Augusto 1

Alexandra Augusto

Professor Gardiakos

ENC 1101

13 September 2021

Unit One: Navigating Sources that Disagree

The topic of whether a child should be taught sexuality/sexual education (sex ed) by their

parents/guardians or in an educational institute has caused an uprising throughout the nation. Sex

ed teaches individuals how to engage in safe sex practices and understand one’s sexual health.

This topic has been highly debated and within the three selected sex ed sources, each present a

disagreeing argument as a result of the text’s opposing constituents: rhetor, audience, values, and

the style canon. @@@maybe add smth ab rhetorical proofs

The online community “Catholic Parents OnLine” strongly believe that parents should be

the primary educator regarding the instruction of sex ed, and their stance is quite obvious based

on their article’s name: “Ten Good Reasons to Oppose Public School Sex Education.” To provide

a better explanation about the rhetor of this source, the Catholic Parents OnLine board, it is

important to understand their background. The board, who created the website, had wanted to

provide a platform that would “... build a network of faithful, dynamic, and informed parents,

students, and alumni … to ensure the authentic teaching and protection of our Catholic Faith, and

to address issues that undermine our Catholic Faith and Morals” (Catholic Parents OnLine). No

individual from the board has a background in sex ed or health related, which provides a

constraint to this article. Not only is there a constraint by the lack of credibility on the rhetors
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end, but the basis of their ten stated reasons are all opinions that coincide with the Catholic faith

with the one exception in which the text appeals to the rhetorical proof logos by referencing a

study mentioned in the March 2002 issue of the Journal of Health Economics. The study claims

to have debunked the “typical sex ed theory,” which says access to contraceptives reduces teen

conceptions and abortions, and that in actuality, greater access to contraceptives leads to a higher

rate of teenage conceptions. Despite referencing a study, it is important to note the year of when

the study was done and that there are countless other recent studies that oppose the claims made.

Do these two constraints affect the article? To their intended audience, it does not.

The audience of both the article and the website are Catholic parents who are very

dedicated to their religious belief. It is important for rhetors to know their audience to have a

clear focus on what information will cater to them and their values. Under the Catholic faith, the

audience and the rhetor’s values are shared - making it easier to cater to their audience - and

these shared values outweigh any doubts that are to be brought upon by the constraints. Unlike

the other two sources, the values of this text’s audience are not concerned with teaching their

kids proper sex ed (like anatomy, birth control, etc), rather they are more concerned with chastity,

fornication, innocence, and religious faith - especially under the belief that public school sex ed

undermines it. @@@@@@

The style of any text refers to the tone of the piece and carefully crafted expressions by

rhetors to deliver a particular message (Downs, #). The Catholic Parents OnLine’s article is

written in a condemnatory tone, criticising how public schools will taint the innocence of their

children and disrespect their beliefs. @@@@@

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On the opposite side of the spectrum is rhetor Roland S. Martin, an award winning CNN

analyst, who believes that sex ed should be taught by schools/school programs as they provide

the most accurate information. In Martin’s article, “Sex Education Should Be Mandatory In All

Schools,” he expresses that education must be dealt with in an educational setting to correctly

combat statistics like teen pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted diseases. A constraint,

similar to the Catholic Parents OnLine board, is that Martin is not credible when it comes to

terms of discussing sex education and the benefits of teaching it in a school seeting. Yet, the

audience may look over that constraint of his argument as Martin makes note in his discussion

that he is a Christian and uses that factor as an asset to appeal to the rhetorical proof logos

because despite his religious beliefs, he is still a firm believer that people must deal with sex

directly and relies on logic to further his argument. To quote Martin, “If we are going to equip

our children for tomorrow, then sex needs to be dealt with in a smart, productive and educational

setting by professionals” (Sex Education Should Be Mandatory In All Schools). Logically

speaking/From a logical standpoint, those who are educated on the topic should teach it or

smth… @@TRANSITION SENTENCE@@@

@@@ The audience of Martin’s paper is written towards the established CNN article

readers (specifically parents) and the NYC Parents’ Choice Coalition. The New York City

Parents’ Choice Coalition is an organization that calls for abstinence based sex education and at

the time of this article being published, the coalition had been upset with the current sex

education curriculum and believed that videos like “demonstrating how to put on a condom”

were too racy (Martin). Martin discusses that their beliefs are irrationally based and that

abstinence alongside safe sex practices should be taught simulatenously, not abstinence alone. In
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this unique case, the sections of the article which are directed towards the coalition are used to

not appeal to them, but oppose their views as a result of their conflicting views.

This text’s values are children possessing accurate knowledge about safe sex practices,

sexual education, and diseases. @@@ Martin is very passionate about his values and in his text,

he expresses his thoughts with a critical tone. His tone’s effect on the text is that it…. @@@@

Finally, and what can be viewed as the middle of the spectrum, is the article written by

rhetor Lori Kuykendall. Kuykendall’s stance on sex ed in schools is that schools should work

hand in hand with parents to teach sex ed. Out of all the rhetors, Kuykendall is the most credible.

Lori Kuykendall is the President and CEO at a Medical Institute for Sexual Health in Dallas,

Texas. Her extensive knowledge and background in sex ed is an asset to the article, especially as

her article plays the role of a mediator between the other two arguments. Alongside the rhetor

being an etho herself, Kuykendall appeals to the etho rhetorical proof by touching on a research

discovery found by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which stated that

“parent engagement” – a term used to describe parents and school working together – makes it

more likely that adolescents will avoid unhealthy behaviors, like sexual risk behaviors (Sex

Education is Better When Schools and Parents Take Their Partnership Seriously). @@@@

The audience of this rhetor’s argument plays an important role in making a distinction to

why this article’s approach is so different. The audience for this rhetor are schools, opposed to

the other two arguments who created their articles to be read by parents. Throughout the text, the

rhetor emphasizes to schools the benefits of working with parents and how it can better equip

them to best teach their students while validating and easing possible concerns of parents and

their beliefs regarding having sex ed taught in an educational setting. The rhetor’s value in this
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text is to ensure communication and to create a bond between the parents and schools.

Kuykendall’s values are evident when she states that, “...Schools will be better able to fulfill their

role of educating the next generation and preparing children to make the best choices for their

health” (Sex Education is Better When Schools and Parents Take Their Partnership Seriously).

Kuykendall’s mediator approach is obvious in the style of how the article is written. The

article stays informative throughout, with a clear goal in mind of explaining the importance of

@@@@ .

Conclusion @@@@@ rhetorical strategies have such a strong effect… blah blah blah

Exemplified in the paper, different constituents can change ___

Works Cited

Kuykendall, Lori. “Sex Education Is Better When Schools and Parents Take Their Partnership

Seriously.” Dallas News, 24 Aug. 2019,

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/05/30/sex-education-is-better-when-sch

ools-and-parents-take-their-partnership-seriously/.
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Martin, R. (2016, July 25). Sex Education Should Be Mandatory In All sShools. CNN. Retrieved

September 11, 2021, from

https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/29/opinion/martin-sex-education/index.html.

TEN good reasons to oppose public school sex education. Catholic Parents OnLine. (2020,

November 16). Retrieved from

https://catholicparents.org/ten-good-reasons-oppose-public-school-sex-education/.