argument essay about parenting

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Argumentative Essay Topics on Parenting

Parenting offers an array of topics worth evaluating, making this broad subject ideal for an argumentative essay. After thoroughly researching just one the many topics that parents face as they raise their children, you can develop well-supported conclusions about your topic. Blend evidential support with your stance on the parenting topic in your argumentative essay.

Dealing With Discipline

An argumentative essay can assess various parental disciplinary styles. Potential topics include:

Evaluate whether children respond better to positive parenting versus authoritative parenting techniques 2 . Positive parenting developed out of the concept of positive psychology, a movement led by American psychologist Martin Seligman 2 . This method offers gentle guidance to kids without being punitive, while authoritative parenting focuses on enforcing clearly-established rules.

Assess the short- and long-term impacts of corporal punishment *, such as spanking. Evaluate whether this style of discipline improves a child's behavior or triggers aggressive behavior in the child. Also, assess any potential psychological impacts corporal punishment may have on the child.

Instilling Independence

Argue whether parents should respond to their baby's cries at night or adhere to the cry-it-out method of sleep training. Research both sides of whether babies can soothe themselves effectively or if they need their parents' assistance in calming down and going back to sleep.

Discuss whether parents should give their increasingly independent 'tweens and teens freedom of expression. Areas to explore include whether parents should allow children to make bold fashion choices such as:

• art or band.

The Stay-at-Home Parent Debate

Dual-income households are increasingly common, with mothers "tripling the amount of paid work they do each week" since 1965, according to the Pew Research Center 5 . However, the same Pew survey indicated that just 16 percent of respondents believed a mother working full time is the ideal situation for young children.

Evaluate the impact of a parent staying at home on a child's overall well-being and social skills. Discuss whether children and families are better off in dual-income households or in households where one parent stays home with young kids before they enter school full time.

Research the financial impact of the family's decision, as both shifting to a single household income and taking on childcare costs can impact a family's finances. Discuss any psychological factors involved: Some parents may struggle to return to work and leave their baby, while others might have difficulty taking a break from their career to raise a child, and some parents may feel conflicted.

Incentivizing Behavior

Parents want to encourage good behavior, and some may turn to incentives to keep their kids on track. Whether they use candy to encourage their toddler to use the potty or money to promote good grades in older kids, parents may reward their kids in a number of ways.

• An argumentative essay can assess whether incentives encourage appropriate behavior for the short- and long-term. Evaluate whether incentivizing behavior causes a child to always expect a reward, which may lead to low self-esteem when the reward is not provided. Research whether incentives motivate children to perform well in school or behave appropriately, thereby reinforcing positive behavior.

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Barbie Carpenter worked as a technical writer and editor in the defense industry for six years. She also served as a newspaper feature page editor and nationally syndicated columnist for the Hearst Corp. Carpenter holds a Bachelor of Science in journalism from the University of Florida and a graduate certificate in professional writing from the University of Central Florida.

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30+ Great Argumentative Essay Topics About Family with Essay prompts

Bob cardens.

• July 31, 2022
• Essay Topics and Ideas , Nursing

To help you get started with argumentative essay writing, we’ve compiled a list of some potential argumentative Essay Topics About Family. Whether you’re looking for something lighthearted or something a little more serious, we’re sure you’ll find something on this list on Topics About Family with essay prompts

Argumentative Essay Topics About Family with prompts

• My Attitudes Towards Marriage And Family

Essay prompt:  Marriage, also recognized as a wedlock or matrimony to others, is regarded as the bottom-most unit in the social setting community is viewed differently by people.

• Impact of Family-Centered Care on an Autistic Patient

Essay prompt:  According to the Institute of Medicine, patient-centered care is health care that respects and responds to individual patient values, needs, and preferences. On the other hand, family-centered care involves a partnership between a family and a care provider in making health care decisions.

• Family and Friends in Life

Essay prompt:  Everyone comes from a family, which no one chooses at birth. However, individuals are privileged to select people they want to be their friends. Family members and friends are important in life since they enable them to overcome various challenges and find happiness through healthy interactions and social.

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• Family Structures. What is a definition of family?

Essay prompt:  Traditional notions of families have greatly evolved in recent years. What used to be a father, mother and children relationship has changed to accommodate polygamy, adoptive children, and extended family members as one.

• What Does Family Mean To You Essay

Essay prompt:  According to me, family means a lot. A family has different meanings such as by definition, friendship, and convenience. Regarding definition, family involves the people that I am related to by blood. What does family mean to you?

You can also check out 150+ Top-Notch Argumentative Essay Topic Ideas

• Process philosophy and family and marriage

Essay prompt:  In discussing one of these topics, the goal is to relate how a particular political perspective derives from process philosophy (such as socialism). In making the connection, incorporate clear references from the required reading.

• Family System Theory

Essay prompt:  Family system theory primarily emphasis on behavioral exchange at any given instance of interaction with family members. The theory supports that the sequence of the interrelationship between members of the family inspires, maintains and prolongs the problem and non-problematic manners.

• Different Family Structures, Nontraditional Family Structures, and Family Systems Theory

Essay prompt:  Today’s generation seems to have a more complex perspective of the world, but much clearer than before. Having these in mind, people do seem to slowly accept and readapt to these great changes that improve their perception of society today.

Further read on  50+ Top And Best Argumentative Essay Topics

• Ethnography. A Comparison Between Zulu Culture And American Culture.

Essay prompt:  In this analysis you may include a discussion of topics such as: economic/labor role, parenthood, child-rearing, marriage/divorce practices, reproductive issues, sexuality, family/kinship structure, household composition, or other topics that may be relevant in the book you read.

• Causes and Effects of Unemployment on the family

Essay prompt:  One of the most increasing issue in the families has become Unemployment, with Shelter, food and clothing topics being largely highlighted, Unemployment has now become a topic of discussion in the family. It is not only the bread winners that feel the loss of lively hood but also the young professionals …

• Family Resource Management Education Term Paper Essay

Essay prompt:  I decided to work on Family Resource Management. This is a very interesting and sensitive area that I think needs to be emphasized much more than the other FLE areas. This is because the basis of any life existence starts from the family set up.

• Marriage and Roles of Women in the Family Portrayed in Mrs. Mallard’s and Mrs. Pontellier

Essay prompt:  The concept of family has been viewed and analyzed from different perspectives across diverse societies all over the world. Most scholars define a family as an entity to different people, in different localities at different periods.

• The Family Of Man In The Society

Essay prompt:  The modern individual in the society is more aware than before as knowledge has increased and activism has been accepted as one of the ways to solve and express an individual’s opinions and problems.

Find out more on  Argumentative Essay Topics About Social Media [Updated]

• Importance of Family Health and The Strategies for Health Promotion

Essay prompt:  Family is a crucial institution in the healthcare sector. The concept of family health is significant in devising a treatment plan for patients and offering healthcare prescriptions. Is family health important? Consider the various strategies for health promotion . How does a nurse determine which strategy to use on family health promotion?

• Significance of Family values (argumentative Essay Topics About Family)

Essay prompt:  In the past, the family was considered a social unit consisting of one or more parents with their children. Today, the definition of family has changed to encompass various family structures.

