Rhetorical Essay on Protecting Children's Schools with Armed Guards

Introduction

In his CNN commentary, Steve Cortes points out the various things that are needed to protect and guard school going children. In particular, he places a solid argument that is convincing and undeniable by pointing out the various places where security, we as Americans, have prioritized in matters relating to security, only for us to leave out our most valued treasure, our children. Based on this context, the author explains the different times there have been deaths of children due to the reluctance of strengthening the security. The primary audience is political as they are the leaders and need to ensure that the children are protected through all the measures possible (Cortes). Steve Cortes argument is one that has been presented objectively as the evidence is logical, ethical and explains the values that need to be upheld.

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The author's primary focus is security in schools. Right from the beginning of his commentary, Cortes gives a critical explanation on how much the safety of the children has been neglected but when it comes to business institutions such as casinos the security level is heightened. He logically tries to explain that the level of security that is maintained in other places is an indication of the evils that are in the society as everyone is always expecting the worst. Besides, a majority of the places are fully prepared for the worst. However, in as much as the schools are in the same society as these businesses that are under high security they are left vulnerable in the hands of the evil doers and with the least security measures enforced. Based on this context, he explains that in the past failure to prioritize the security of our schools led to instances such as the one witnessed in the Parkland, Florida massacre. A good example of negligence is schools is the fire that happened at Our Lady of the Angels elementary school fire and resulted in the death of 3 nuns and 92 students (Cortes). There were no safety measures that had been taken prior therefore when the 1958 fire occurred it resulted in the death of many students. As stated by Steve Cortes the increase of security in the schools will result in high costs, but there is nothing that can be compared to the lives of children.

With reference to the historical or cultural context of Cortes' warrant touched on the basic norms and values of the cultural community. Therefore, based on the contentions made in his commentary, it is with no doubt that one of the most pivotal parameters determining the acceptance of his argument has to be the cultural background of the audience. Notably, the primary Cortes' primary audience is the political community who have put great emphasis on the gun control issue and have given a blind eye to the existence of high-powered weapons which have been around for decades hence the numerous ass shootings. Besides, concerning the cultural context, the author seeks to address the social upbringing of the young generations whose behaviors are overly influenced by violent entertainment, abandonment issues, the excessive use of psychiatric medications, and their exposure to graphic social media, among other influences. Thus, based on this context, Cortes argues that there is a great need for us to heal the society that we live and also promote a culture that values and prioritizes human lives above all else, for there to be a great improvement in school security.

More fundamentally, throughout his persuasive commentary, Cortes employs a particular rhetorical appeal to support his claims. More precisely, the author makes use of a persuasive strategy that relies on both logic and reason. In this case, he employs the inductive reasoning strategy which essentially takes a particular representative case to draw generalizations and conclusions to them. For instance so as to evidently substantiate the fact that security in our schools has been overly neglected for a long time, Cortes, references the horrific massacre that was experienced in Parkland, Florida. According to him, he has realized that armed guards and security overly guard institutions such as business premises and offices in these areas is overly heightened through the use of key cards and numerous checkpoints. This, however, is not the case in our children's schools and hence the numerous mass shootings in the schools.

Despite the various arguments made by Cortes, the ethical appeal of his commentary is based on his reliability or his credibility. Throughout his commentary, the author tries to establish a common ground with the audience and also gives substantial examples that are either directly or indirectly related to the context so as to state his position accurately. For instance, when introducing the issue on gun control, Cortes begins by acknowledging that it is a highly contended issue before he introduces his stand or what he believes in, in regard to the topic; he believes that gun control is an overrated and an ineffective strategy of stopping gun violence. By so doing, the author remains credible since he is able to establish a common ground with the audience and also discloses why he thinks that the gun-control approach should not be relied on to offer security in our schools (The Lancet).

In a similar regard, the author remains credible in his commentary by making use of reliable examples to build on this arguments. For instance, he references the 1958 fire in Our Lady of the Angeles elementary school which left 93 students dead to show how one tragedy has been used over history to serve as a lesson as well as a foundation for coming up with the necessary precautions against fire accidents in schools. Therefore, borrowing from this context, Cortes alludes that if the same strategy were employed in schools, using a gun to stop another, then this would help enhance security in schools.

Besides, the author also appeals to the emotional sensibilities, values and the needs of his audience. According to (Walton 126) for an author to enhance an emotional appeal to his or her readers, their argument has to emphasize reason. Therefore, in this commentary, Cortes makes an emotional appeal to his audience by using stories such as the heightened security in Israeli schools to paint a more legitimate picture and also ones that illuminate the truth for the audience. For instance, after the introduction of the argument that calls for deterrence of lethal security, Cortes uses the Israel example stating that after the 1974 Ma'alot Massacre in which 22 children were killed by Palestinians, Israel, as a country learned their lesson and ever since, they have always had armed guards and in some cases, armed teachers in schools, as a measure to protect the students and also to prevent a scenario similar to the Ma'alot Massacre from occurring again. Also, the example on the Chicago security guard who is willing to volunteer for guard shifts in his local school emotionally appeals to the audience on how critical the issue on security in schools, is.

Conclusion

On the contrary, despite the fact that the author effectively uses logical appeals to support the claims of his arguments, his extensive use of logical fallacies, in one way or the other, waters down the credibility of his arguments. For instance, a slippery slope is an element observed in his commentary. For example, he makes the conclusion that only an armed person can be used to stop another armed individual. Also, he makes hasty generalizations based on some biased evidence and without taking the time to consider the relevant facts. For example, in the commentary, Cortes, even without considering the dangers that would be posed if guns were to be made legal for every sane person in the United States, Cortes, makes a hasty conclusion that the only solution to gun violence in schools is striving to obtain deterrence of lethal security. Similarly, the author's argument contains fallacies which are as a result of his avoidance to real issues and this, in essence, raises questions in his persuasion. More specifically, he avoids the real issues that may or may not have occurred in the United States due to too much freedom in gun ownership and instead, he assumes that, just because the issue of having armed personnel in Israeli schools has been effective, the same will happen in the United States.

Works Cited

Cortes, Steve. "Let's Value Our Children Like the Treasure They Are and Guard Them Accordingly." CNN, 18 Feb. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/02/18/opinions/gun-enhance-school-security-opinion-cortes/index.html.

The Lancet. "Gun deaths and the gun control debate in the USA." The Lancet, vol. 390, no. 10105, 2017, p. 1812.

Walton, Douglas. "Argumentation Schemes." Fundamentals of Critical Argumentation, Cambridge UP, 2006, p. 126.