A faint bruise, a black eye, a
broken arm, a constant frown, a child who is too scared to speak up. There is
more than one way to identify a child who has been abused. It is unfortunate
that many only recognize these signs in hindsight of the child’s death. It is
hard to imagine what would possess someone to hit a child. What could possibly
be running through the mind of an adult whose big fist is making contact with
such a small face? But, maybe the more important question we should be asking
ourselves has to do with why the images of these children don’t make the front
page of magazines and headlines on the news. Awareness is key—awareness can
save lives. Maybe if more people knew the type of abuse that was occurring,
there would be more people standing up to stop it.
I’m sure the majority of you can recite the
most famous celebrity couples, the hottest fashion trends, and even where your
favorite celebrity most recently vacationed—but, when it comes to child abuse,
not one statistic comes to mind. Most of
the time this is not completely your fault. The media distracts your mind with
the seemly important celebrity news. This is what the media shows you, it is
what the media wants you to see, it is what the media thinks will make them
money. They have the ability to broadcast a meaningful message to millions of
people, yet this opportunity is often wasted.
The story of the
baby who was killed by her parents always seems to escape the attention of the
public. You can be the one to make the change. Demand the media start showing
what really matters. The ability to raise awareness lies within every person,
and the difference between the life and death of a child can lay in your hands. The
priorities of the media are twisted. As much as everyone wants to know about
the latest celebrity gossip, the little boy who thinks getting slapped as
punishment is normal, needs a little attention too. 
Hey Nicole! Just letting you know that you're used of pathos is incredible; I honestly felt awful and a flash of anger towards the media for glorifying celebrities rather than placing what's more important--child abuse-- on the front page of their magazine. It seems really ridiculous to pay more attention to people that are miles away, living different lives, while there's a little kid, probably right next door, getting smacked daily.
ReplyDeleteNicole, the second picture really got me. Like Marcia said, the media is in the wrong here. It kind of makes me resent reading magazines knowing that there are so many more meaningful things happening. Child abuse is definitely a good topic, because for some reason it seems like often people are afraid to mention it so it just gets a bit brushed off. Great use of pathos in your blog, it made me angry, embarrassed that I hand't really thought about it, and ignorant because child abuse could be happening anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI think your post is really strong and the pathos is very clear, its obviously a topic you care alot about. There was also some logos in there and I thought that only made your blog post even better. The picture was a good choice and though it was really sad, it allowed me to connect with what you were saying even more and led me to having even more sympathy for the victims and anger towards the media who doesn't expose everything to the public like they do with celebrities. Great job!
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