• Opinion Writing About Can A Blended Family Be Successful?

Essay prompt:  A blended family can be successful when the parents and the children are able to identify the blind spots and tackle the challenges that may bring disharmony on family unity.

• Basic Techniques of Family Therapy Psychology Essay

Essay prompt:  Family therapy can be carried out in various ways. Moreover, alternatives to every aspect of the process exist. However, some guidelines are shared by all the approaches. They serve as the core framework for clinical practice. Family therapy occurs in stages.

Here are  130 + Best Research Topic About Nursing – Types & How To Choose A Nursing Research Topic

• Difference between Pacific and European Families in Family Structure and Authority

Essay prompt:  Difference between Pacific and European Families in Family Structure and Authority Literature and Language Essay.

• The Greatest Of The Franciscan Values (argumentative Essay Topics About Family)

Essay prompt:  1) Live lovingly. 2) Care for creation. 3) Proclaim joy and hope. 4) Be living instruments of peace to all our brothers and sisters in God’s family.

• Addiction as a product of Social Dislocation and Family Stress.

Essay prompt:  Societal addiction to drug and substance use has, and still is, a menace to our human society, prompting extreme measures to be put in place to not only curb, but also try to eradicate the problem.

Here are additional 60+ Top And Best Argumentative Essay Topics For Different Contexts

• Marriage and Family Counselling

Essay prompt:  Family systems have become more complex over time. Some of the systems that did not exist in the past include gay families, childless families, and single-parent families, among others.

• Family Relations and Child-Rearing Practices: How They Changed Postmigration

Essay prompt:  Migrating to another country or place with a completely different culture affects the whole lives of the family. However, while the most obvious difficulties that they face are those concerning with how they deal with other people, it also affects how each member deal with each other such as how they rear.

• The Form and Function of Family

Essay prompt:  The definition of family is a fundamental aspect of diverse medical disciplines. Since this definition shifts from one nation to another and within the countries due to the current times’ shifting realities, experts have suggested redefining this concept to integrate the diverse modern-day family. What is a definition of family that encompasses the different Family structures prevalent today?

• Cognitive-behavioral Family Therapy and Multi-dimensional Family Therapy

Essay prompt:  Populations at risk are considered the populations exposed to the risk of occurrence of a particular event in life. These populations need to be treated differently from other populations to reduce their risk of falling victim to the described event. (argumentative Essay Topics About Family)

• Importance of Functional Theory in Understanding Families

Essay prompt:  One of the critical topics I studied is the institution of the family. Family is an essential social unit making up the overall society. Family is examinable under various sociological views on contemporary families, including functional, conflict, and social interactionist approaches.

• Family: How Has It Been Portrayed Through The Arts And In Real Life?
• Essay prompt:  Reflect on what the word family means and think about how it has been portrayed through the arts and in real life. A family is one of the greatest assets that life gifts each one of us with. It is all we are left with when everything else is gone.
• What Family characteristics may contribute to potential or actual dysfunctional health patterns

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298 Parenting Essay Topics & Creative Research Titles + Examples

🔝 top 7 parenting topics to write about in 2024, 🏆 best essay topics on parenting, 👍 good parenting research topics & essay examples, 🌶️ hot parenting ideas to write about, 🎓 most interesting parenting research titles, 📌 easy parenting essay topics, ✍️ parenting essay topics for college, ❓ research questions about parenting, 📝 parenting argumentative essay topics.

Are you looking for the most important parenting topics for discussion? You’ve come to the right place! StudyCorgi has prepared a list of current and controversial ideas to write about. On this page, you’ll find:

