“Kids who kill are still kids” is such an interesting statement Richard Cohen has proposed. And I must admit, that the author uses logos, pathos, and ethos to prove his statement to the audience. Such a statement is very urgent because a lot of examples of murders, fights, violations, and thefts are widely spread among children and teenagers.
It’s obvious that children are children, and sometimes they do very extraordinary things that make everybody laugh or be upset. As Richard Cohen writes, that he, at the age of 12, “heaved a cinder block over my neighbor’s fence and nearly killed her. I didn’t know she was there” or “when I was about the same age, I started a small fire in a nearby field, which spread until it threatened some nearby houses. I didn’t mean to do it” or “I climbed on top of a toolshed, threw a brick in the general direction of my sister and sent her, bleeding profusely and crying so that I can still hear her, to the hospital” (Cohen 473-474). Here we see that his deeds were because of his incaution and indulging. And his actions did not harbor a grudge against others. Fortunately, nobody suffered. And I must admit that the author has described his actions in such a key so that the reader takes it easy. And when we read about his actions, we do not think over it, about its consequences, because the author puts concrete arguments and his ethos make the reader feel pity and understand that children are still children. To my mind, these words contain pathos which arouses feelings of sorrow.
Further on, the writer describes the incident with Nathaniel Brazill. This boy, at the age of 13, has killed his favorite teacher and was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Again Richard Cohen uses a variety of logos that still emphasize a feeling of compassion. He explains that the boy liked his teacher and something extraordinary happened and made him kill the teacher. He did not understand what he was doing and he shot the teacher without any reason. But he did like Grunow!
As a result, he killed the teacher at the age of 13, but he’ll come out from prison at the age of 40. The author makes an emphasis on it because children are children and the law must put it into account. The punishments should be for juveniles, not for adults. It is obvious that the boy has made a mistake and pays a stiff price for it.
Of course, the criminal actions which Richard Cohen describes are not so easy and shallow. And the reader must understand that people and even teenagers must be responsible for their actions. As the statistics show, children at the age of 13 to 14 have already several crimes behind their backs and they have criminal responsibility for their actions.
The author does not give an incentive to crimes, but his appeal is to divide punishments according to age. Kids are still kids, and their punishment should be matched according to their age. Of course, it is awful when teenagers suffer their punishment, but everything must carry value, to live in peace.
To cap it all, I can say that Richard Cohen is a good writer who can appeal to logos, pathos, and ethos effectively. And the reader penetrates his words.
Works Cited
Cohen, Richard. “Kids Who Kill Are Still Kids”. Read, Reason, Write: An Argument Text and Reader. 7th Ed. Dorothy U Selver. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. 473-474.