Persuasive Speech Essay Example for Free

Persuasive Speech Essay I. Introduction â€Å"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.† This quote by Friedrich Nietzsche speaks volumes toward the importance of individuality and self-expression. It shows how conformity can lead to complacency and â€Å"corrupt† our most valuable resource, our youth. School uniforms do just that. The requirement of school uniforms can cause more problems than they solve ranging from elevated stress levels to legal issues. People will always have their opinions on the benefits of school uniforms though it’s important to consider both sides of the argument as well as considering other options such as the option of a dress code. Growing up in Salina, Kansas left me with only a few educational options; of three schools, two are public. Which public school you attend is determined by where your residence is in correlation with pre determined district zones. Having never been subject to uniforms I can’t personally speak for their pros or cons, I can however give insight into the liberty and self-expression I experienced by attending a public school that implemented the use of a dress code instead of a strict uniform policy. II. More harm than good A. As more and more people are beginning to associate with the opinion of school uniforms being a beneficial policy, they neglect to take into account how it individually affects each of the students. B. School uniforms are usually expensive and are often times, expected to be purchased by the student’s family. This can raise stress in the home environment due to economic strain on the household creating a less than satisfactory place to study. C. According to Scholastic Scope, another point to consider is that of vanity. Uniforms can be uncomfortable and less flattering to certain body types than others causing the student to become more stressed and anxious than before. D. In addition many researchers believe that uniforms inhibit self-expression and can cause more problems through students â€Å"acting out† (Lauren, Tarshis, 2011). III. Effect on Behavioral Problems A. It’s hard to pinpoint what makes a student behave inappropriately. What’s even more difficult is finding a solution for what’s causing them to do so. For years, people had thought school uniforms could be the solution to behavioral problems with in our academic system stating that they would make it an equal environment where a student didn’t have to worry about what they wore, and how they would stand out in a positive or negative way. B. Initially, in a study conducted from school years 1995-1997 at the elementary school level researchers found that after implementing school uniforms, behavioral problems within the schools studied actually declined. C. Though this argument seems logical, further research proved this theory to be incorrect. In a 1998 study, researchers D. Brunsma and K. Rockquemore found that when other factors were taken into account school uniforms had little to no effect on behavior within the school. They also found that uniforms had no effect on such things as substance abuse, school attendance, and crime within the academic institutions researched (Tanner, 2010). D. School uniforms do provide an equal setting to learn, that much is true, but the problem lies within. If a student feels suffocated by conformity, the student may act out in an attempt to individualize him or herself and stand out in the crowd. E. Without a proper foundation built on research, it’s impossible to say uniforms are beneficial. IV. Legality A. In addition to a lack of a strong foundation built on research, the requirement of school uniforms brings up a legal debate, one of constitutional rights. B. In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, (1969) it was ruled unconstitutional to force the requirement of school uniforms on the public school system. This was ruled unconstitutional due to infringing on the first amendment right of freedom of speech. It’s stated that you have the right to express your thoughts and opinions on a controversial topic through the attire you choose to wear. (Tinker, 1969). C. A school uniform policy may also force someone to wear something that goes against their religious beliefs, adding fuel to the controversy. D. It’s important to keep in mind how wide of a variety of students attend public schools. If they are truly available to anyone, then you must make the policies flexible for everyone. V. Other options A. To allow for individuality as well as maintaining an equal learning experience for every student, there’s another option to take into consideration. B. One option is tightening dress codes within the school. Instead of a strict uniform based policy, this would allow students to express themselves and remain individuals while still being able to relate with one another, not alienating any student from the other. C. Some of the inner cities that have adopted the uniform policy are finding many students have difficulty paying for the expensive attire. This would also allow for students to have the option to purchase cheaper clothing, still within the dress code. VI. Other argument A. Though there isn’t a strong foundation for research of the subject, many remain convinced that uniforms are the best way to help our public school system. They believe how a student perceives their academic institution plays a major role in how the student performs. B. A students perception of their academic institution and the environment within them is referred to as school climate and is determined with the use of surveys categorized into subscales. C. The National Association of Secondary School principals conducted a study that with the use of surveys such as this, attempted to determine if school climate was better within schools that required the use of uniforms. D. The study proved uniforms to be beneficial with students reporting climate as more positive in 9 out of 10 subscales (Murray,1997). E. With that being said, a students perception of their schools environment is only a fraction of what makes an equal and efficient learning environment for the entire studen t body. VII. Conclusion As John F. Kennedy once said, â€Å"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.† Whether or not the requirement of school uniforms is a beneficial addition to the public school system will continue to remain a controversial issue though the true controversy lies within the uniform policy itself. Self-expression is an important aspect in shaping a person into who they are. So in order for our public school system and the pupils within it to grow and develop through success, it’s our responsibility to keep uniforms out of our public school system.

