Please review my IELTS essay

In many countries today, people in cities either live alone or in small family units, rather than in large family groups. Is this a positive or negative trend?

More and more people are choosing to live alone or in nuclear families rather than extended family groups. While there are a number of advantages involved, I would argue that this is a negative trend.

On the one hand, some believe that this way of life is beneficial due to some reasons. First of all, people living on their own are free to do whatever they want without worrying about others’ opinion. For example, my fellow students in university always prefered to live away from their parents, as they can stay up late or invite friends over at night for parties. Furthermore, those who opt to live in a small family are usually young couples who want to give their children better education. In such intimate setting where interpersonal communication takes place frequently, fathers and mothers can educate their kids at will because they are unlikely to be affected by other adult family members, particularly during formative years.

On the other hand, convincing arguments can be made that this tendency is rather negative. One reason is that people who live alone have to experience feelings of loneliness and isolation most of the time. As a result, these individuals are more likely to have mental problems such as autism. Second, it is extremely dangerous to not be surrounded by others in case of emergency. For instance, older people should live with their offsprings so that they could be helped when having sudden heart attacks. Last but not least, adolescents may suffer from various social problems without parental care and guidance. Young people are easily attracted to bad behaviors due to peer pressure and they could end up being a thief or getting addicted to drugs.

In conclusion, while there are some advantages of living alone or in small households, such as having freedom or providing better education for children, I strongly believe that this lifestyle is negative for it could eventually lead to autism, safety threats and bad behaviors.