In recent years, many small local shops have closed because customers travel to large shopping centres or malls to do their shopping. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

284 words, band 8+
13. Some people say that capital punishment is the best way to deter people from committing murder.




To what extent do you agree?


It is sometimes argued that death penalty is the most effective way to prevent murder cases. While this punishment can help governments reduce the number of murders, in my view, there are much better alternatives to it.




On the one hand, capital punishment certainly stop many people from turning to murder. The main reason for this is the fear of their own death. If people who are planning to kill someone else knows that they will be executed, they are much less likely to commit this crime. Secondly, the penalty in question undoubtedly reduces the number of serial killers. Research shows that a considerable percentage of murders are committed by those who have previously killed someone on purpose and served their time in jail. Surely, killing murderers before they repeat their crime, or to serve as an example for others, diminishes the number of murders in society.


However, there are more practical ways to deal with the issue in question. One way would be to install CCTV cameras almost everywhere, ranging from homes to streets to parks. This means that potential murderers would not kill others as they could easily be caught. For example, the city of London has managed to reduce murder cases significantly with the help of security cameras. An even more effective way would be to educate people from a very young age about the dangers of murder. If children learn about the damage and pain which killing someone causes to society and their family, they are far less likely to do so when they grow up. Clearly, these solutions seem more sensible.


To sum up, despite the importance of death penalty in murder prevention, personally I feel that security cameras and crime educations leads to better outcomes. Therefore, government should opt for these.