Christianity and Abortion :: Papers

Christianity and Abortion The Christian belief in the sanctity of life is based on the teachings of famous Christians and on what they read in the bible, the teachings of Jesus. A quote from the bible which seems to support the view that abortion is wrong is from Psalm 139:13, verses 15-16,    â€Å"You created every part of me; You put me together in my mother’s womb†¦ When my bones were being formed, Carefully put me together in my mother’s womb. When I was growing there in secret, You knew that I was there – You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me Had all been recorded in your book, Before any of them ever began.†    This seems to be saying that god has already begun to have an influence on the life of a person before they are even born. The life of a person is already unique and god has already given them their own identity before they are born. If this is true, and the quote seems to be saying that it is, then abortion would have to be seen as a crime on the same level as murder. There are no good grounds for murder, one of the Ten Commandments says,    â€Å"Do not commit murder.†    So, if we were to consider only this quote then we would have to see abortion as fundamentally wrong, any justification for abortion would become a justification for murder, and we can see no justification for murder, the ultimate sin. Another quote from the bible would seem to strengthen this view, Jeremiah 1:4-5    The Lord said to me, ‘I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.†    This seems to suggest, as did the last quote, that God decides the fate of the child before it is born, abortion would prevent the child from Christianity and Abortion :: Papers Christianity and Abortion The Christian belief in the sanctity of life is based on the teachings of famous Christians and on what they read in the bible, the teachings of Jesus. A quote from the bible which seems to support the view that abortion is wrong is from Psalm 139:13, verses 15-16,    â€Å"You created every part of me; You put me together in my mother’s womb†¦ When my bones were being formed, Carefully put me together in my mother’s womb. When I was growing there in secret, You knew that I was there – You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me Had all been recorded in your book, Before any of them ever began.†    This seems to be saying that god has already begun to have an influence on the life of a person before they are even born. The life of a person is already unique and god has already given them their own identity before they are born. If this is true, and the quote seems to be saying that it is, then abortion would have to be seen as a crime on the same level as murder. There are no good grounds for murder, one of the Ten Commandments says,    â€Å"Do not commit murder.†    So, if we were to consider only this quote then we would have to see abortion as fundamentally wrong, any justification for abortion would become a justification for murder, and we can see no justification for murder, the ultimate sin. Another quote from the bible would seem to strengthen this view, Jeremiah 1:4-5    The Lord said to me, ‘I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.†    This seems to suggest, as did the last quote, that God decides the fate of the child before it is born, abortion would prevent the child from

Surviving School

I never enjoyed going to school. It was always the bane of my life. When sitting in classes I just looked at my watch counting the minutes down until I could leave. Each day, .time seemed to tick slower. It was like being in prison, just counting the days down until you would be released. There was a reason why I hated school so much. It wasn't the rest of my peer group, but one particular teacher who made my life the living hell that for me was my school life personified. Loren was his name – Ralph Loren. He was the Maths teacher who picked on me in every lesson. He even made fun of me in front of my fellow peers, telling them to laugh at me every time I got something incorrect. Maths was a lesson which we had every day and therefore it was almost impossible to avoid his daily burning hatred for me. I felt he treated me differently from the others. It was as though he had this burning desire inside him to make my life a living misery. But for what reason I don't know. Coming from a tough background made me quite a tough cookie, but Mr. Loren made me feel different. I couldn't stand the bullying and physical abuse he gave me. I tried telling my parents but my Mum was too busy with work trying to keep the family afloat. My Dad? Well he used to be a professional boxer before he became brain damaged. He was an excellent professional boxer fighting only the best but he suffered a high degree of brain damage in a championship fight and is now restricted to the use of a wheel chair as he has now nearly lost all mobility and memory. Doctors say it will only be a few more months before he forgets even his own family. Needless to say I learned to look out for myself and fight my own battles after all that we've been through. It's tough but it has to be done if I'm to survive and keep my sanity. . However I still have the problem of Mr. Loren. I decided that strict action was to be taken. I had to fight this battle alone but I needed help. I contacted a few old friends who used to live on the estate with me in Brixton. They didn't like me and I didn't like them but we all had an unspoken understanding and when there was trouble we looked out for each other. We had to for our own safety. These people were the sort of people who you wouldn't want to meet out on a dark night on your own!. These were people who the Mafia wouldn't even want to do business with! They were really that bad. They offered me a few solutions to my ‘problem' and I said I would get back to them with my decision in the next few days. It was a lot to mull over. I decided to leave it a few days in case things got a little better which I sincerely doubted. For the next week Mr. Loren bullied me like never before. He hit me; he even beat me with metre sticks. I had bruises down my body, I was in real agony. I decided to leave him in the grasps of my mates from Brixton. He had to be taught a lesson like never before. For the next week Mr. Loren was absent from school. Everyone thought he was just ill. The school knew nothing of his whereabouts. As time went by people seemed to forget about Mr. Loren as we now had a replacement Maths teacher who was absolutely brilliant and I longed for her to stay on full time if Mr. Loren was not to come back. As time went by I forgot all about Mr. Loren. I just assumed that he had learnt his lesson and fled the country. It wasn't until one night when I really realised what had happened. I was walking back from town one evening when I passed the Television Rentals store. I always liked to have a glance at what was on because I had never owned a television before. I was wandering around the shop glancing at the programs on the various screens. When suddenly I saw the latest news bullet flash up onto the screen. An unidentified man had been reported missing matching roughly Mr. Loren's description and had subsequently been found by police searching the area. Police had scoured sections of woods and lakes when a few passers by had noticed a floating body in an old marshy lake on the outskirts of town.. My heart seemed to stop beating momentarily. I didn't know what to think. I decided that the best course of action was to run to the other side of town to gather what was going on. I had never run so fast in my life. When I reached the crime scene the whole area was cordoned off with tape. I asked whether the body had been identified yet and they said that the corpse was still undergoing identification. After hours of patient waiting the corpse was identified as a one Mr. Loren. I was horrified at the news. I left for home as swiftly as I could escaping without trying to look so suspicious. I didn't know why I was worried though because I never carried out the crime. I never intended for anything like this to happen anyway. All I wanted my mates to do was give him a good beating to get the message through to him that he should leave the country. I got home and went straight up to bed without saying a word to anyone. The next morning I tried for hours to get through to the boys in Brixton. Eventually when I did get a reply it was an elderly woman who had just moved in and knew nothing of any boys that used to live there. The boys had obviously decided to leave and rightly so after what they had done. I thought I was in the clear. I picked up a newspaper on the way to school the following day and it had the horrific build up story of what had happened to Mr Loren the night he had been murdered. It said that he had been shot five times in the head and chest and had sustained serious bruising all over the body. The paper was asking for witnesses to come forward. Even Mr. Loren's family was offering a reward for the capture of his brutal murderer. A shiver ran down my spine. All I hoped was that the murder weapon was still in the safe hands of the Brixton boys. A few weeks later the murder weapon had been found in some nearby woods. The gun was to be checked for fingerprints and I knew that it would have the Brixton Boys' prints all over it. I was wrong I had been framed. I remember as a boy shooting pigeons with a small colt pistol that the Brixton boys had given me. When I left I returned it to them as I no longer needed it and said I was mending my ways. They weren't best pleased as you could well imagine. I now know why they were only too pleased to help me. They wanted to get me back for all those times when they did something wrong and I ratted on them.. I now know never to trust a living soul again. tried life on the run for a few days but eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I handed myself in. I knew I stood no chance of defending myself as the gun had only my prints on. I am now facing a secure unit then when I'm eighteen I will be moved into a secure unit. After a few weeks of life inside I learnt of the sad death of my father, which inevitably lead to the sorrowful suicide of my Mother.

