I enjoyed watching those two videos on home schooling. Watching the speakers present both sides of the topic was interesting. Since I'm on this topic, I think home schooling is a great option, but it would depend on the child; does the child want to be home schooled or continue in his or her traditional school? I've known several home schooled students over the years (mainly through them showing up for extra-curricular activities such as band, choir and physical education) and they were always some of the smartest students around. However, being a home schooled came at the expense of being made fun of and shunned by the "cool" kids, just because they were home schooled. Don't worry, I didn't shun them. But, the home schooled I knew had great confidence about themselves and were not easily bothered by other students; they seemed to have little or no insecurities which may have stemmed from being home schooled (e.g. not having been exposed to troublesome students, drama, violence, etc.)
Anyway, for every topic there are two sides, the pros and the cons. Each speaker can argue for their side and make a good case; it's up to the audience to then decide what is best for them. Something I learned from this video is that I should look up arguments that will be made against my main points; what is on the opposite side, you know? It's always important to be prepared to answer back to disagreements, or to just know the oppositions and know how to counteract them.
I think the appeals that were used were geared towards parents, or those with children, obviously. The speaker who was speaking for home schooling used the tearful child example to open and close, showing how the public school system can be detrimental to a child's development. The speaker who opposed home school stated that most of them would not be willing to sacrifice their careers and time. Also, that most people who would home school would not be qualified to teach. The first appeal was directed more towards a concern for the child, while the second video's appeal seemed to be for the parents. Differences aside, they both did a great job in presenting their information.
I agree with you that both of the speakers in the videos regarding homeschooling seemed to be aiming their speech toward an audience of parents. That makes sense, since only parents are in a position to make a decision on whether or not to homeschool a child. However, given the environment of the speech, which appeared to be a college classroom, it may have made more sense to skew the speeches a little bit more toward future parents. I agree with you that it is a good idea to do some research toward the opposition of your speech topic. It is also good to address the opposition and not ignore its existence.
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