Rebuttal to Nick Jans free essay sample

I think that Nick Jans overgeneralizes teenagers, and I believe he is wrong and his argument is weak. Jans believes that teachers have absolutely nothing to do with how a student preforms in school. He states, â€Å"Blaming teachers because your kid cant read makes as much sense as blaming the dentist for a mouthful of cavities†. That statement makes absolutely no sense, because in order to get cavities you choose not to brush your teeth and it is your fault. If you cant read well, its usually not youre fault. Its a very poor comparison. One statement he had made really bugged me, he claimed that â€Å"If I had a hundred bucks for every time a student cheated on a test, or had the nerve to tell me, in the middle of an impassioned lecture, that my presentation was â€Å"boring†, I could be driving a new car. We will write a custom essay sample on Rebuttal to Nick Jans or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † If students are actually interrupting his lecture saying theyre boring, they probably are! In my experience, when teachers go out of their way to make a lesson interesting I learn more. But when they just talk the entire time with no visuals and little to no humor, I zone out. He states â€Å"The problem is far simpler and more ominous: the students themselves. † But then, after he goes on about students and their gaming, music, and sex habits; he claims that it is the parents that are at fault. Jans claims that â€Å"Researching indicates that 95% of teenage boys and 67% of teen girls regularly play video games- including the best-selling Grand Theft Auto, where players gain points by murdering cops and beating prostitutes to death. † First off, he doesnt tell us where this information came from. For all we know the percentages could have been taken from a study of only twenty teenagers. Also, he does not state how many of us actually play Grand Theft Auto. Theres actually not a lot of teens who even play that anymore. On a personal note, Im one of the few people I know who used to play it, and I dont go out killing prostitutes or cops, and Im also in advanced classes. I dont play games as often as I did when I was younger, and when I do its Zelda (mostly puzzles and killing monsters while trying to save the princess), but hes saying that its teenagers that play the horrific violent games when actually its the younger kids. The logical appeal that Jans uses to discuss our gaming habits is very weak because his information is unreliable. Jans tells the reader that all teenagers are narcissistic, sex-craved kids with bad attitudes. In his article Jans uses hot buttons, like sex. Sex is a word most parents hate to hear come out of their childs mouth, because it can lead to STIs and pregnancies. Jans also says that most of us cheat, and find everything boring. He claims, â€Å"If I had a hundred bucks for every time a student cheated on a test. I could be driving a new car. There is no support with that statement, none at all. He has no percentages or logical way to prove this statement, all we have to rely on is his word. Its true there are cheaters out there, but really there aren’t that many. Most teens are starting to really care about their futures now a days. But, Jans did state, â€Å"a national survey in Education Week found that 74% of students admitted to engaging in â€Å"serious† cheating during the past year. † So he does have some logical appeal there, but Ive never even heard of Education Week, most people probably havent. Also, what is â€Å"serious† cheating? All cheating is serious, so his statement doesnt make much sense. Parents dont want to think about their kids running around having sex, doing drugs, and failing classes. So Jans uses these hot buttons as emotional appeal to get the parents attention and to tell them what he thinks should be done to prevent those kind of things from happening. He tells them that students should belong in a home with a traditional family, as in one working parent and one stay home parent. He states, â€Å"Its simple, actually: Read to them. Play catch with them. Discipline them. Discuss and model ethical behavior†. In the article Jans uses unfair emotional strategies, like hot buttons, to persuade parents to change their parenting style. Everything Jans has mentioned factors into a students performance at school. Video games should be put after homework, or it could make them fall behind. A parent should always be supportive, but even when theyre not it can, sometimes, actually push a student to do better to prove their parents wrong. Teachers should always try to make lessons interesting, and they need to care about the students and want to help better their futures. And, most importantly, a student has to have the willingness to learn. Nick Jans tries to push all of the blame and responsibility onto the students and the parents, but he is wrong. His tone is sarcastic and judgmental throughout the article, and it does not help his case. In conclusion, I strongly disagree with Nick Jans because his argumentative strategies are weak and he overgeneralizes all teenagers.