Pre-Writing OP ED

Overall Subject Tone:
The general tone that is being expressed is that enforcing a teen daytime curfew will not be effective and that it violates certain human rights as well as a parent’s right to choose where and what their children are doing. What is interesting about these pieces is that they are very one-sided meaning that there are barely any from those who DO support the curfew. I also think that those who are responding to this new ordinance that is trying to be put in place are reactions of student’s parents who are already very involved in their lives. The parents and individuals responding that there should be no curfew need to realize that this curfew is not targeted at them or their children, but rather at those parents and students who are uninterested in their child’s attendance to school and who are lacking in the motivational or incentive department to be at school regularly.
Narrowing In:
My overall focus will be on the parents. For those that are opposing this new ordinance: I am interested in why they are so particularly concerned. Are they admitting that their child is out of school frequently, on the streets, up to no good and creating problems in society? If not, then why do they care so much? For those parents who have not said anything – why not? Is it maybe a harsh reality for them that they do not know what is going on in their children’s lives or are just too busy to care about it? What about citizens who do not have any children at all? Why would they oppose a curfew that will keep truants from breaking into their homes and businesses during the day?
Course of Action:
My specific course of action would be to support it and focus more on the issue at hand: proper parenting. For those parents who are protesting this ordinance, what type of example does that set for your child? That you are opposed to them being in class when they should be? It makes absolutely no sense. I also will directly point the finger directly to truant’s parents that I feel are the root of the cause. I will encourage those individuals who oppose the curfew to look deeper into their School District Boards and see what they are doing to fix the problem besides just relying on the police force.
Rhetorical Appeals:
I think that by using all rhetorical appeals I will be able to reach my target audience.
Ethos: I myself was a student who cut class on a regular basis and will ensure them that although I attend a prestigious private university now, I am an exception to the rule. I will also speak to the fact that my Aunt teaches in a neighborhood that has a lot of low income housing and that the majority of the time only half of her class is there and how when she tries to contact the parents of these student, they do not care. She has even received responses from adults that say “It is my child; I know where they are and what they are doing and this is none of your business.”
Pathos: I will emotionally connect with the audience by using some of the topics I have talked about in ethos as well as point the finger at parents and students alike and reassure them that if you don’t force your child to get an education or take it seriously, no one else will and then their child will end up as a drain on the American Society as a whole – either in jail or committing crimes.
Logos: I will present statistics of how many truants there are in the FW/Dallas area as well as what their activities consist of when they are not in school, such as breaking in to cars or homes of those who do work hard and have tried to better themselves.
What will you use?
I will refer to statistics that I have found in articles as well as reports from sheriff officers and the police departments. I think that my personal experience will touch home with a lot of individuals and make them see my point of view more clearly. I think that also implementing a parental course of some nature could really help the truancy problem by making it easier for them to get involved. Again, the personal experience I have in this area though I hope will carry my paper. I also will refer to news articles that have reported on the issues and present the hard facts of what the daytime curfew means and who will be directly affected by it.
Research:
I need to recover where I found the original statistics about truancy and percentages of students who are caught cutting class.