• Should Parents Be Responsible for Children’s Crimes?
• Children’s Education and Role of Parents
• A Good Parent: Definition and Traits
• Childhood Obesity: The Parents’ Responsibility
• Parents Should Limit the Usage of Screen Time for Their Children
• Overindulgent Parenting Style and Its Harm to Children
• Teenage Parenting: Problems of Children and Parent
• Women Are Better Parents Then Men Many people believe that women make better parents than men and that is why they have the greater role in raising children in most societies
• Parenting Styles’ Impact on Child’s Development This paper presents the examination of the four main parenting styles and discusses the effects different approaches can have on a child’s development.
• Good and Bad Parenting’s Impact on Children Bad parenting is the parent’s fault, and parents must ensure good parenting for the overall development of their children and their future.
• Divorce and Single-Parent Families Families across the world face different challenges. One such challenge is marital instability, which in a significant number of families, lead to divorce.
• Teenage Rebellion Against Parents The transformations have significant impacts on the teen and may result in commotion and bewilderment for the teen and parent.
• Why Filipino Parents Choose Their Children’s Careers In the Philippines, parents actively participate in their children’s lives to enhance their well-being in all spheres, including education.
• Parenting Styles: Indifferent, Indulgent, Authoritarian, and Authoritative The paper will analyze four main styles, namely indifferent, indulgent, authoritarian, and authoritative parenting styles.
• Parents Are Not to Blame for Obesity in Children This paper discusses the issue of childhood and adolescent obesity and argues that parents should not be blamed for this problem.
• Parent-Child Conflict Resolution: Communication Problem The psychological view upon the problem of the parent-child conflict covers many aspects explaining the nature of generations’ contradictions.
• Parenting in Modern Society: Key Challenges Today, to be a good parent, not only are parenting traditions, feelings, and intuition needed, but also planning careful preparation and thinking through the educational process.
• The Challenges of Being a Parent Parenting is a wonderful but complex social role. The main point is to create an open environment for dialogue and not to be afraid of mistakes.
• Parenting Styles – Case Study Analysis This work contains several examples from the lives of children and parents, situations that are described. For each of the cases, explain what this parenting style is and why.
• Child Behavior in Relation to Parenting Although parenting influences all affiliations within a family, its impact on parent-children relationships is vital as it may affect the children’s future negatively.
• Benefits of Good Parent-Child Relationships The benefits of productive parent-child relationships are mutual – children affect their parents almost as much as their parents affect them.
• Why Parents Should Vaccinate Their Children Modern vaccines are complex, and a few antigens administered to children spur the production of antibodies that prevent future infections.
• Role Played by Parents in Education This paper looks at the way parents are involved in education and gives a lengthy argument on the contribution of the letter to the overall education success.
• Deontological Ethics and Principles for Parenting Deontology is an ethical science based on the teaching of moral issues. The focus of deontological ethics is on duties and obligations to be followed.
• Personal Experience of Child: Parenting Styles The current essay reflects my own childhood experience regarding the parenting style my parents tend to follow, how it affected me.
• Parental Involvement in Education One of the main purposes of society nowadays is to guarantee stable development for children and make education affordable and efficient.
• Adult Children Should Support Elderly Parents Taking care of the parents by the children remains the best as compared to institutionalizing them. The parents are denied the family bonds they have always enjoyed in the family.
• Application of Chronic Sorrow Theory to Parents with Children Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy Cerebral palsy is among the most widespread physical disabilities affecting millions of children and adults around the world.
• Single Parenting: Difficulties and Challenges Studies show that single motherhood is normally linked with a lot of unconstructive social, behavioral and psychological impacts on the child being brought up.
• Parental Divorce: Influence on Children Divorce may affect a child’s development by making them engage in risk-taking behaviors, experience divorce-related stress, and significantly lower their self-esteem.
• Single-Parent College Students Struggling to Graduate The rise of single-student parents in colleges presents an opportunity to learn about the experiences of such students and compare them with other regular nonparent learners.
• Parent-Child Relationship and Its Effect on Adolescents The importance of parent-child relationships stems from an incredible level of interdependence that many families display when it comes to addressing family needs.
• Most Typical Problems Parents Face There are many problems that parents face today. It is sometimes difficult to deal with children who forget very fast.
• Some of the Problems that Parents Face Today Contemporary parenting is even more challenging owing to the changing civilization alongside the new emerging trends on family values and practices.
• Parenting Styles by Diana Baumrind This paper describes advantages and disadvantages of parenting styles generated by Diana Baumrind and its characteristics as well as the consequences for children.
• Effects of Single Parenting on Children Children have a right of being brought up by both parents. Kids who grew up seeing a father and mother have higher chances of becoming more stable in life.
• Parental Involvement in Children’s Education: Pros and Cons In this presentation, attention will be paid to the benefits and shortages of parental involvement in children’s education.
• The Uninvolved Parenting Style and Its Effect on the Psychological Development of a Child Approaches to parenting and child care can vary significantly based on the parents’ characteristics and their preferred style.
• Impact of Generalized Anxiety Disorder on Single Parents This paper focuses on the impact of generalized anxiety disorder on single parents and the most significant aspects of their lives.
• Single Parenting Benefits and Disadvantages There are not only drawbacks but also some benefits for mothers who live without husbands and raise their children themselves.
• Parent-Child Relationships in the Novels “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov and “Sula” by Toni Morrison The problem of parent-child relationships is one of the most examined and actual eternal questions. This question concerns the problems of love and hatred.
• Complicated Relationships between Parents and Children One can agree that family relationships are vital for the proper development of kids and the establishment of adequate morals and values.
• The Role of Parents in Acts of Theft and Vandalism by Minor Children Parents are to blame for their children’s acts of crime such as theft or vandalism, except when the children are suffering from mental health issues.
• Problems Experienced by Children Raised by Homo Parents The intention to write this paper is to throw the light on the affects of homosexual parents on their children.
• Juvenile Delinquents and Parental Divorce: What Is the Connection? Reasons that cause the increase in the number of juvenile delinquents. Connection with the rise in the number of juvenile delinquents and the increase in the number of divorce rates.
• Parents Are to Blame for Youth Violence Violence among youth has drastically increased in recent times. This problem of violence has become a global phenomenon whereby youth from all walks of life are engaged in violence.
• Parenting Styles: Values and Standards Transmission Numerous observations of children show that major developmental changes mostly occur during early childhood. It may be perceived by the parents in the form of imitation and observation.
• Consequences of Divorce of Parents for Children Divorces represent a sensitive topic in the US, and it is scientifically interesting to research how these events affect children.
• Proximal and Distal Parenting Proximal parenting implies close body contact and stimulation, while the distal parenting style is characterized by communication through the distant senses.
• Should Parents Have the Right to Choose Their Children Based on Genetics? The right to intervene in the human genome must be reviewed from multiple perspectives, as the future of parenthood and social institutions will depend highly on agreements.
• “Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex” by Schalet The purpose of the paper is to provide a summary of the book and present its analysis and valuation of its weak and strong points.
• Should Parents Spank Their Children? Spanking or striking children as a method to correct bad behavior has been widely used by parents in many cultures as a primary means of discipline.
• The Film “We Bought a Zoo” and Single Parenting Issues We Bought a Zoo is a 2011 comedy-drama film that follows the life of a single-parent family aiming to start a new life after the passing of the mother.
• Single-Parent Family Health Assessment The current family development stage is ‘a family with school-aged children’, and the family managed to accomplish the tasks of previous stages rather well.
• School Communication and Involvement of Parents in the School Activities Different families have different work schedules, and accordingly different preferred communication methods, accommodating which might be a challenge.
