Argumentative Critique

Argumentative Critique

The article The Rise of the Teenage Guru ' contains an interesting and perhaps unexpected perspective on the changes that happen in American families due to the influence of the Internet , in particular reshaping of the roles of teenagers and their parents . Pointing to the shift in traditional family roles and distribution of power in nuclear families Austin Bunn in this publication claims that the rise of Internet use with which teenagers are usually more knowledgeable than parents is transferring power to teenagers inside families , promoting them to positions of

`teenage gurus . However , the evidence presented does not seem to fully support the claim made about the trend , and some of the assumptions made by the author are questionable . Besides , written in 2000 , the article presents the reality that is to a great degree dated given the speedy development in the use of the Internet . Looking at the discussion from the 2006 perspective , one can see that the Internet usage has greatly increased in the workplace and at home , which may give many people more of a chance to increase their skills in this area

The article is organized in the following way : Bunn (2000 ) starts out with examples of Shawn Fanning , who founded Napster , a phenomenally popular site for trading MP3 music s ' This example is later reinforced by mentioning Michael Furdyk , an 18-year-old founder father ' of BuyBuddy .com , and Ukrainian immigrant Ilya Anopolsky , who owns started Devotion , Inc . Corporation , a web design venture . Then the author proceeds to make his claim about the revolutionary impact of the Internet that puts teenagers at the forefront of familial authority

Substantiating his claim based on a few examples , the author draws the greatest part of his conclusions from a study of Internet usage patterns by Carnegie Mellon scholars , referring to the following patterns discovered by the study . Teenagers use the Internet more than their parents , and they experience less difficulty in using it . Scholars have found teenagers to address support more often although they already have more knowledge - perhaps to accrue even more . The scholars have also concluded that for teenage gurus superior knowledge isolates them from their family and friends (Bunn 2000 . Bunn (2000 ) sees children 's computer skills also as a way to prove their superiority over adults at a time when they are underprivileged in terms of their social position in the family . Another point of the study mentioned by Bunn is the influence of kids ' Internet usage on immigrant families . With newly arrived families like that of Ilya Anopolsky , Internet use , just like mastering English , can be cultural brokering ' that kids do in to accustom to the new environment

An examination of Bunn 's argument made in the article The Rise of the Teenage Guru ' indicates that one can raise serious questions about the quality and relevance of evidence . First , the author cites a few examples of teenagers who started their own companies that are by no means representative . Although Bunn does not imply that starting an online business is about to turn into a common teenager pastime , almost all individual examples he brings into the article include young businessmen (Anopolsky , Thorpy , Fanning , which creates a somewhat skewed picture of adolescents online . One would want to question how big the input of teenagers in corporate development of online projects is at this point , whether this input would not be dwarfed by participation of adult professionals . In any case , to make sense of this question , one would need to compile statistics on the subject . Bunn (2000 ) cites the example of Harvard that launches a program called the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center , which teaches students about venture-capital funding and the tricks of launching start-ups . However , Harvard is hardly a representative sample of modern students , and trends there may never hit the majority or take very long time to do so . Research by Ipsos Reid (2004 , for example , has identified playing games , keeping up with current events , and looking for homework help as primary online activities of teenagers

Speaking of evidence , Bunn (2000 ) extensively cites the results of Carnegie Mellon 's research . However , he also admits that this study aroused a storm of protest from colleagues who criticized it over a small sample and poor methodology . Fellow researchers refused to believe the results of the report "Internet Paradox : A Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being , believing that conclusions were overdrawn as the sample was small . Despite indicating the limitations of this research , the author does not hesitate to draw most of the evidence from this study . While discussion of possible emerging trends is permissible even based on the results of a doubtful study , his talk about reshaping ' the family has be backed up by more substantial research into the issue

The author , by the way , almost never explores counter-arguments , trying to refute them . These counterarguments are quite possible , though . Thus one can claim that computers and Internet were in the early stages of development at the time a survey was taken , and many adults had not yet had the chance to get access and expertise of the new technology . In this sense , the pattern in the relationships between parents and children can be different as the contemporary 30-year-olds 's kids approach teenage years . It may be dramatically different when the adolescents described by Austin Bunn , in turn , will be raising their own teenage children . One can look at some more recent studies to retrieve more up-to-date information about what is happening in this realm , such as Ipsos Reid (2006 , SBC Communications (2004 ) or NSBF (n .d . As is to be expected , different surveys uncover different results that may also be attributable to changes over time . Thus , NSBF in its research project has discovered that the Internet does not disrupt children 's everyday habits and typical , healthy activities , and that frequent Internet usage is in fact accompanied by a greater variety of activities than those of other kids . This comparison shows that results of different surveys may vary , and to discover the real trends , one should examine the result of quite a few studies , as well as explore their validity . In contrast , Bunn (2000 ) draws most conclusion from the study of Home Net users made by Carnegie Mellon team

The author also introduces some assumptions that are questionable . Thus he says that Carnegie Mellon researchers see this difference between boys and girls as a marginal statistical variation , though it does suggest something about the difficulty fathers might have in receiving technical advice from their daughters (Bunn 2000 . However , one can also hypothesize that the concept of the teenage guru refers more to boys than to girls , and this may not have to do with gender roles , but with typical male interest in technology . The author , however , assumed automatically that the difference between boys and girls is insignificant and can be discarded . However , NSBF suggests that that the patterns of Internet usage by boys and girls differ seriously , as girls aged nine to 17 report higher uses of the Internet for education (57 percent ) than boys in the same age range (39 percent . The gender difference probably should not be discarded so lightly as a marginal statistical variation ' and needs further exploration (Bunn 2000

Besides , the author 's claim is based on a hidden assumption that the Internet plays such a central role in the lives of American families that whoever is more expert in this area will automatically gain power This , too , needs further exploration . If parents restrict their use of the web to a few occasional e-mails now and then , the fact that they need to consult their child now and then may not be that important to the child 's status in the family . After all , parents may have other ways to make money and communicate with the world , and the Internet may not in their perception connect with power

Thus , the argument confronts the reader with some interesting thoughts about the role of the modern teenager in society and family . The facts about teenage CEOs seem intriguing , but the author 's claim that these happenings are flipping the organization of the American family ' does not seem to be supported with adequate evidence (Bunn 2000 . Reliance on the results of a criticised study using a small sample , and failure to test the underlying assumptions makes the claim seem overdrawn . Besides bringing in a few individual examples and overlooking the general picture of what teenagers are doing online distorts the look of teenagers , making them appear more power-seeking and far-sighted than the general population might be . Appealing to pathos , the author captures the audience 's attention by introducing the unexpected image of the `teenage guru . However , the claim about a basic restructuring of a modern family does not withstand the test of argument evaluation

Bibliography

Bunn , Austin . The Rise of the Teen Guru ' Brill`s Content (July /Aug 2000 : 64-69 , 123 , 129 . 25 Feb . 06 br

Ipsos Reid . UNTANGLING THE WEB : THE FACTS ABOUT KIDS AND THE INTERNET 25 Feb . 06 br

National School Boards Association . Safe Smart : Key Findings . 25 Feb 06

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI . The Art of Rhetoric : Learning How to Use the Three Main Rhetorical Styles . 25 Feb . 06 br

SBC Communications . National Survey Finds Kids Give High Marks to High Speed Internet Considered Crucial for Educational Success . 19 August 2004 . 25 Feb . 06 br

PAGE

PAGE 1

AEGUMENTATIVE CRITIQUE

25 February 2006 ...