Punishment By Michael Dyson Analysis

Child Abuse is Acceptable or Unacceptable Child abuse is a topic people are uncomfortable talking about, but it is a fact of life. There is no denying that thousands of children are abused all over the world each year. In “Punishment or Child Abuse?” Michael Eric Dyson asserts that there is a common phenomenon of child abuse in black Americans, and they don’t think their behaviors are wrong. Dyson attempts to bring readers’ attention to this issue and raise their awareness of child abuse. It is responsibility of whole society to avoid and reduce child abuse events. Therefore, Dyson effectively convinces his readers that—child abuse is unacceptable through the use of specific examples, emotional words, and powerful logics. First of all, Dyson …show more content…
Dyson attempts to persuade his readers by using the strategy of “Definition.” In order to distinguish “discipline” from “punishment,” Dyson gives the definitions of these two words respectively. “Discipline” comes from the Latin “discipuli”, which means students or disciples, suggesting a teacher-pupil relationship. While “punishment” comes from the Greek word “poine,” which means revenge and forms the root words of pain, penalty, and penitentiary. Understanding the context clearly makes readers feel that Dyson’s argument is logical and convincing. Moreover, Dyson supports that beating children has been a common habit in black families with the example of Adrian Peterson, who is a N.F.L. player. Mr. Peterson used a tree branch to beat his 4-year-old son and raised welts on his son’s legs, and he didn’t think what he did was incorrect. This specific example shows readers that black Americans think child abuse is acceptable. At the end of this article, Dyson expresses his opinion by using the strategy of “Cause or Consequence,” which makes his argument more persuasive. “What hurts far less than either is the loving correction of our children’s misbehavior so they become healthy adults who speak against violence…”(Dyson, par. 14). The logic of this opinion convinces readers that using love to correct misbehaving child is more effective than using punishments. …show more content…
Because of wrong opinions towards child abuse, black families continue their habits. Thus, Dyson hopes that he could influence readers, especially black Americans, so everyone holds the opinion that love is the best way to correct children’s misbehaviors. Besides, he wants to remind the children who are abused not to be like their parents, and they should hold a positive attitude towards their futures. Changing wrong opinions and having positive attitudes are important to reduce child abuse in today’s