Rhetorical Analysis Of Rita Pierson's Every Kid Needs A Champion

There are two groups of people, the haves, and the have-nots; people either come from money or they do not. There is no in-between. The school system is also a little less forgiving to those who are often thought of as being less fortunate. It seems like the underprivileged students are treated as if they have a contagious disease, while the wealthier ones can get away with incidents they should be punished for. Kids perceive money as an equivalent to being smart and prominent in the eyes of their peers. Unless a person has a great deal of money they are considered to be a nobody and are easily forgettable. All children are important and should have someone who will advocate for them no matter what. In Rita Pierson’s speech “Every Kid Needs a Champion”, she discusses what it is like for a child who has someone advocating for them versus one who does not have any sort of support system at all. In her classroom, everyone is on a level playing …show more content…
Her parents and grandparents were all educators and she herself has been an educator for the past 40 years. She goes on in her speech and mentions she has been able to look at the reform of education and states some reform was beneficial and some reform was not beneficial. Then Pierson starts talking about why kids drop out and why they fail to learn. Pierson states, “We know why. But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss is the value and importance of human connection. Relationships.” Making the students feel they are of value and worthy was her main ‘focus’ and if a teacher can build up a student to feel worthy with themselves, then they will want to perform better in school since someone cares about them. Students like to make their superiors proud. In closing, Pierson reiterates every child needs a champion and when students have someone on their side fighting for them they will feel like they