EXAMPLES OF ARGUMENTATIVE TEXT

Text 1

Watching TV is Bad for Children (Argumentative Essay)

Today, people of different races and generations become victims of TV addiction. Some
people watch television because they want to be updated about what is happening in the
world. They want to be aware and get connected with different people all around the
globe. Nowadays, not only adults and teenagers, but also children, get hooked on
television. Because of the busy world people are living in today, parents do not have time
to take care and look after their children at all times anymore. Therefore, children have
more freedom to do whatever they want, and in this case, watch whatever TV show they
want be it classified as GP, PG-13, or even R-18. It can not be avoided that children will
see violent scenes shown on TV since according to K.D. Browne, an average of 20-25
violent acts are shown in childrens television programs each hour. (Children and Media
Violence, n.d.) Since, exposure to violence causes aggressiveness, trauma, and
desensitization, watching TV is bad for children.
Researchers have found that children are more aggressive after watching violent
TV shows. This is because childrens minds are not yet that completely developed, that is
why they are not fully capable of distinguishing right from wrong. Most children just tend
to believe and imitate everything they see, even on TV. Especially when they see the
celebrity they idolize do violent acts, children will most probably imitate him or her.
Laboratory experiments back in 1963 by professors A. Badura, D. Ross, and S.A. Ross
have consistently shown that exposures to violence leads to increased heartbeat, blood
pressure, and respiration rate, which motivates the child to act violently and aggressively.
(What the Researchers Are Saying, n.d.).
Watching TV is nearly equal to watching violence. Based from the Television
Violence Monitoring Project, 96% of TV shows contain violence which can also mean
that out of 20 times of watching TV, there is only 1% chance of watching a show that has
no violence in it. (Prevalence of Media Violence, n.d.) Media violence stimulates fear in
some children and makes them believe that the world is more violent than it really is.
(What the Researchers Are Saying, n.d.) It may lead children to be anti-social and not
want to be out in the real world anymore. Children will think that what victims on TV
have experienced will also happen to them. Most children also have a hard time
distinguishing fantasy from reality that is why watching TV causes trauma on children.

Television causes trauma on children, otherwise, desensitization. They will think

that violence is acceptable and just normal in society. According to Cline, Croft, and
Courrier in their 1973 study, people, especially children who are exposed to media
violence, tend to be less disturbed when they witness real world violence, and have less
sympathy for its victims. (What the Researchers Are Saying, n.d.) Media violence will
cause the children to overestimate their risk of being victimized by crime, believe their
community is unsafe, and assume that the crime rate is increasing even when it is not.
(What the Researchers Are Saying, n.d.)
On the other hand, there are also studies by Andre Gosselin, Jacques de Guise
and Guy Paquette in 1997 that show that watching television does not cause viewers to be
fearful, but even cause them to be happier and more optimistic about life. (What the
Researchers Are Saying, n.d.) That may be true for some, but researches of Professors
Singer, Slovak, Frierson, and York in 1998 report that the incidences of psychological
trauma, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress increased in proportion to the
increasing number of hours of television watched each day. (What the Researchers Are
Saying, n.d.) People also say that television can make children be aware and exposed of
the real world. There, they can encounter different cultures and ideas that are not available
in their own community. Shows with positive role models can be good influences to the
children. However, kids are likely to learn things from TV that parents do not want them
to learn. TV can affect kids health, behavior, and family life in negative ways. (Television
and Children, 2009) It is true that children need to be aware of the reality, but during their
growth years is not the right time. The right time is when they are already capable of
deciding what is good and right for them. There are also many other alternatives to
television as a source of awareness and knowledge for children. Also, books and other
reading materials are more effective sources for childrens development.
In the world today, it can be said that watching TV is also like watching violence.
Violence already cannot be prevented on television programs that is why watching
television is bad for children because it causes aggressiveness, trauma, and
desensitization. Television can have positive effects on children but a bigger chance of
having negative effects. Television can negatively affect childrens performance in school,
lifestyle, career, family, and even their future. Would you want that to happen? Think
about it.
Source : http://cesstan.blogspot.co.id/2010/04/watching-tv-is-bad-for-children.html

