Teenage stress - young essay writers' favourite topic

Stress is a major killer even among young people. Discuss" was the most popular title in the 2006-7 British Culture Association's (BCA) essay writing competition.

Dr Paul Xuereb, BCA chairman, commented in his administrative report that "the topic was dealt with in quite some detail and it is really sad to hear what is making life so stressful for our teenagers, when life for this age group should be more carefree and enjoyable. The next most popular titles were 'Vandalism' and 'Church attendance'. What has been written has convinced us that most of our young people are really concerned about what is happening around them."

Stress, vandalism, unmarried mothers, obesity, the environment, youth exchange programmes and reality TV are among the topics teenagers most talk about when they are alone. This emerged from an innovative consultation that the BCA held among fifth and sixth formers prior to choosing the titles of the competition. In fact, eight of the 12 titles chosen came from topics suggested by students themselves.

Nicola Abela and Adriana Ciantar, both from St Monica School, Birkirkara, placed first and second respectively in the fifth form section while Max Bartolo and Myrna Azzopardi, both from St Aloysius College, Birkirkara, came first and second respectively in the sixth form category.

Dr Xuereb said that 190 students from 16 schools took part in the Form Five section, but expressed disappointment that only five of these were state schools. He also expressed dismay that there were only 31 entries in the sixth form section.

Most of these came from De La Salle College and St Aloysius while only one entry came from G. F. Abela Junior College, coincidentally from last year's form five section winner, Maria Chiara Bartolo. "Something is amiss when one considers this entry was the only one from a college with over 2,000 students studying English," Dr Xuereb observed.

On the quality of the essays, Dr Xuereb noted that the fifth form essays were rather poor compared to last year, betraying a lack of reading, but he expressed relief that there was less plagiarism and lifting from the Internet than in the sixth form section. "The temptation to download from the Internet is too great and many do succumb to it," he said. To avoid this, students should practise the skill of paraphrasing, he advised. Sixth form students also still used to long-winded sentences. He suggested they be encouraged to write shorter sentences and use simpler English.

The competition is sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Anthony Fenech from the Youth Services Organisation, Merlin Library, Agius and Agius, and Audio Visual Ltd (Books Plus).

The other prize winners in the fifth form section were: third prize, Elaine Bonanno (Convent of the Sacred Heart), and fourth prize, Andrew Amato (St Edwards College).

In the sixth form section third and fourth prize respectively went to Katinka Friedricj and Kurt Vella, both from De La Salle College.

Merit prizes in the fifth form section were awarded to Davide Attard (St Paul Missionary College, Rabat), Kirstie Borg (Carlo Diacono Girls Junior Lyceum, Zejtun), Dawn Grech (St Monica School, Gzira), Ian Hubbard (F. X. Attard Boys Secondary School, Marsa), Talisa Krauer (Sir Adrian Dingli Junior Lyceum, Pembroke), Graziella Schembri (Our Lady Immaculate School, Hamrun) and Catriona Zammit (Canon G.P. Agius de Soldanis Girls Junior Lyceum, Gozo).

Merit prizes in the sixth form section were won by Maria Chiara Bartolo (G.F. Abela Junior College), Daniel Cassar (St Aloysius College) and Benjamin Chetcuti and Catherine Portelli, both from De La Salle College.