COMPARISON AND CONTRAST ESSAY

Topic: COMPARE YOURSELF NOW WITH THE ONE 5  YEARS AGO

Time and live environment are two things which make us have something change. So do I. I move to Ho Chi Minh City to study. Living in an environment which is different from my hometown where I lived in a long time, I have to change to adapt to it. Besides the same things, I have changed in many aspects since 5 years ago and now.

Although now I’m a student in a university, I also have the same aspects like I was a pupil in high school. I’m a shy girl. In the past, when my teacher asked me to recite the lessons, I was so quivering that my face was all of a sweat. My mind was empty like a blank page. I couldn’t remember anything. And now, I also can’t improve it especially when I talk in front of the crowd. This affects to my other skills. Moreover, I’m really stubborn. I have never say “sorry” when I have a mistake. 5 years ago, I often played game all day and forgot to take care of my younger sister. I didn’t apologize to my parents despite be spanked. And similarity in the past, when I lose my friend’s book, I always find a reason to avoid saying “sorry”. For me, “Sorry seem to be the hardest word”. Sometimes someone hates me because of these characters. I’m trying to improve them.

Now, I want to mention about the difference. The biggest change is my appearance. 5 years ago, I was as skinny as a skeleton, only 35kg. My parent was worried that I wasn’t healthy enough to study, so they took care of me carefully such as preparing for my meal, reminding me to drink milk every day. But I couldn’t gain weight. Contrary to the past, I’m quite plump now. I’m sure that if my old acquaintances see me, they will surprise about that. Now I live far from my family to study, so I have to take care of myself- of course not careful than before. However it’s really marvelous. I gain weight about 15kg. Someone jokes my mother that: “You can’ take care of your daughter better than herself”. Furthermore, now I interact with the outside world, so I have more experiences which help me how to make a decision by myself. I can buy my bike with right price or study any courses I feel necessary. However, I was inexperienced before and trusted every stupid person easily and need other’s advice to make a decision. I remember that I had a stomachache. It made me terrible, so I asked my friend which surgeon was good and prestigious. She told “ABC” surgeon. But in fact, my family wasted money on the bad surgeon. If that time was now, I never would believe her. These changes help me more confident when I face to the outside world.

As the time passes, all people will change. That is a rule of nature. We will change because life will change. I also change myself to adapt to the environment I live. And I am satisfied all my changes.

OPINION: SHOULD PARENTS SPANK THEIR CHILDREN

“Mom, I hate you .You say you love me but you often spank me. You tell a lie.” said Duy – my neighbor. He who is 8 years old is really naughty. That is the reason why he is often spanked by his parent. They think this is a good way to educate Duy. But I strongly disagree. Parents shouldn’t spank their children like a punishment.

Spanking affects the children both mentally and physically. Parents make use of spanking when their children have a mistake or have been warned repeatedly. For example, when the child is lazy to eat or sleep, his parent will spank to force him obey. After many times, he will be scare and obey unwillingly. His parent think that is a good sign but they’re wrong. They don’t know that he starts out of their sleep and cries many times because of scaring the spank. Besides the affection of mentality, spanking also brings the consequence of  physical children. When the children don’t obey, parents will fret. So instead of having discipline to help the children recognize their faults, they just know to spank to relieve themselves of their anger. That time, parents can’t control themselves so it’s very easy to make the injuries for the children.These will affect to the children's future so much.

Moreover, the children who have experienced spanking tend to have violence. “Spanking children under the age of 2 puts those children into a higher risk group for behavioral problem later” says Eric P. Slade, assistant professor at Bloomberg School of Public Health.That's correct. When he is little, he is usually forced to do anything by spanking of his parent. It becomes an obsession in his mind. So when he grows up, he will also use the violence to solve the problems. For example, when he plays with his friends, he sees a car toy. He wants to own it but his friend doesn’t give him. So he will hit his friend to wrest this toy. Gradually, the violence overwhelms him and he only knows to do anything by his violence. Surely, He will become a crime in the future which is not only harmful for individuals, families but also the society.

However, spanking is a method to educate the children. Parents can’t always use soft methods to teach their children. Sometimes parents should spank to help the children recognize their faults. But if parents abuse spanking too much, it will react because of bad side of spanking.

In short, spanking isn’t a good method to discipline the children. There are many other more effective methods that don’t use violence. By their love, parents can help their children recognize what are right or wrong, give them some useful advices. Spanking isn’t the best method to solve the problem.