In the article, the author uses an interesting way of explaining how violent media can be used to teach children various aspects of the world as well as show them how to respond to different challenging situations. The author also states that violent media is especially important when the kids are experiencing certain situations that they do not understand like low self-esteem and pressures from their peers. Though the article advocates for this, it also acknowledges that violence can also be harmful to children especially according to how it is viewed or used. If the adults can allow the children to view violent content and then guide their children on various moral outcomes related to it, then it can be put to good use. As the author explains, greed, fear, and rage are aspects of the human nature that will be experienced at some point in life and the parent’s role should not be to hinder them but to let the kid experience them so that they can learn to socialize, conquer feelings of powerlessness, and push back against today’s culture that teaches dependency and fear (Jones). Therefore, when applied appropriately, violent media can be beneficial to children, which makes sense when the argument is weighed fully.
The intended audience is parents particularly those that hold strong beliefs concerning the destructive nature of media. These are the individuals that have control over what their kids watch especially when they are in the house and over how their entire lives turn out because kids tend to exercise the advice they get from their parents. As such, having parents as the key audience makes sense. The author even uses examples of other moms in the article to strengthen the argument. In addition, the author also uses examples of other children and how their parents treated them as well as the subsequent outcome related to violent media. Therefore, moms are the main audience.
Throughout the article, the author employs different strategies to facilitate passage of information such as logos, ethos, and pathos. These are used in an effective manner to make persuasive and a believable argument. Ethos represents an important part of persuasion because they resort to the use of credibility or evidence (Polansky, 2008). In the article, the author uses evidence concerning research. The author has employed the skills of an experienced consultant who works in governmental and public-school projects in the study. The two have been researching for a three-year period to find out the ways through which children constructively use violent in order to meet their developmental and emotional needs. This provides credibility as the author has adequate background to use in supporting the claims. The author also uses their own childhood to add to credibility by stating that they have also benefited from the issue that they are advocating for. The author also quotes from other scholars, which is an effective way of providing support for an argument.
The article also applies pathos, which is a way of using emotions to make a point (Sproat). The very first sentence in the article is an excellent example of emotional appeal as the author immerses themselves in the conversation. The author starts by saying, “At 13[,] I was alone and afraid” (Jones), which is meant to arouse the emotions of the audience into trying to help this kid that is afraid. In fact, the entire article is full of pathos. The other instance where pathos is clearly evident is when the author uses their child as an example to show that besides them, their kid has also gone through the same procedure of learning to use media to their advantage, which is an effective way of persuading and making a strong argument. Particularly, the author stated, “I have watched my son living the same story — transforming himself into a bloodthirsty dinosaur to embolden himself for the plunge into preschool, a Power Ranger to muscle through a social competition in kindergarten” (Jones).
Lastly, the author also made use of logos, which are meant to appeal to logic and requiring the audience to use reason (Sproat). The author used this in several sections of the article such as towards the end. The author states that although they have evidence that violent media can have benefits, there is also the likelihood that it can cause negative outcomes. When the author states, “modern kids are far more likely to grow up too passive, too distrustful of themselves, too easily manipulated” (Jones), the only logical thing is to try to use the violence in a way that it would benefit the child. This makes such an effective point and strengthens the argument because children will be exposed to the violence either way.
In conclusion, the topic of violent media has been the subject of modern scrutiny as it related to morality. For this reason, it is important to find ingenious ways to respond as the children will be exposed to it regardless in addition to the fact that the acts of protecting them from it have not been beneficial. This then leads to the argument that it can be used, in a controllable way, to help the children socialize and deal with modern evils.
- Jones, Gerard. “Violent Media is Good for Kids”. 28 Jun. 2000. Web. 6 Feb. 2018.
- Polansky, B. F., D.M.D. (2008). Ethos, pathos, and logos. Dental Economics, 98(8), 60-61. Sproat, Ethan, Dana Lynn Driscoll and Allen Brizee. “Aristotle’s Rhetorical Situation”. 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 6 Feb. 2018.