TOEFL Independent Task: What should we give children as a gift?

A gift (such as a camera, a soccer ball, or an animal) can contribute to a child’s development. What gift would you give to help a child develop? Why? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice.

It has been shown that things that kids play or use have a huge impact on their development, and one should consider carefully before buying them anything. For that, if I had to give children something as a gift, I would give them a computer.

First, learning how to use computers helps kids prepare for the modern world. As we all know, computer skills are becoming essential. Nearly every job, from being a teacher to a flight attender, require the ability to use this multi-purpose machine. Thus, it gives children tons of benefits using computers from their early ages. They will gain these necessary skills, which would give them more job opportunity later in their lives. Moreover, combined with the Internet, which is very common nowadays, computers give kids the access to an enormous source of human knowledge. They can read about anything within only a few clicks. With the assistance of computers, those kids who have great eagerness to learn will definitely get many advantages. The perfect example for this is my little 10-year-old cousin An. He started using computer and Internet when he was only 5. For a primary school student, his knowledge is absolutely incredible, and his academic performance outweighs everyone in his grade.

Second, computers provide valuable and safe means for children to entertain. On one hand, with computers, they can enjoy many types of interesting activity, such as playing games, watching movies and reading mangas. Not only does involving in these activities helps kids release stress after long hours of school studies, it also fosters some of their abilities. For example, playing video games helps kids improve their reflexibility and logical thinking, or watching movies enhances their emotional intelligence. On the other hand, kids will spend less time playing on the street. This means that they will be less vulnerable to the criminal acts, such as kidnapping or sexual exploitation. Traffic accidents will also less likely to affect them since they will spend most of their time indoors.

In conclusion, I would buy a computer as a gift for children because it will help them learn the necessary skills and get ready for the world. Moreover, using computers, kids have many ways to entertain themselves.