• Meetings between Parents and Teachers: Ted Talk Discussion When building a good relationship between both parties, sharing contacts like e-mail, mobile numbers, or messenger profiles can have a positive effect.
• Parental Involvement in Schools When parents are not invested in their children’s future and education, their offspring may experience poor student achievements and growth in various ways.
• Pride: Parents Who Teach Their Kids About Self-Worth The most important lesson any mother or father can teach is to give the child a great example of how to deal with difficulties.
• Parental Influence on a Child’s Life Outcomes The environment, especially the close ones, such as the family, decisions made, and various events, forms a particular path-dependency of one’s life with a corresponding outcome.
• Parenting Styles Overview and Analysis This essay aims to describe parenting styles, reflect on the impact of my family’s upbringing approaches, and discuss how I plan to raise my children.
• Impact of Parenting on Child Learning The complexity of child development as a multi-dimensional process makes it complicated to suggest for sure that parenting styles influence learning.
• Parental Positive and Negative Behaviors The paper aims to investigate parental positive and negative behaviors. It describes the effects of parent’s behavior on the life of their children.
• Non-Parental Child Care This paper focuses on the types of non-parent childcare and its effects on the child’s development in psychological, social and cognitive development.
• Infant-Parent Attachment Relationship The quality of the attachment relationship between a parent and an infant will affect the child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development.
• Financial Implications of Single Parenting The paper states that in the modern world when everything is getting more expensive each day, it is challenging to manage to be a single parent.
• Parenting and Harm of Unrealistic Expectations Parenting should be based on realistic expectations that are connected with the specific child, but not on the illusion that upbringing can change the child’s behavior.
• Parents Music Resource Center in the United States Parents Music Resource Center was a group created by four women in 1985. The aim of this group was to control the music that was released.
• Parenting Advice and Its Quality While most parenting advice is likely to be well-meaning, a number of online recommendations offered to parents are highly questionable due to their subjectivity.
• Theology of Family Life, Marriage and Parenting Religious marriage is possible when a ceremony is conducted (simultaneously or separately, depending on religion) with the couple being wed in the eyes of God.
• Parents’ Role in Young Adult Literature David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy, James Janeway’s A Token for Children, and Catherine Sinclair’s Holiday House exemplify young adult literature from different periods.
• Child Abuse or a Parental Discipline According to the state laws within the United States, physical discipline is recommended if it is solely for discipline and does not lead to the injury of a child.
• Parent’s Education and Child’s Dental Health The essay argues there is a vivid relation between the mother’s health education and her child’s dental health.
• Types of Parenting Styles in a “Parenthood” by Howard The plot of the film is a small live segment of one huge family, which includes five generations. The filmmakers tried to give us a simple recipe for a happy life.
• Parents’ Experiences of Caring for a Child with ASD Literature Review Autism spectrum disorder is a serious developmental disorder that affects one throughout the lifespan in terms of social interaction, social communication, and social imagination.
• Bullying and Parenting Styles There are many positive and negative outcomes of parenting on children. This paper aims at investigating the connection between several types of parenting and bullying behaviors.
• Role of Parental Involvement in the Modern Era Recent research revealed that students are affected by a myriad of factors that can be subdivided into four categories: academic, social, cultural, and financial.
• Intelligence: Are We Smarter Than Our Parents? The Flynn effect states that the levels of intelligence quotient (IQ) have been rising over time and increasing among the consequent generations.
• Lack of Parental Support Forces Teenagers ‘Run Away’ From Home This paper describes how lack of attention and inability of parents to understand the problems faced by their teenage children results in “run away” from home.
• Parental Divorce and Consequences for Children Divorces are a common occurrence in the modern world, and most people are accustomed to the idea of a separated family.
• Migrating Parents’ Motives and Impact on Children One aspect that often lacks proper attention from the authorities and the general public is the children of immigrants who are left in their home countries.
• American and British Parenting Styles In this paper, parenting from the point of view of Americans and Britons will be evaluated to show their differences or similarities.
• Parenting and Choice of Child-Rearing Style The child-rearing style applied to a child has an impact on the child’s growth and development. The style employed by the parents can predict the future character of the child.
• Views on Raising Children: Tasks of Parents The most challenging task of parents is to make the right decisions. It requires analyzing the behavior of children and finding their personalities.
• Parental Engagement in Special Education While the teaching methods must vary among students with special needs, parents should also engage in an educational process to give children an understanding of its importance.
• The Influence of Confucianism on Chinese Parenting The influence of Confucianism led to the establishment of distinct approaches to parenting styles, notably high parental expectations in the academic field.
• Parents With Pediatric Terminal Patients: Stress Management Certain family-centered care principles should be used by healthcare providers in order to mitigate parental stress in the situations where their child battles terminal illness.
• Parental Substance Abuse: Negative Impact on Child Development The researchers focus on the negative impact of parental substance abuse on child development, leading to addiction problems when these children become teenagers or young adults.
• Parenting Styles and Children’s Social Competence The social competence of children is usually associated with authoritative parenting of all parenting styles, in which parents balance the demands of the child and responsiveness.
• Different Perceptions of the Responsibility of Children to Their Parents A family is a place where a special bond is established between relatives and an ideal relationship model has no room for anger, aggression, or other negative feelings.
• “Fall or Fly”: Parents’ Problems in Foster Care One of the issues that foster parents will have to contend with is the wide range of parenting styles, environments, and circumstances that they are exposed to.
• Parental Deployment: Action Plan The current case study involves a child with emotional issues who is six years old from a middle-class socioeconomic status background.
• Parental Stress and Its Effects on Children In the current paper, the author analyses literature dedicated to parental stress and child development and behavior and tests the previously mentioned hypothesis.
• Parents, Children, and Guns In this article, the author expresses his opinion on the prosecution of parents whose children have gained access to weapons.
• Parent and Child Perspectives on Adaptation to Childhood Chronic Illness The findings of the article and team critique can be used in the nursing practice to deal with the challenges that chronically ill children and their families.
• Liberal Stance on Child Care for Working Parents Adoption of universal child care must become the government’s priority, childcare benefits have to be introduced to counter present problems.
• Single Parent Culture and Student Behavior Some researchers have argued that shortcomings or low earnings in father-lacking families explain the effects of one-parent families.
• Why Do Parents Abuse Their Children: Discussion Most of the instances of child abuse happen while the child is at home and it is also prevalent in lesser frequency in schools, communities and institutions that the child may engage with.
• Parent Monitoring of Children in Public Places Parents-children relations may be characterized as the complex interconnection of different issues, which are the main patterns in the upbringing process.
• Being a Mother: Challenges Facing Parents With Young Children A mother is a social or biological parent. In mammals like human beings, biological mother is one that gestates fertilized ovum called an embryo at the beginning which later becomes fetus.
• Parental Refusal of Medical Treatment for Children Refusing medical treatment for children by parents undermines the functioning of the healthcare system and the relations between patients and caregivers.
• Single African American Parents: Literature Review Parenting among single African American women poses serious challenges. This paper reviews existing literature to understand what other scholars have found out in this field.
• Air Pollution Threats: Parent Education The purpose of this pamphlet is to educate parents on the dangers of air pollution and suggest preventive strategies to keep their children safe.
• Parents’ Education in Childhood Obesity Prevention It can be extremely important to compare and contrast the role of parent education and common methods of treatment in childhood obesity prevention.
• Impact of Single Parent Culture on Students’ Behavior Many scholars in education agree that a student’s performance is not dependent on intellectual ability alone but also in other factors such as behavior.
