The world’s future relies on the education outcomes of the young population. Consequently, education in early childhood is essential because it builds a positive character and necessary life skills, creating a successful path for these individuals. Good learning habits and the ability to thrive in a school environment rely on how well the stakeholders, including parents and teachers, until academic values at the early childhood education stage. Hence, it is essential to include character building in the school curriculum to achieve these objectives. The Op-Ed article “Early Childhood Education Can Prevent Violence Later in life by Shona Majors uses various persuasion techniques to convince the readers of the contribution of early childhood education in curbing violence. Contrary to the arguments that early childhood education has social, economic and policy burdens, this article convincingly proves that early childhood education has benefits encompassing the above three aspects.
Summary of Op-Ed Article
From the Op-Ed article, the benefits of investing in education and character building of children suffice as the primary themes. Majors (2019) opines that exposing children to early education instils good behaviour and equips them with survival skills relevant to future success. Stakeholders, including parents and teachers, can achieve this goal by including character development in school curriculums and training children to treat others the same way they would like to be treated. Children learn from what they see, making parents’ contributions critical at this stage (Majors, 2019). Through collaborating with the parents, teachers can help reinforce this message in the classroom and at home by ensuring the lessons compromise elements such as respect, healthy methods of resolving conflict and avoiding violence. Ultimately, by creating a foundation for an adequately educated generation that is prepared for the 21st-century job markets, treats people with love and respect and engages in community development, early childhood education can be the city’s solution to violence.
Furthermore, the author reflects on his family to prove the arguments for the social, educational and economic benefits of early childhood education. From the author’s family experience, his uncle’s family ensured their children began K-12 education as early as possible, to establish a strong foundation for both academic development and positive character building (Majors, 2019). As a result, all their children are currently on the verge of completing their higher education, obtained their dream jobs and have become useful members of the community, striving to make it a better place. Arguably, that’s the future every parent and teacher wishes for their children and learners respectively. Typically people with such backgrounds and success have no intention to harm but build the community, further proving that investing in early childhood education is the most effective means of addressing violence in society.
Critique of the Op-Ed Article
Persuasion emerges as the main technique the author uses to affirm arguments in the article. Through this approach, the author successfully manages to explicitly highlight the economic and social benefits of early childhood education. From the author’s perspective, exposure to learning at an early age distinguishes those ready for the career challenges of the 21st century from those who are likely to fail to achieve their professional and personal desires (Majors, 2019). The latter category of individuals are more susceptible to acts of violence, proving that early childhood education is the best solution to violent behavior. Besides, character development starts at an early age, making this one of the most critical stages in an individual’s life. Nevertheless, there are some argument against this article’s viewpoint. For example, some research posit that early childhood education presents unnecessary burdens on parents and society (Tinanoff et al., 2019). However, if education can reduce violence and crime in society, then, it is the most painless approach to solving societal problems.
In addition, the author applies a reflection tactic to convince the readers that early childhood education reduces the rates of violence in society. Majors (2019) uses an example of his uncle’s family that values early childhood education citing their academic, career and community achievements to counter arguments against early childhood education. By sending children to school as early as possible, the uncle has managed to ensure the children complete education in time to become professionals in their respective fields and contribute to the society appropriately (Majors, 2019). Using a personal event or experience enhances the readership of the article by ensuring the readers that the author has a firsthand experience of the arguments thereof. Such measures appeal to the emotional and real life experience needs of the readers. Research also reveal that applying a reflection in article writing creates a strong connection between the readers and the author, affirming the trustworthiness of this piece (Kyngas et al., 2019). Reflecting on the arguments helps the author create a connection with the readers and enhances its credibility.
However, there are also some elements of bias in the article. For example, while early childhood education can significantly reduce violence in society, there are other factors other than education such as societal and family values that can address the same problem (WHO, 2020). The author would have compared the rates of violence from individuals with early childhood education experiences especially those who began at the earliest age against those who started late. Such measures would have made this arguments more convincing. Besides, not everyone who begins education late engage in violence, though evidently they are more susceptible to the problem. Additionally, some with early childhood experiences engage in violence, potentiating the need for a more convincing approach in affirming these arguments. Thus, by failing to compare and contrast the rate of violence among people with different age-based early childhood experiences creates some biases in this article.
Conclusion
In conclusion, contrary to the arguments that early childhood education has social, economic and policy burdens, this article convincingly proves that early childhood education has benefits encompassing the above three aspects. The benefits of investing in education and character building of children suffice as the primary themes of the article: Early childhood education can prevent violence later in life. The author holds that exposing children to early education instills good behavior and equips them with survival skills relevant for future success. Further, Persuasion emerges as the main technique the author uses to affirm arguments in the article. Using this approach, the author successfully manages to explicitly highlight the economic and social benefits of early childhood education. In addition, the author applies a reflection tactic to convince the readers that early childhood education reduces the rates of violence in society. However, there are also some elements of bias in the article since there are other factors other than education such as societal and family values that can address the same problem.
References
Kyngas, H., Kaariainen, M., & Elo, S. (2019). The trustworthiness of content analysis. The Application of Content Analysis in Nursing Science Research, 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30199-6_5
Majors, S. (2019, November 10). Op-ed: Early childhood education can prevent violence later in life. The Indianapolis Star. https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2019/11/10/op-ed-early-childhood-education-can-prevent-violence-later-life/4169331002/
Tinanoff, N., Baez, R. J., Diaz Guillory, C., Donly, K. J., Feldens, C. A., McGrath, C., Phantumvanit, P., Pitts, N. B., Seow, W. K., Sharkov, N., Songpaisan, Y., & Twetman, S. (2019). Early childhood caries epidemiology, Aetiology, risk assessment, societal burden, management, education, and Policy: Global Perspective. International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 29(3), 238–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/ipd.12484
WHO. (2020). Global status report on violence against children 2020. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/violence-prevention/global-status-report-on-violence-against-children-2020
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