The Opinion Essay: A Position, Fully Defended
B2 · Writing Lab · about 40 minutes
1 · Learn
The opinion essay is the B1 opinion paragraph with architecture. The introduction's thesis now carries a ROADMAP: “Social media should be regulated for children because it is engineered to addict, and because its harms fall on those least able to resist.” Two reasons named in the thesis become the two body paragraphs — the reader can see the whole essay from the doorway.
The counterargument gets its own paragraph, treated at full strength and then answered. Hiding the other side suggests you fear it; answering it proves you don't. Your conclusion then returns with the position sharpened, not merely repeated.
2 · See an Example
Essay: Should Social Media Be Regulated for Children?
Every generation invents a product it later wishes it had controlled sooner: cigarettes, leaded gasoline, and now, perhaps, social media designed for children. This essay argues that social media platforms should be legally regulated for users under sixteen, because they are engineered to capture attention, and because their psychological costs fall on the people least equipped to pay them.
First, these platforms are not neutral pipes; they are slot machines wearing a friendly face. Infinite scroll, streaks, and algorithmic rewards are designed by thousands of engineers to maximize time inside the app. An adult may resist such design; a twelve-year-old's brain, still building its brakes, largely cannot.
Second, the costs are showing up where children live: in sleep, attention, and self-image. Teachers report classes that cannot sustain a twenty-minute task; doctors report anxiety arriving younger every year. Correlation is not destiny, but when the smoke is this thick, waiting for the fire alarm is a choice, not caution.
Critics reply that regulation is the parents' job and that bans insult family freedom. The objection sounds strong until we remember that we already accept this logic everywhere else: we do not call seatbelt laws an insult to parents. Where an industry profits from a child's weakness, society has always drawn a line.
In the end, the question is not whether children will be shaped by these platforms — they already are. The question is whether the shaping will be done by design teams answering to advertisers, or within limits set by a society that finally looked up from its own phone.
3 · Analyze the Example
- Thesis with a roadmap. Two reasons (engineered addiction; costs on the least equipped) map exactly onto body paragraphs 1 and 2.
- Arguments with mechanisms. “Slot machines wearing a friendly face” is not decoration — it names the engineering mechanism the paragraph then details.
- Evidence framed honestly. Teachers and doctors “report” effects; the text admits “correlation is not destiny” — and turns the admission into an argument.
- Counterargument answered by analogy. Seatbelt laws reframe “family freedom” instantly. The conclusion then sharpens: not whether, but by whom.
Useful Vocabulary
The state regulates advertising to children.
The app is engineered to hold attention.
Children are not equipped to resist it.
Correlation is not proof of cause.
The main objection is cost.
Useful Expressions
- This essay argues that …
- … are not neutral …; they are …
- Where …, society has always …
- The question is not whether …; it is whether …
- In the end, …
Common Mistakes
✗ Thesis: “This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of social media for kids, which is a very controversial topic nowadays.”
✓ Thesis: “Social media should be legally regulated for under-sixteens, because it is engineered to addict and its costs fall on the least equipped.”
An opinion essay needs a POSITION with reasons, not a topic announcement with weather-report filler (“nowadays”, “controversial”).
✗ Counterargument: “Some stupid people say parents should decide, but they are clearly wrong because obviously.”
✓ “Critics reply that regulation is the parents' job. The objection sounds strong until we remember seatbelts.”
State the other side at its best, without insults or “obviously”. Then answer it. Straw men convince nobody who matters.
✗ Conclusion: “To sum up, I have shown many points in this essay, both for and against, and that is my discussion.”
✓ Conclusion: “The question is not whether children will be shaped by these platforms, but by whom.”
End by sharpening the position into its most memorable form — not by summarizing your paperwork.
4 · Guided Practice
Build a roadmap thesis for: position = “University education should be free”, reasons = talent is wasted by fees; debt changes life choices.
See a model answer
“University education should be free, because fees waste the talent of the poor, and because graduate debt quietly rewrites the life choices of a generation.”
Write the strongest version of the counterargument to “Zoos should be closed”, then one answering sentence.
See a model answer
Counterargument: “Modern zoos fund conservation and protect species that would vanish in the wild.” Answer: “True of the best zoos — which is an argument for strict standards and closures of the worst, not for the institution as it stands.”
Sharpen this flat conclusion: “So social media has effects on kids and we should think about it.”
See a model answer
Example: “A society that licenses bars can license algorithms; the only real question is whether it will act before or after the damage is measured in a generation.”
5 · Write — Your Task
✍️ Write a complete opinion essay (thesis with roadmap, two argument paragraphs, one counterargument paragraph answered fairly, sharpening conclusion) on a live debate: free university, the four-day week, voting at sixteen, AI in classrooms — or your own.
Goal: 5 paragraphs · Length: 300–360 words
- Draft the counterargument FIRST — if you can't answer it, change your thesis until you can.
- Every argument paragraph: claim → mechanism → evidence or example.
- Conclusion test: could this sentence be quoted alone? If not, sharpen it.
6 · Check — Self-Check
Work through your checklist honestly, then run the Self-Check. It counts words and sentences and spots mechanical points — it does not grade your English. You are the editor.
Read a model answer for the task
Few workplace ideas have risen as fast as the four-day week, and few deserve to survive their fashion. This essay argues that the four-day week should become the standard for office work, because output depends on rested minds, and because the five-day week is an inheritance, not a law of nature.
First, knowledge work is not factory work: its fuel is attention. Trials in several countries keep reporting the same surprise — in four focused days, teams produce what five distracted days produced, because meetings shrink and priorities sharpen. The fifth day was mostly theater.
Second, the five-day week was designed for an economy of steam and shifts. Keeping it today is like keeping the typing pool: a tribute to a vanished world. Societies that shortened the week before — from six days to five — heard the same predictions of collapse, and output rose anyway.
Critics warn that customers expect five days of service and that some jobs cannot compress. Fair — but rotas solved this for hospitals a century ago, and nobody proposes that nurses work unsocial hours unpaid; they propose coverage, not disappearance.
In the end, the question is whether we measure work by the clock's opinion or by the work itself. The four-day week is simply the moment we stop paying for attendance and start paying for results.
7 · Improve & Rewrite
Weak version — rewrite it in your notebook first, then compare:
Nowadays, social media is a very hot topic. It has many advantages and also disadvantages. Some people think it is good, others think it is bad. In my opinion, it depends. This essay will discuss both sides and give my opinion in the conclusion.
See an improved version
We do not let twelve-year-olds sign contracts, drive cars, or buy lottery tickets, because we know their judgment is under construction. Yet we hand them machines designed by the smartest engineers alive to be impossible to put down. This essay argues that social media for under-sixteens should be regulated by law — because the design is predatory by intention, and because 'parental choice' is a fiction when the opponent is an industry.
Quick Quiz
Keep going
📘 Grammar deep-dive: Discourse Markers: Signposts for Listening & Speaking🌱 Vocabulary Builder: the B1 Technology Media set🎓 TOEFL Writing: the exam version of this skill🎤 Speaking Studio: say this lesson out loudB2 — all lessons · Next: Argumentative Writing: Claims, Evidence, and Refutation →
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