Summary Of Too Young By Michael Grey

‘Too Young, Too Soon’
Written by Michael Grey

The controversial issue of daredevil acts by young people has yet again been brought to light, prompted teenagers attempting to sail on a solo voyage around the world. This has been further provoked by the increasing number of teenagers wishing to take part, through encouragement of eager parents. This opinion piece, written by Michael Grey, ‘Too Young, Too Soon’ was published for Insight Publications in 2010, and was written due to the author contending more concern and more restriction must be put in place. Mr. Grey emphasizes the importance of curving this behavior calling for sensible age restrictions for the wellbeing of young people. Mr. Grey formed this article for parents and youths …show more content…
The photograph relates directly to the opinion piece, as it presents an intense loneliness and isolation through the black and white photograph of a sail boat. Grey’s decision to have the image in black and white is a deliberate ploy to portray sailing in a negative light, leading the readers to associate darkness and gloom with youth sailing. Grey goes on to support this photograph with the metaphor “the modern culture of thrill-seeking and instant gratification pours fuel on the spreading fire of teenage risk taking”. The author uses this metaphor to reinforce the hazardous danger that this “daredevil behavior”. Through acknowledging the opposition’s view, Grey states, “adult supporters argue… young people are too protected in today’s society”. This immediately is discredited by “parents must recognize the boundary between challenging actives… and wild adventures”, in a bid to discipline parents. Grey moves on to credit an expert opinion through evidence from The World Sailing Speed Record. Who had seen “the error of its ways when it recently discontinued its endorsement of the age record for the youngest solo circumnavigation”, serving as a credible opinion on the matter, supporting the author’s contention that this encouraged feat should be stopped. The application of repetition of the words “too young”, “too inexperienced” and …show more content…
Grey demonstrates this stating, “life-endangering activities are not an acceptable alternative”. Once again, Grey attacks parents, declaring “parents who allow their children… are unfit for the responsibility of child raising” and questions the principles and morals of parents who allow this level of unsupervised freedom. This puts the reader in the position to accept that parents must be held accountable for the behavior of their children, and aid them in the decisions they make. Grey incorporates the use of slang in his opinion piece, through “legendary sailors did not simply ‘hop on a boat’ and race around the globe as a crude publicity stunt”. This clever use of words by the author empowers his contention, through stating that there is a proper time to attempt such challenges, not during adolescence. This notion is further highlighted by the use of a rhetorical question, through the author enquiring “who pays for their mistakes when things go wrong?” This inspires the reader to be aware that taxpayers will have to cover the cost of such a hazardous deed. The reality rose through the statement “we taxpayers have to foot the bill for a rescue operation every time” immediately tugs onto the reader’s hip-pocket nerve. Not only does this seem wasteful taxpayer dollars, but it makes the reader side with the author that this hobby simply