Spare the Rod, Spoil the Parenting by Leonard Pitts - Essay Example

 ‘’Spare the Rod, Spoil the Parenting,” by Leonard Pitts Leonard Pitts Jr was born in the United States and is a famous commentator, journalist and an author. Leonard Pitts in his popular op-ed essay “spare the rod, spoil the parenting’’ makes use of a range of rhetorical or persuasive strategies to strengthen and support his opinions on the use of physical punishment to discipline children. The title of the story seems to be inspired from ‘He that spareth is rod, hateth his son’ which is a biblical proverb. The proverb clearly portrays the importance of punishment. Leonard Pitt strives to persuade and educate parents regarding the importance that physical punishment has in mental and intellectual development of children. Pitt tries to persuade his audiences to accept the fact that spanking and other forms of corporal punishments are necessary in forcing children to maintain discipline. Throughout the open format of the essay, Leonard Pitt uses a sarcastic and blunt approach to not only spark reader’s interest but also to persuade them to accept his views. Therefore, the author tackles a sensitive topic in a casual yet authoritative manner which keeps his audiences intrigued till the very last line. The author’s strategy to use blunt diction and vocabulary to attract reader’s sympathy works phenomenally. In addition, Leonard Pitt argues and clearly points out the differences between corporal punishment ways and physical abuse, this argument forms the centre of foci in his essay. To reinforce his opinions and views regarding abuse and punishment, the author uses three sources which are CNN/Time, the Holy Bible and Dr. Diana Baumrind. The author intended to employ a rhetorical strategy by using Dr. Diana Baumrind who is a psychologist, to not only strengthen his perspective but also to persuade the audiences to accept his views. The author cleverly employs a sarcastic tone throughout the essay in an attempt to maintain reader’s interest and prevent the essay from getting monotonous. The essay has a catchy first line which begins as ‘I hate to tell you this, but’ which instantly catches reader’s interest. This rhetorical strategy persuades the reader to continue reading what the author has to say. Pitt attempts to seek reader’s sympathy and understanding by stating that like most kids, his children are spoiled brats as well. Leonard makes use of his personal experience to convey to the readers that he is a parent who is capable of recognizing his children’s faults. In addition this strategy prevents the reader from thinking that the author is being judgmental towards others. The essay has an open format which makes the reader feel as if they are having a conversation with their best friend. Perhaps this is one of the most powerful rhetorical strategies used by the author throughout the essay. This allows the reader to take in and accept the information being conveyed by the author, without being intimated. Leonard maintains the strategy of having a conversation with his reader by asking questions such as ‘who is teaching whom?’ and ‘who is the in charge here?’This strategy not only ensures reader’s interest but also makes the reader realize that the author is not targeting a particular group of parents but in fact he is targeting the faults of all parents including him. He portrays the negative attributes of children by pointing out that they are ‘overindulged’ ‘spoiled’ and ‘materialistic brats’. Furthermore, the author blames his children to be bad and spoiled. This strategy forces the readers to sympathize with the author and realize that children need to be rewarded with a spank every time they misbehave. However, the author would never have been able to persuade the parents about the importance of corporal punishment if he had portrayed children as being good. Therefore, the author quotes ‘the screaming five year old’ and ‘misbehaving backside’ to reinforce his point that parents should spank their children in order to discipline them. This strategy enables the author to successfully get the reader on his side by accepting his views. Pitt taunts the readers by asking questions such as ‘who is in charge?’ in an attempt to force the parents to shout back that they are the ones who are in charge and it is wrong to let the little villains get away with it every time. The author clearly points out that it is right to spank children but he also informs the readers where to draw the line between punishment and physical abuse. The author states that making use of ‘harsher variants’ such as hitting the child on his face or violently shaking them is not right and does not yield effective results. The author points out that these variants are only ‘practiced by a tiny minority’. The author explains rhetorically that these acts are not classified as corporal punishment but instead are considered child abuse. Pitt clearly states the fact that children who are physically or mentally abused can never turn out to be normal adults. Pitt points out that many parents do not know where to draw the line between punishment and abuse. In addition, to strengthen his views Leonard Pitt uses sources such as the Bible so that the readers know that the views of the authors are justified. The author uses Bible as a source to show that religion considers spanking to be an important way to discipline spoiled children. Pitt uses CNN and Time as a source to show his audiences that children who are ‘overindulged’ and ‘materialistic brats’ are considered spoiled and should be rewarded with spanking. However, the strongest rhetorical strategy that the author uses is the support of Dr. Diana Baumrind. According to the study conducted by Dr. Diana Baumrind, it was revealed that Children who receive spanking are less likely to be bruised for life. Therefore, it is necessary to spank the children right now to prevent them from suffering in their life ahead. Leonard Pitt knows that using a women psychologist to support his views will persuade his readers that spanking is necessary if we want our children to learn and respect the values which form a prerequisite for a successful life (Ramage et al 2009). References: Ramage, John D, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print Read More