Essay on Martin Luther King as a Role Model - 1944 Words

Martin Luther King as a Role Model Everyone has someone that they look up to. It may be a hero or a role model. Martin Luther King serves as a role model for many African Americans because of his contributions and fight towards civil rights. King became very popular and touched the lives of many. According to Robert A. Divine and other authors of America Past and Present, the arrest of Rosa Parks sparked a massive protest movement that witnessed the emergence of Martin Luther King, Jr., as an eloquent new spokesman for African Americans. King led a prominent bus boycott in honor of Mrs. Parks. The boycott successfully ended a†¦show more content†¦On March 28, 1968, King led a march through Memphis, Tennessee, which, like all his marches, was intended to have been peaceful and non-violent. But thanks to a gang called The Invaders, the march disintegrated into rioting and looting. King barely escaped the March 28 event unharmed, and swore to return to Memphis and conduct this demonstration properly - with no violence. The date for the new march was set at April 4, 1968. This time, King would not survive his fateful trip to Memphis. Additionally, local newspapers criticized King when he announced he was coming back to Memphis for a second round. Among other comments, the local press criticized him for staying at a white-owned Holiday Inn, instead of the Motel Lorraine, which was black-owned. Hoping to avoid further antagonistic press in wake of the disastrous March 28 demonstration, Kings camp switched his accommodations to a room at the Motel Lorraine, where he died on April 4. From a security standpoint, changing Kings lodging to this particular motel was a bad mistake. The Motel Lorraine was located in a fairly seedy part of town. The day before King arrived, someone claiming to be an advance security man dropped by the Lorraine Hotel and changed Kings reservation from a ground-floor room to a second-floor balcony room, saying, Dr. King always likes toShow MoreRelatedThe Leadership Role Model Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.1926 Words   |  8 PagesLEADERSHIP ROLE MODELS Submitted By : Cole Kennedy Andrew Nguyen Mia Harbaugh Keaton Aliabadi Maame Kwamah Otsieku Baah Submitted to: Professor Taylor Carr Date: September 5, 2017 1.0 Introduction This write-up focuses on the leadership role model analysis of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), and Mark Zuckerberg. 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Martin’s life brought about much needed change to allow black people to have equal opportunities. Martin Luther King, Jr. came from a long line of Southern Baptist Preachers. His father and grandfather’s influence led the way for him to also become a Baptist preacher. The man he was came from his strong convictions in the word of God. This gave him the courage andRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr.881 Words   |  4 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. â€Å" If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.† (King). Martin Luther King Jr. is a name many know. He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in a very religious family, with his father being a pastor, and all. He was galvanized by his father and became a Baptist minister and social minister after he attended Boston University at the age of 15. 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