ABSTRACT
Recent research into the writing skills of children and adolescents emphasises the importance of these for their social and psychological development. As Wilkinson, Bansley, Hanna and Swan (1980) state, The act of writing is itself a commitment… Writing is a means of discovering one’s own uniqueness… Writing enables one to examine one’s own feelings’ (p. 60). Hardy (1977) points out that through writing we come to terms with relationships, analyse happenings in the past and learn about ourselves. Thus writing contributes to the lengthy process by which children and young people master the art of living in the real world, negotiating their way through what may seem to them to be insurmountable problems, and gradually appreciating the intentions and motives of others. Analysis of children’s writing reveals that there are developmental trends in the decline of egocentricity and the expression of social sensitivity.
