kid is dancing and chasing people to get something from them. Then after a few minutes, I saw the kid is dramatically acting something, crying over there. I don't know how a small kid can act like this. And again, going behind people, asking for a new cloth, new food. Everybody is wondering at the kid, but the Bangalore citizens know the drama of those people. And when the kid approached me, she suddenly lay in the street and growling. Then suddenly she woke up and asking to show my pocket. Then I wonder, why?

    Band 6-7

    Once, while I was coming from the work, I saw a group of children, like almost 6 to 7 kids, are bullying a boy. They are around the age of 10-11 years old, and they are bullying that guy. I don't know exactly why they are bullying him, but it made me just think, how can they even do that to a kid? He was crying, he was pleading them to let him go, leave him alone, but they were not listening to him. They were mocking him, they were calling him names, they were saying something and all, which is very heartbreaking. I don't know where this society goes, because we all believe that today's kids are our nation's future. If we go on raising kids like this, it will have a very bad impact on our society. I believe this should be taught at home. Parents should know what their children are doing. They should be more sensible and should be having conversations with their kids, like how to behave, and it's bad to bully others. Because sometimes parents, we being parents, don't see what exactly is making worse for our kids and what they are doing at school. It is very alarming that making and turning blind to the things our kids do, because that's what makes them think it's okay to do those things.

    Band 6-7

    My house is located just opposite my high school and I used to visit the gardens and the playground after school hours. I carry, I also go along with my sister, my younger sibling. She also enjoys quite a bit on a very busy day or just to hang out. So one fine day when we reached the gardens and playground, I saw unusual activity that I saw on the day-to-day basis. There were some mid-schoolers goofing around with the young children like from preschoolers and all. They were messing around with basketball, mocking some children around and I feel it was quite embarrassing as a school student and I believe those school students because I remember them having taking classes from our teachers and some subjects. So yeah I saw that it was quite embarrassing and after some while when we were just sitting there to a different background, I saw some gathering coming around around the garden. So I there were I think two or three families visiting their children and also some of our teachers that were living just nearby the school. So what happened was one of the child who was playing innocently, he was being beated by the middle schoolers and that was caught in the camera of the school and also many of the people saw that. So it was quite chaotic. The ambulance came to take the children. The parents were fighting with the children like how can we even. So it was very long process. It was quite exhausting to saw such scenarios happening in our own school background. So after this event

    Band 6-7

    A recent time when I've seen children behaving badly in the public is when I was going on a bus to the college. I saw some children sitting in the bus and suddenly there was a disabled person entering the bus. None of the students have given the seat to the disabled person. Instead, the public standing in the bus have asked the children to give the seat to the disabled person. In contrast, the children disagreed with them and argued and they didn't give. So I felt really bad about that situation. That's a basic right for the disabled to have the seat. But the children behaved rudely and they have just crossed the limits. I felt like shouting at them but instead that doesn't make sense. So I gave my seat to one of them and said to the children that you should not behave like that. If any of your family members are there in their position, so how do you react? I asked them and said whenever you are able to give anything that can be possible, then give them. That gives a great pleasure and satisfaction which I did now and so you can get it. And this is the thing I recently gone through. I felt very bad about the situation but I saw the regret that the children felt.

    Band 6-7

    The time children were behaving really bad was near my house in an alley when three or four children were abusing a puppy and when I saw it I was really angry and I was about to scold them and give them a lecture about that but when I saw the people looking at them they were just casually laughing and they were like really calm about it which I did not like at all even though people should not normalize this type of things in our society although in like in a modern society many people are out of like really old thinking as well as they can be really they can be they can be really calm about it even though that should not be the case or after that it can be really concerning that those children are abusing the puppy after all I approached them and told them that you should not hurt this puppy although they were still trying to argue with me then I told them I will tell your mom and dad about mother and father about this and then they were kind of scared although they should they should be scared of me only because including their mother and father should not be a major case in this small thing although even adults near me were not responsive at all they did not help me convince those child that they should not hurt this puppy but I think that according to my perspective the children should be raised properly and they should know how to respect any animal including it can be a human being or any animal in like near our houses as well and even in other nature

    Band 6-7

    There was once a time, a few days ago, when I saw a few children misbehaving in the public. They were painting on the walls and they were writing a few swear words on the walls. The other people around them were staring at them and also making videos to post it on social media. After about 2-3 hours, the police came by and started beating up the children. The children were no more than 15-16 year olds and looking at all of this, I felt bad because doing such an act just reflects how the atmosphere at their home might be and how their parents must have brought them up. It's not entirely the parent's fault, but it does give some idea.

    Band 6-7

    Yes, several times I have seen many children and even some adults that they behave badly in public. But here I would like to shed some light on a time when I saw children behave badly in public. It was a time when I was going for a walk near my house in the playground and it was in the evening. What I saw was that in the playground there were 10-11 children playing cricket and they were very happy in the beginning. But after when I took my 2-3 rounds in the playground on the footpath and by walking I see that they were fighting over that ball that goes out of the park playground and they were fighting over it to get it back. And they started fighting and behaving so badly and rudely to each other that they could not even say that they are their friends and what are they doing with their friends. They started using abusive language to each other and they even punched each other. There were like 4-5 children who were defending them and also encouraging to each other that they should fight more and they should win the fight. I was very disappointed by these children. How they are behaving and even no adult came there to defend them and to tell them to relax that it's just a ball and anyone can go and get the ball. It's not a big deal. But they were not doing it. They were just fighting over it. And therefore when I came close to the children and I pointed out that they are behaving very badly in the public. They should not do and they feel very embarrassed and say sorry to me.

    Band 6-7

    On a fine day, I went to beach, and I saw two sets of children there, one with children who have come with parents, and two, the second one is children who have come alone with their friends. So, two sets of children have their own problems, own problems respectively, and both the set of children behaved badly in their own respective ways. So, on the one hand, the children who have come with the parents, badly behaved with their parents, like they were shouting at their parents, and they were throwing trashes in the beach itself, they were not throwing trashes in the trash can, and the civic sense was very low, since the parents were also throwing the trashes in the beach itself and not in the trash can, so this is the very bad behavior which has been passed by the generations to the next generations, which I feel very bad about it, and on the second set of children, who comes very alone with their friends, sees their older generation and jumps into the water, and makes fun of the girls who are around them, by seeing their future generations, they are getting spoiled, and this is very bad behavior, which I have seen in the beach.

    Band 6-7

    I remember the time when I was out for lunch with my friends and I saw a child hitting his mother. Of course, it's a very sensitive situation that anyone could come across and I think because of the sensitivity to that issue, I did not see a very appropriate response from the public. Someone simply acted as a bystander and did nothing to correct that child. Of course, knowing that it's definitely not your place to correct someone who is not your child, I understand why that was the natural response. However, I think it is extremely important to inculcate in the young generation that mothers are our birth givers and treating them with respect is the least that we can do apart from taking care of them and showing to them how much you mean to them. When it comes to my response, of course, like I said, I was in no position to correct the child, but I made sure that the child knew that that was not the right way to get something that he wanted instead of communicating with him or simply listening to his mother at times instead of throwing a tantrum is the best way to go about it since your mother always acts out of care for you.
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