Despite the social media ban… (contrasting ideas)

Joe | Apr 27, 2026May 05, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this ESL lesson on contrasting ideas are to:

• talk about social media age bans and youth tech policies;
• practise conjunctions for expressing contrast and debate solutions;
• watch a video excerpt on Australia’s social media age rules.

In this lesson, students reflect on social media usage statistics, watch part of a video (to 02:35) on the Australian age limit and discuss the effectiveness of the ban. They share their ideas, work with conjunctions of contrast (e.g. even though, in spite of, nevertheless) and learn the rules for using them. Students also explore approaches to managing youth technology use and debate alternatives, using the target contrast connectors.

WARM-UP AND VIDEO

This ESL lesson on contrasting ideas starts with a warm-up. Students read sentences about social media use for 16–24-year-olds in the UK (e.g. 91%/99% of people aged 16–24 use social media) and guess the correct statistics. They then discuss their reactions and app use. After that, students watch part of the video about Australia’s social media ban for under 16-year-olds. First, they say what they think might be mentioned about some points (e.g. ways to police the ban, parenting, bullying). Then, students watch the video and tick the things from the previous task that are mentioned. Moving on, they read more information about the video and choose the correct options. Next, students watch it again and check their answers. Following that, they discuss questions about social media age bans and enforcement. 

PRACTISING CONJUNCTIONS OF CONTRAST

In this part of this ESL lesson on contrasting ideas, students match the halves of sentences about social media regulations that feature contrast connectors (e.g. although, despite, however). Afterwards, they use the statements from the previous task to do tasks and identify the rules for using conjunctions of contrast. Following that, students read different approaches to managing youth technology use and choose the correct conjunctions to complete them. They then discuss the solutions from the previous exercise, choosing the most effective ones and identifying potential issues. Next, students rewrite sentences using conjunctions while keeping the same meaning. Finally, in pairs, they debate alternatives to banning social media for under 16-year-olds. Students use the target phrases to build contrasting arguments for and against various options, swapping roles for each new alternative. 

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This ESL lesson on contrasting ideas also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students use their own ideas to complete statements that feature conjunctions, paying attention to the structures. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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