The University of Limerick Regional Writing Centre is holding its tenth annual National Secondary School Essay-writing Competition for Transition and 5th year students.
The competition will require that students take a decisive stance on the following prompt, which is to be explored in an essay of 800-1,000 words:
In recent times, staying connected online has been our only option. While social media gives us an invaluable sense of connectedness and community, it has also been proven to have detrimental effects on young people’s mental health. In fact, nearly 30% of young people say social media makes their lives more difficult.
To what extent would you give up the sense of connectedness and community that social media brings in order to benefit your generation’s mental wellbeing
The article referenced can be found here:
28% of youngsters say social media makes life more difficult
Other relevant articles:
Social Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review
SIX WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA NEGATIVELY AFFECTS YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
Does Social Media Make Us More or Less Connected?
How to Stay Connected (While Disconnecting from Social Media)
The primary purpose of our competition is to give students the opportunity to engage in a social debate through writing and to prepare them for argumentative writing at third level. In addition, the competition highlights the University of Limerick’s commitment to supporting the educational advancement of prospective students. The Regional Writing Centre is dedicated to helping students to develop strategies to become more confident, critical and autonomous writers, able to write persuasively in all contexts, whether academic or professional.
The deadline for receipt of entries for this competition is Friday, 25th February 2022 at 5:00pm. The winners will be announced Friday, 15th April 2022. The awards ceremony will be held in University of Limerick on Thursday, 26th May 2022.