• Childhood Obesity and Parent Education Work studies the relations between overweight and parental education, child overweight and physical activity, and the domestic co-occurrence of overweight on a country-wide scale.
• Parental Education for Preventing Pneumonia in Children Vaccinations have led to the prevention of many childhood illnesses. Prior to the introduction of vaccines many of these illnesses ranked as the leading cause of death in children.
• Psychology Issues: Childhood Development and Positive Parenting Each stage of an individual’s development is important. However, childhood can be regarded as one of the most important periods in a person’s life.
• Understanding and Preventing Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Learn about the detrimental effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on fetal development and discover effective interventions to prevent PAE and support affected.
• Parental Education to Overcome Childhood Obesity Parental education plays a crucial role in addressing childhood obesity by influencing children’s behaviors and habits. Encouraging healthy eating, and promoting physical activity.
• How Immigrant Parents Affect Their Kids in School The paper explores the quality of the relationship between immigrant parents’ involvement in their children’s education and their academic performance.
• Parent Engagement in Vick Elementary School In this paper, parent engagement and actions that should be taken for its improvement are discussed on the basis of Vick Elementary School meetings and parental involvement agenda.
• Parental Addiction’s Impact on Children In a family where one or both of the parents suffer from addictions, the child develops in a psychologically traumatic environment.
• Living with Parents with Problematic Substance Use Growing is often associated with a high risk of instability. For example, young people subsequently find it difficult to resolve issues with housing.
• Parents’ Views on Their Children’s Engagement with Electronic Games The paper will discuss how gaming affects children and how it can benefit them in specific ways, such as giving them an outlet for their emotions.
• Parenting: Adoption of Homosexual Couples The paper states that good parenting is determined by the ability of the parent to establish a loving family, which does not depend on if they are homosexual.
• The Worth of Parental Involvement in Children’s Education Today, much attention is paid to improving the quality of childhood education, and the worth of parental involvement is currently discussed and recommended.
• Parenting Styles’ Impact on Children Parenting style plays a significant role in a child’s life. Each selected technique may have predetermined outcomes.
• Kids of Helicopter Parents Are Sputtering Out by Lythcott-Haims In the article “Kids of Helicopter Parents Are Sputtering Out,” Julie Lythcott-Haims talks about how parents instruct their children on what to do.
• Parenting Styles: Infancy and Early Childhood Generally, a child’s behavior is directly linked to the parenting approach being used by the respective parent. Each technique used has a corresponding impact on the well-being.
• Parenting Experience of a Mother of Two Children Although being a parent is a privilege that most adults look forward to, without proper planning, it can become a burden that leaves a person feeling caged and insufficient.
• Latino Culture: The Social Interaction Between Children and Parents The main focus is the social interaction between children and parents and its specificity in the context of Latino culture.
• Parenting: Influences and Standards This article is important because it supports the idea that parents should raise their children in a way that fits their child’s personalities.
• Liability of Bullies’ Parents for Children’s Activities Parents of bullies should be liable for their children’s activities because besides being highly influential, they possess the power to prevent bullying.
• Effects of Parent-Based Teaching of Alcohol Use The approach significantly impacts the struggle to prevent alcohol abuse but requires being informed on the appropriate mechanisms to employ.
• Parenting in a Pandemic: Tips to Keep the Calm at Home The article ​“Parenting in a Pandemic: Tips to Keep the Calm at Home” provides a set of recommendations for parents regarding managing children’s behaviors during the pandemic.
• Should Parents with Children under 12 Have Dogs as Pets Even though dogs can be great protectors, kids can be overly aggressive with dogs; children are more vulnerable to diseases carried by dogs, etc.
• The Parent-Teacher-Youth Mediation Program The Parent-Teacher-Youth Mediation Program is designed to build relationships between family members from different generations.
• Operant Conditioning in Learning and Parenting Operant conditioning relies on a relatively simple premise – actions followed by reinforcement will be strengthened and thus are more probable to be repeated in the future.
• How Parental Involvement Influences the Life of the Individual The paper demonstrates how parental involvement influences the academic and social life of the individual from the perspective of several theoretical notions.
• Parenting Peculiarities in Queer (LGBT) Families An examination of LGBT marriages has shown that same-sex partners have varied parenting desires, intentions, and child-rearing experiences.
• Parental Divorce’s Negative Impact on Children Children from divorced families have more behavioral problems, and marital upheavals leading up to parental divorce threaten future learning ability.
• Mental Health of Children of Incarcerated Parents This paper aims to discuss the impact of parental incarceration on children’s mental health and the risk of adverse childhood experiences.
• Nature vs. Nurture Parenting Styles in Psychology This research analyzes the nature vs. nurture parenting styles and recommends the best style that must be applied to ensure children grow to be responsible adults.
• Psychology of Children with Incarcerated Parents The relationship between the risks of the development of psychological problems among children and the incarcerated parent status is direct.
• Parental Alcohol Abuse as a Family Issue Parental alcohol abuse is a serious problem in the community that impacts not only one individual but spreads to different social units.
• The Parent-Child Relationship in Sports The promotion of a parent-child relationship in sports is similar to the coordination of individuals within a group.
• Youth Self-Reported Health and Their Experience of Parental Incarceration The study utilizes data from the Minnesota Student Survey, which was conducted every three years and included questions on health behaviors, dietary habits, and sleep patterns.
• Should Parents Be Held Accountable if Their Children Misbehave? This paper discusses whether parents should be held accountable if their children misbehave, commit crimes, or generally turn out to be a “bad seed”.
• The Effects of Homelessness on Single-Parent Families in Black Community The paper states that single-parent families can be adversely impacted by homelessness, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
• Evaluation of Training Program for Incoming Foster Parents A training program has been proposed which will instill vital skills in foster parents through a six-session program, each one lasting at least three hours.
• Surviving the Death of a Parent “The Death of a Parent Affects Even Grown Children Psychologically and Physically,” explains how parental loss affects adults.
• Two Parenting Approaches: Authoritative and Authoritarian This paper considers two parenting approaches: authoritative and authoritarian. The authoritative parenting style is one of the best, while the authoritarian is one of the worst.
• Aspects of Parenting and Gender Roles For children to develop a healthy understanding of gender roles, it is essential that parents choose the right approach to their formation.
• Single-Parent Households Issues In preindustrial societies, kinship systems were the main form of social organization that provided members cooperated by marriage.
• Issues We Face While Taking Care of Aging Parents The trend of adult children becoming caregivers for their parents is one of the most widespread in American society.
• Parental Caregiving Assumptions and Best Practices The right start and the proper introduction and guidance to the appeared challenges contribute in a positive way to providing parents with the proper care.
• Parenting: The Family Resource Guide The guide in the current paper will help parents understand their role in their child’s development and help them in different situations.
• Perfect Family Myths on Divorce and Parenting This paper discussed four myths about family. These myths target the issue of divorce, family structure, and the responsibilities of parents.
• Diana Baumrind Theory of Parenting Styles Children exhibit behavioural characteristics depending on their upbringing. Diana Baumrind developed four parenting styles explaining children’s behaviour in specific situations.
• Parenting Assessment and Interventions The purpose of this assessment is to evaluate the effect of parenting styles on decisions and children’s behavior. In particular, it focuses on difficulties.
• The Problem-Solving Process in Parenting The problem-solving process on teaching the child responsibility by letting him complete his school assignments in his own way and stating borders of parent’s help.
• Differences in Parenting Styles in the East (China) and the West (America) The article discusses introduction in the essay “Differences in parenting styles in the East (China) and the West (America)” and argues that is short and straightforward.
• “Parenting and SES: Relative Values or Enduring Principles?” by Roubinov Parenting is one of the most critical aspects of social dynamics, where children’s development and growth are affected by the choices their parents make along the given process.
