The Vulnerable Child Rhetorical Analysis

Introduction Richard Weissbourd, director of the Human Development and Psychology master’s program at Harvard, put forth his views on the morals of American children. In his essay, “Moral parent, moral child: Family structure matters less to a child's development than the quality of the parenting,” he argues that children are not less likely to have good moral standards if raised in a single parent home. His claim is that parents are in charge of distilling moral values in their children. He feels the government has sorely overlooked the necessity of its role in fostering better parents through education. His idea is stated here, “This country desperately needs to provide high-quality parent-education programs through hospitals and various

However, he does not show where these statistics came from to prove his theories. Only at the end of the article, do you see that he is a teacher at Harvard and an author of a book titled The Vulnerable Child: What really hurts America’s children and what we can do about it. This gives us the impression that he has done his homework and knows the aforementioned statistics through researching information for his book. Again, the ethos for this article is more or less based on assumption more than concrete fact. I don’t believe there is any bias in his article. His primary focus at Harvard and a program he directs, Making Caring Common Project, are devoted to “…a national effort to make moral and social development priorities in child-raising and to provide strategies to schools and parents for promoting in children caring, a commitment to justice and other key moral and social capacities.” I would tend to believe his professional opinion is based on research and education rather than one that could be termed as bias. I don’t see where he uses pathos to stake his claim of the need for a larger focus on morals. His facts, though not referenced, are enough to persuade readers to take an interest and a hard look into what he is stating. The fact that he is highly educated, has written books on the subject and is involved in many programs, his

He gives us reasons as to why he believes this has been an ongoing problem for decades and that we need to focus on the proper cause. His stance on raising children with proper morals and asking that adults join in on the effort to lead lives with those same morals is goal most should want to stand behind. The writing was effective in gaining my attention. It was a reminder that the public itself is not always the best role model for our children. I agree with the article. I too have been swayed by his efforts to convince his audience that the need for parent-education classes is very much lacking in the U.S. A public health campaign for those suffering from depression is sorely needed. To take care of the American family, a look at the psychological stability and moral compass of adults is a great place to