There have been big changes in the attitudes of most parents over the last few years. Physical punishment is banned（禁止）in schools in most countries, and in many countries, there are moves to ban all physical punishment of children even at home. However, many parents still believe that they have the right to use physical punishment to deal with certain misbehavior at certain ages.

It's easy to find reasons to allow physical punishment. One issue is that many parents find it very difficult to give up physical punishment completely. Parents argue that this is the way they were brought up and that it didn't do any harm to them. They believe that they have the right to punish the child in any way they consider fit, including using physical punishment. The other one is that physical punishment can be quick and effective. There is not much point reasoning with a screaming child in the supermarket.

However, there are several reasons why we should stop using physical punishment. One point is that most parents are not trained to deal with misbehaving children. They don't have enough resources or choices to handle the situation. As a result, they immediately react by hitting the child even if there are other solutions to the problem. Another point is that unless people are challenged or forced to change their belief, they may keep following negative habits. An example is the use of seat belts -now most people wear seat belts without thinking, while years ago the idea of using seat belts was strange to most people. In the same way, banning physical punishment will force people to change their habits.

In conclusion, parents have to change some of their beliefs and ideas about how children should be raised. It is possible to avoid the use of physical force, and doing so will help us move closer to the dream of removing violence from our society.

I’m a senior high school student named Li Hua. Now many students have iPads and think it’s a fashion to use them._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

   If children believe in themselves, they can achieve much more in the future. One of the most important things you can do as a parent is help improve your child’s self-esteem and confidence. So, what are parents supposed to do?

1. Be constructive (建设性的) with your criticism (批评)

【小题1】 When your child does something wrong, don’t talk about how he is “bad”. Instead, discuss how the behavior is bad. Offer constructive criticism about how he can improve his behavior.

2. 【小题2】

Put your child in the position to learn new things and explore his creative side. By developing his creativity, he’ll gain confidence as he tries new things.

3. Encourage problem-solving and decision-making

From the time when your child is young, allow him the opportunities (机会) to make decisions and solve problems on his own. 【小题3】

4. Help overcome (克服) fears

One of the best ways to help improve your child’s confidence and self-esteem is by helping him overcome his fears. 【小题4】 This is sometimes due to fears. They don’t think that they will do well, so they are afraid to try. As a parent, you must be able to know their fears and then put them in the position to overcome them.

5. Develop your child’s natural gifts

Talk to your child about his dreams and goals, as well as things that he is both good at and fond of. 【小题5】 By developing his natural gifts and helping him find his talents and hobbies, you’ll improve your child’s confidence, self-esteem and overall happiness.

In the past two years, our school had organized many activities. What impressed me most was an activity calling “Learning to Farm”. On a autumn afternoon, we went to a farm, which we learned to plant potatoes. Having in the city for such a long time, we were so happily to go to the countryside. After we got there, we were divided into three groups, but we started to work. Some students cut potato plants （马铃薯秧）into pieces, some dug hole, and the others put the pieces of potato plants into the holes, put the soil back and pushed them down hard. We were all busy working until all the work was done. Though we were tired out, we felt pleased on our way back to home.