• Bullying: A Guide for the Parents The first way for parents to assist the kid in coming up with bullies is to teach them a set of responses, which they can use in case someone is picking on them.
• Parental Listening, Encouraging, and Trusting Parents who know how to listen, encourage, and trust their kids can positively influence their children’s emotional stability and social success.
• Parental Incarceration’s Impact on a Child Parental incarceration is a significant issue, and though it is addressed on multiple levels, there are still some related imperfections that complicate children’s lives.
• The Gender-Neutral Conceptualization of Parenting Society should apply gender-neutral conceptualization of parenting because a parent’s gender was found to have little impact on the child’s development.
• Tort of Negligence and Parents-Drivers’ Responsibility The negligence lawsuit is an important part of the law system that considers crimes that are committed by persons who failed to use reasonable vigilance and caution.
• Parenting Philosophy in “Where the Wild Things Are” Parenting philosophy described in the story “Where the Wild Things Are” is an uninvolved parenting style with an emotionally unavailable mother.
• Parents and Children’s E-Safety Education During the Pandemic When it comes to children’s education from a Constructivist perspective, parents are to engage with the children’s activities online to make sense of the Internet knowledge.
• Parenting Styles and Aggressive Adolescents Researchers have identified parenting styles that influence children’s growth and development. Parenting styles include authoritative, permissive, negligent, and authoritarian.
• Ethical Principles: Parents’ Vaccination Concerns This case study reviews the ethical and moral choices of doctors who aim to convince parents to vaccinate their children.
• Childhood Attachment and Parenting Styles In social sciences and psychology, the term emotional attachment may refer to the process of understanding the expressive closeness.
• A Parent’s Right on Their Child Medication The rights of parents towards their children are spelled out in different acts of parliament regarding the lawful authority they have in given areas.
• The Relationship Between Parenting Styles This paper provides an analysis of data pertaining to the relationship between parenting styles employed by a child’s parent.
• Theoretical Approaches to Child Parenting Parenting is a discipline that includes branches from theories of the early stages of a child’s awareness of reality to future place in the world.
• Parenting Techniques Analysis The current paper divides parenting into four styles according to the level of parental responsiveness and demandingness.
• Remarriages and Step-Parenting
• Tax Research Problem Parent Corporation
• Study of a Parent-Child Relationship
• Family Law: Parent’s Right to Travel
• Adolescent Adjustment to Parental Divorce
• Types of Parenting Styles Analysis
• Effect of Parenting on Child’s Health Development
• Caregiver Burden for Adult Children Whose Parent Has Alzheimer’s Disease
• The Lived Experiences of Native American Women Parenting on and off Reservations
• Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy in Parents
• Single-Parent Families: Source Analysis
• The Article: “Parental Perception of Child Weight: a Concept Analysis”
• Program to Build Parenting Skills in Teenage Parents
• Dominant Parenting Styles: Gender-Differentiated Parenting Revisited
• Parenting in Lapine’s Play Into the Wood
• Reasons to Become Parents in Middle Adulthood
• Parenting Styles Exemplified by the Molly Family
• The Adaptation to Childhood Chronic Illnesses: Parental and Child Perspectives
• Romantic Relationships and Parenting
• New Parent Guide: Breastfeeding and Attachment
• Negative Media Effects Mitigation: Parents’ Role
• Helping and Supporting Single-Parent Families
• The Influence of Parents in the Development of the Baby
• Infant’s Temperament Influences on the Parents Treat
• Understanding of Motherhood and Parenting Role
• The Five Biggest Ideas in Parenting
• “Superpowers for Parents” by Dr. Stephen Briers
• Native American Women and Parenting
• Substance Use by Parents and the Effect on Kids
• How Can Parents Produce Important Behaviors in Disabled Family Members?
• Grand Parents Custody Rights Analysis
• Problems Experienced by Children That Are Reared by Heterosexual Parents
• Alcoholic Parents’ Effect on Adult Children
• The Impact of Absent Parents Gears More Towards Absent Fathers
• The Role of Parents Within the Education System
• The Issues of Gay Parents
• Sociological Research Evaluation: Effects of Parental Imprisonment on Children’s Social and Moral Aspects
• Parents’ Responsibilities: Child Support Obligations
• Self-Control Theory: Are Our Parents to Blame?
• Critique of Articles on Parenting, ADHD, Child Psychology, and Development
• Parental Involvement in Urban School District
• The Impact of Parent’s Educational Level on College Students
• Applied Ethics: Moral Standards of Alcoholic Parents
• Medical and Christian Ethics: Ill Child and Parents
• When Parents Refuse to Give Up: Yusef Camp’s Case
• Gay and Single-Parent Families: Functionalist View
• Childhood Obesity: Medication and Parent Education
• Postsecondary Enrolment and Parental Income
• Counseling for Healthy Relationships With Parents
• Parenting Style and Bullying Among Children
• Parents Shape Early Adolescents’ Eating Behaviors
• Are Parents Responsible for Their Children’s Crimes?
• The Issues of Childhood Obesity: Overweight and Parent Education
• Childhood Obesity and Parent Education: Ethical Issues
• Authoritative Parenting in Comparison to Other Styles
• Authoritarian Parenting Impact on Children’s Health
• Children’s Early Literacy Achievement and Parents’ Role
• Gadgets’ Impact on Parent-Child Relationships
• Parenting Styles in Situational Examples
• Homeschooling Disadvantages for Students and Parents
• Same-Sex Parenting Impact on Children’s Behavior
• Childhood Obesity, Medical and Parental Education
• Adolescent Obesity and Parental Education Study
• Single Afro-Americans Parenting Their Adolescents
• Parents’ Incomes and Children’s Camp Expenses
• Childhood Obesity: Parental Education vs. Medicaments
• Childhood Obesity: The Relationships Between Overweight and Parental Education
• Violence: Community Center for Children and Parents
• Gender Stereotypes in Families: Parents’ Gender Roles and Children’s Aspirations
• Parents’ Gender Roles and Children’s Aspirations
• Parenting Styles Researching: Analytical Techniques
• Positive Parenting and Child Externalizing Behavior
• Gender Stereotypes in Families: Parental Influence on an Adolescent’s Career Choice
• Children With Asthma: Risks Created by Smoking Parents
• Systematic Training for Effective Parenting
• Diagnosis Disclosure and Child-Parent Relationship
• Eight Steps of Effective Parent Participation
• Parenting: Open Versus Closed Adoption
• Childhood Obesity and Independent Variable in Parents
• Family-Based Childhood Obesity and Parental Weight
• Parenting Style Comparison: Positive and Negative Impacts
• The Father’s Role in Parenting
• The Impact of Relationships With Parents on the Future
• Parental Exposure and Underage Drinking – Psychology
• The Parent-Child Relationships Theories
• Raising Children in Single Families: Single-Parent Families’ Problems
• Te Single-Parent Homes Problems
• Developmental Psychology: Aggression Between Parents
• Parents Bear Responsibility for the Recreational Rioter – Psychology
• Families: Single Parent Controversy
• Parents Need Help: Restricting Access to Video Games
• Corporal Punishment and Parents Position
• Vaccines: Should Parents Avoid Vaccinating Their Children?
• What Are the Differences Between Chinese and Western Parenting Styles?
• Does Homosexual Parenting Have Negative Effects?
• Does Strength-Based Parenting Predict Academic Achievement?
• What Is an Example of Cultural Bias as It Relates to Parenting?
• What Is the Relationship Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Practices?
• How Does Gender or Sexuality Condition Influence Parenting?
• How Parenting Styles Changed for Indian Immigrants?
• What Is Measure of Parenting Satisfaction and Efficacy?
• What Links Between Parenting and Social Competence in Children Are There?
• What Is the Relationship Between Parenting Style and Math Self-Efficacy?
• What Are the Multiple Determinants of Parenting?
• How Opioids Can Interfere With Parenting Instincts?
• What Is Developmental Contextual Perspective on Parenting?
• What Is the Relationship Between Parenting and Poverty?
• How Equally Shared Parenting Works?
• What Factors Are Related to Parenting Practices in Taiwan?
• What Are the Consequences of Parenting on Adolescent Outcomes?
• What Does the Term Systematic Training in Effective Parenting Mean?
• What Is Development of a Parenting Alliance Inventory and How Does It Help?
• What Are the Differences Between Collectivist and Individualist Parenting Styles?
• What Are the Protective Effects of Good Parenting on Adolescents?
• What Behavioral Observations of Parenting in Battered Women Are There?
• What Is the Changing Nature of Parenting in America and Why Is It Not Permanent?
• How to Overcome Parenting Stress in Raising Autistic Children?
• What Is the Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting?
• Should people be legally obliged to take parenting courses before having children?
• Does helicopter parenting hinder a child’s development?
• Should parents share equal responsibilities in childrearing?
• Is it ethical for parents to share the photos of their children without their consent?
• Should parents enforce strict limits on screen time for their children?
• Does co-sleeping harm a child’s sleep patterns and independence?
• Should parents allow teenagers to make vital decisions like getting tattoos?
• Is it ethical for parents to choose a child’s career path for them?
• Should parents be liable for their children’s cyberbullying behaviors?
• Should parents be allowed to choose not to vaccinate their children?