Text 2

The Use of Social Media for Teenagers

Social media is the reason for many of the worlds problems and solutions.
It can be used to raise awareness for an important cause, but it can also be used to
spread hate, especially between teenagers. Being a teenager, I can be the first to say that
social media is how most teens run their life, but is it the right way? Austen McCann
makes a brilliant point in his article, Social media has allowed them to take their life
online and instead of saying goodbye to friends at school and waiting to see them the
next day...Although social media can connect teens to the world and friends and
family around them, it is actually one of the highest ranking causes of suicide amongst
teenagers in the 21st century. As important as connection via the internet can be, social
media does not have to be the primary source for teenagers.
The average teenager spends a minimum of 2 hours and 20 minutes on
social media every day. In Austin McCanns Impact of Social Media on Teens articles
he brings up that social media is becoming more than a part of their world, its
becoming their world. Teens complain about constantly being stressed with
homework, but maybe homework isnt the main source of the stress. EveryDay Health
magazine states that, on statistics, a teenager who spends more time outdoor is
generally a happier and healthier kid. However, since 2000, the time teenagers spend
outside has decreased significantly causing more depression and obesity. Not only does
it affect health, social media deprives parents from having a thorough conversation with
their children without them checking their phone. Even though the positive effect of
having a social media profile is to communicate with friends/family, they dont even
have the decency to lift their head and engage in a conversation. Enjoying the little
things around them becomes a difficult task to the average teenager when theyre too
busy tweeting about it. The contradicting effects of it goes to show that social media is
not all it is talked up to be.
Should. That is the word that teenagers have no choice but to constantly
follow. Social media encourages the false images of how everything should be in a
perfect world. This impact is what causes the insecurities and questionings to girls and
boys. These misleading pictures of how bodies, relationships, houses, cars, etc. should
be are what lowers self esteem and leads to depression and suicides. Aside from
connecting, social media revolves around who retweeted whos "selfie" and how

many favorites did that pic get. Its almost sickening knowing that teenagers base their
insecurities around how many likes they get. The false perception of life portrayed all
over social media is misleading towards teens and not worth the effort to filter.
Not only is social media misleading, it is also very unimportant. Aside from
the news part of the sites, a majority of the posts are extremely insignificant and
unimportant to our world. The kind of information that Becky just got new car interior
is completely useless in the long run. Nicholas Wapshott states in his Buying Into Big
Brother article about social media says, We may take pity on the idiot schoolboy who
uses expletives on Twitter or posts a picture of himself holding a joint at a party only to
discover when he looks for a job that a trawl by an HR department has made him
unemployable. Taking a step back can open your eyes to the realization that nothing
your friends are going to post will affect your life in the long run. Instead of going
through the drama and irrelevant parts of social media, connect with your friends and
family by calling them up and avoid the complications and uselessness of the web sites.
Avoiding social media can be very difficult. Especially in a situation where
one used it daily and transitioned over within a week. Its a very challenging task, but in
the long run, you will not have to worry about wasting your time, false perceptions and
unnecessary information! Encouraging teens and friends to spend less time on social
media and more time actually socializing can really change your life for the better.

Source : http://www.teenink.com/opinion/social_issues_civics/article/687365/Social-MediaArgumentative-Essay/

Text 3

Smoking : Good or Bad ?

Nowadays, many people smoke every time and everywhere, thus they obtain many
negative effects on their life. On the other hand, smoking brings many positive impacts to the
state and society. In this essay, I will discuss advantages and disadvantages of smoking, and I
will explain my opinion about both of these things.
There are two main dangers for people who do smoke. The first problem that should
be noted is smoking cigarette can cause diseases such as cancer, heart attack, pregnancy
disorders, asthma, and others. Because they smoke, in this world many people have passed
away. In Indonesia, every day many smokers are seeking treatment at the hospital to treat
heart attack. As is commonly understood, the disease is not specific only for smokers but also
for the people who stay around the smokers when they smoke cigarette.
Also, another danger is that people who smoke are including human wasteful
because every day they Another case is people who smoke are including human wasteful
because every time they spend a lot of money only to smoke. In Indonesia, every day
smokers spend more than hundreds of millions money to buy cigarette. It is obvious when
looking at this example that smoking brings dangers to human life, and It is clearly that
smoking can cause many problems.
However, many people believe that cigarette has many benefits for human life. The
first benefit is it supports much money to the government from taxes. Because many people
smoke it, the government will earn a lot of money. For example, in Indonesia every year the
state obtains trillions of money from cigarette tax. When looking at this example, there is no
doubt that the administration earns much money from cigarette. Besides this, many people
work at cigarette company. For instance, in Indonesia around thousands of people work in
various tobacco companies. They obtain a big salary from the company so that they can live
happily. Moreover, businessmen acquire much money from cigarette when they export it to
overseas.
This brings us to the conclusion that both of these have benefits for humans.
However, I strongly believe that the dangers of smoking is crueller than the benefits of
smoking. Therefore, I advise people to stop smoking.
Source : http://www.testbig.com/ielts-essays/argumentative-essay-discussion-about-smoking

Example of Fishbone Method