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The Harsh Realm of “Gentle Parenting”

Not far into her new book, “ Brain-Body Parenting ” (Harper Wave), the child psychologist Mona Delahooke makes a confession. She recalls a time when her three daughters were young and she often felt overwhelmed. “When my body budget was in a deficit,” she writes, “I’d sometimes say things I later regretted, projecting my own lack of internal resources onto my kids: ‘Hurry up! You’re making us late!’ ” Stress and exhaustion, she goes on, “turned me into an authoritarian and controlling mom.”

I paused over this. I went back and reread the paragraph from the beginning. I skimmed ahead for further disclosures of Delahooke’s authoritarian tendencies. But that was it: “Hurry up! You’re making us late!” As someone whose morning exercise takes the form of a power struggle over when and under what circumstances my five-year-old will put down his trains, put on his shoes, and leave for school, I knew, reading Delahooke, that I had entered a reality-distortion field, but I wasn’t sure which one of us was the agent of distortion.

Delahooke’s recommendations in “Brain-Body Parenting” hew closely to the child-rearing philosophy commonly known as “gentle parenting,” which has been the vogue among vigilant, trend-aware P.M.C. parents for some time. It has no official doctrine: writing in the Times , Jessica Grose called the approach “a sort of open-source mélange, interpreted and remixed by moms across the country.” It doesn’t even have an official name—“gentle parenting” is a catchall for variations that include “respectful parenting,” “mindful parenting,” and “intentional parenting.” In its broadest outlines, gentle parenting centers on acknowledging a child’s feelings and the motivations behind challenging behavior, as opposed to correcting the behavior itself. The gentle parent holds firm boundaries, gives a child choices instead of orders, and eschews rewards, punishments, and threats—no sticker charts, no time-outs, no “I will turn this car around right now .” Instead of issuing commands (“Put on your shoes!”), the parent strives to understand why a child is acting out in the first place (“What’s up, honey? You don’t want to put your shoes on?”) or, perhaps, narrates the problem (“You’re playing with your trains because putting on shoes doesn’t feel good”).

The gently parented child, the theory goes, learns to recognize and control her emotions because a caregiver is consistently affirming those emotions as real and important. The parent provides a model for keeping one’s cool, but no overt incentives for doing so—the kid becomes a person who is self-regulating, kind, and conscientious because she wants to be, not because it will result in ice cream. Gentle parenting represents a turn away from a still dominant progressive approach known as “authoritative parenting,” which likewise privileges emotional attunement but allows for positive and negative reinforcement. Authoritative parents may use time-outs and groundings, for example, which are discouraged by their gentle counterparts.

There is a lot to like about gentle parenting. Delahooke’s book is particularly strong when it illustrates the rudimentary rigging of children’s physiology: kids aren’t (yet) wired for compliance and self-control, so it’s only fair for adults with fully developed brains to show them patience and empathy. Inhaling the expertise on the subject—books by Delahooke and Sarah Ockwell-Smith (the author of “ How to Be a Calm Parent ” and “ The Gentle Parenting Book ”), the RIE -descended philosophy of Janet Lansbury’s “Unruffled” podcast, Robin Einzig’s “Visible Child” Facebook discussion group, Destiny Bennett’s TikToks, and the enormously popular Instagram tutorials of Becky Kennedy, a.k.a. Dr. Becky—has made me a more mindful, less reactive parent. It has changed how I speak to my children and how I attempt to negotiate tough moments with them, and for that I am grateful.

Still, across the parenting boards and the group texts, one can detect a certain restlessness. A fatigue is setting in: about the deference to a child’s every mood, the strict maintenance of emotional affect, the notion that trying to keep to a schedule could be “authoritarian.” Sometimes, the people are saying, a tantrum isn’t worthy of being placed upon a pedestal. Sometimes, they plead, their voices rising past a gentle threshold, you just need to put your freaking shoes on.

Because so much of parenting is a practical matter, the how-to aspects of the gentle-parenting industry hold the most appeal. Kennedy, whose book “ Good Inside ” will be published in September, offers adaptable scripts for typical conflicts. (When a kid lies about knocking down his brother’s block tower: “Well, if someone, not you, but someone did push down a tower . . . I think I’d understand. Having a brother is hard. Sharing is hard.”) Bennett, a Black voice in a field crowded with white women, often draws on interactions with her own children: in a TikTok video labelled “The most emotionally invalidating things I stopped saying to my kids,” she rattles off the verboten phrases—“I don’t care,” “You don’t listen”—while a sleepy toddler nestles against her. Her videos collectively garner millions of views, and, in part because she often seems to be working through her approaches in real time, her advice feels friendlier and less doctrinaire than that of some of her gentle-parenting peers.

Elsewhere, the prohibitions on certain words and phrases can feel paralyzing. The parenting coach Einzig warns against “The Dreaded and Dangerous WE,” as in “We don’t hit people” and “We don’t throw food.” “It’s condescending,” she explains. “Children notice that we don’t speak this way to adults, and they figure out that we think that children don’t deserve the same respect that we give adults.” Gentle-parenting advocates are near-unanimous in the view that a child should never be told that she “made Mommy sad”—she should focus on her internal weather rather than peering out the window. “Good job!” is usually not O.K., even if you corroborate why the job is good. “Because I said so” is never O.K., no matter how many times a child asks why she has to go to bed.

One of the major themes in “Brain-Body Parenting,” and in gentle-parenting discourse generally, is that children don’t defy for the sake of defiance, but that their challenging behavior is a physiological response to stress and should be seen as essentially adaptive. The assumption unto itself is questionable: if little Timmy is on the front lawn tossing gardening implements at traffic, his motivations are probably obscurer than stress. This is one of the most confounding dilemmas of parenting, especially as kids exit the toddler stage: that sometimes a child tests or destroys boundaries for the thrill of it. Under the gentle-parenting schema, a child’s every act must be seen through a lens of anxiety and threat-detection—which heightens the parent’s dual role of child psychologist and emotional-security guard.

And why does this child feel so threatened, so stressed? The answer might be found on an episode of “Unruffled,” in which Lansbury addresses a mother whose five-year-old keeps hitting and pinching his younger sister. “He doesn’t feel safe to open up and share himself,” Lansbury explains. “He feels attacked. He feels judged. He feels misunderstood. . . . He feels he has to defend himself rather than having his mother or father or both of them being really curious about what’s going on.” In a post from 2012, Lansbury adopts the perspective of a toddler with aggression issues. “If I keep repeating the behavior,” the imaginary toddler declares, “it’s because it doesn’t feel resolved for me. Either you aren’t being convincing enough, or you’re being too intense and emotional.” If, toddler-Lansbury goes on, “there’s anger in your voice when you say ‘Don’t hit!,’ it unnerves me and I’m compelled to keep behaving that way until you can give me a calmer response.” These scripts are an inversion of the look what you made me do school of authoritarian discipline: the child gets to be the one who will turn this car around right now .

For the most part, though, “Unruffled” is digital-audio Xanax; bingeing a few episodes always adds some levity, even serenity, to the day-to-day parenting project. To witness the true blame-Mom wing of gentle parenting, look to Einzig’s heavily moderated Facebook group, “Visible Child: Respectful/Mindful Parenting,” where the tone toward the parent-supplicants is one of weary passive-aggression edging into contemptuous disbelief. (Disclosure: I was blocked from “Visible Child” after objecting to a post in which Einzig expressed disdain for members of the group whose partners have authoritarian parenting styles.) Once, a mother asked about her young son, who hit and kicked her after she told him that she would be taking a break from playing with him to do some cleaning. “He’s telling you very clearly that right now he needs your presence,” Einzig replied—the housework should wait. (So much for setting firm boundaries.) She went on, “If you don’t want him to hit you (perfectly reasonable), look at your part in the things that result in that.”

What is bewildering about some tenets of gentle parenting is their presentation of a validated child as a solitary child, and a mother as only Mother. When Lansbury counsels the mother of a child who hits, there is no acknowledgment of the little sister’s experience being hit, even though she may also feel “attacked”; there is no expectation of her mother “being really curious about what’s going on” inside the girl after she’s been hit, no recognition that the girl may wonder why her brother hitting her should not be “judged,” no thought given to the social consequences of being known as a hitter or of how those consequences might adversely shape a child’s self-perception. The housework that Einzig says to put off is a synecdoche for everything that the gentle parent—and, perhaps, the gently parented child’s invisible siblings—must push aside in order to complete a transformation into a self-renouncing, perpetually present humanoid who has nothing but time and who is programmed for nothing but calm.

Delahooke, to her credit, never goes to such extremes. “Brain-Body Parenting” is a warm, forgiving book—there’s even a passage on the childhood importance of coziness, including an endorsement of hygge . That’s why it’s odd that she presents “Hurry up! You’re making us late!” as the stuff of a mommy-forum struggle session. Then again, catastrophizing such a small incident is useful, because it plants the grain of doubt. The reader may have assumed that her own parenting missteps were minor; now her tuning for major and minor has changed.

Last year, at a preschool birthday party on a playground, as kids whaled away at a piñata, I solidified a friendship with a fellow-parent—the father of two comprehensively delightful children—when we realized that we’ve both found ourselves trawling Wikipedia, late at night, trying to find serial killers who had O.K. childhoods. This form of sleep procrastination is, in its own disordered way, a means of lowering the parenting stakes, of reassuring ourselves that it takes vastly more than saying “good job” or yelling about shoes to do lasting damage to our kids. It is just as perversely soothing, perhaps, to consider the failures of our forebears. If members of Gen X can blame their high rates of depression and anxiety on latchkey parenting, and if millennials can blame their high rates of depression and anxiety on helicopter parenting, then perhaps a new generation can anticipate blaming their high rates of depression and anxiety on the overvalidation and undercorrection native to gentle parenting.

The business of parenting advice, though, is to raise the stakes—to say it’s all your fault, but that means you’re in control and you can fix it. In “ The Addiction Inoculation ,” from last year, the author Jessica Lahey presents steps that parents can take, starting in preschool, to lower their children’s odds of developing substance-abuse issues in adulthood; action items include “be specific in your praise,” “be honest with your praise,” and “don’t go overboard with your praise.” In “ The Child Code ,” also from 2021, Danielle Dick, a professor of psychology and genetics, promises to “help you identify your child’s unique genetic tendencies,” which “will enable you to influence the pathways through which their genes and environments intermingle across time to shape their development.”

This is child-rearing as brain surgery, and it’s everywhere in contemporary parenting literature. “Sensitive, attuned parenting helps build the brain architecture that leads to” resilience, Delahooke writes. One of Kennedy’s maxims warns, “When you orient a child to focus on the impact of her feelings on you instead of the reality of the feelings inside herself , you are wiring a child for co-dependency.” The aggregate effect is to encourage a dysmorphic sense of one’s own power as a parent ( If I say ‘Good job!’ it is more likely that my child will abuse drugs ) but also, at times, a kind of self-erasure in the name of equanimity ( If I show my kid that her shenanigans upset me, it is more likely that she will become a people-pleaser with low self-esteem, which will lead her to abuse drugs ). The essential enigma of parenting, though, is that you are responsible for your children and yet you can’t possibly be responsible for them. They are clay in your hands; they are the rocks that break your hands.

The other morning, like any morning, I was trying to coax my son away from his toys and out the door. I was sitting cross-legged across from him on the living-room rug, and, though my entreaties were gentle, they didn’t necessarily meet the strictest gentle-parenting standards. The algorithmic censor in my head kept pinging away. “C’mon, honey, we’re going to be late.” ( Hmm, are you suggesting that he is making you late? ) “You know that you don’t like to be late for school.” ( Hmm, a bit manipulative, no? Who are you to presume what he likes? ) “Don’t you want to see your friends?” ( Hmm, isn’t he showing you right now what he “wants”? ) He protested; he frowned and shook his head. I foresaw mornings past: raising my voice, dragging him out the door. And then, for reasons unknown, reasons that may or may not have had to do with anything that I have ever said or done or read, he got up and put his shoes on.

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98 Parent Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best parent topic ideas & essay examples, 💡 most interesting parent topics to write about, 📌 simple & easy parent essay titles, 👍 good essay topics on parent.

• How Do Teenagers Deal With Problems and Consequence Without Parent’s Support? This is because the parents are not in a position to be of good guidance during the period of the problems and they are not reliable and therefore teenagers tend to rely on themselves.
• Good Parent-Children Relationship Characteristics of the children compared to those of the parents can also influence the relationships between the parents and the children.
• What Is a Concept Good Parent? Overall, a good parent is a parent who can offer one’s child love and affection which is important for his or her normal development as a dignified and contented person, and is also successful in […]
• What Is a Parent? In the cases wherein the egg and sperm do not come from the couple, and a surrogate is used to carry the child, who is the real parent of the child?
• Parent-Teacher Interaction Strategies Despite this fundamental importance, the reality on the ground is that these interactions are often feared by parents and educators alike due to a variety of issues that need to be understood in order to […]
• Parent Interview: Through the Generations I was wondering about her understanding of the roles of mothers and fathers in a family and society, as well as the changes modern parenting undergoes. The development of family relationships is a choice a […]
• Parent-Teacher Conferences and Their Forms The picture is a great example of a successful parent-teacher conference as all factors presented in it can greatly contribute to the mutual understanding and further cooperation of parents and a teacher.
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• How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Parenting Styles — Parenting Styles and How They May Affect A Child’s Development

Parenting Styles and How They May Affect a Child's Development

• Categories: Parenting Styles

About this sample

Words: 1544 |

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 1544 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Table of contents

How this effects a child’s life, works cited.

• Baumrind, D. (1966). Effects of authoritative parental control on child behavior. Child Development, 37(4), 887-907.
• Baumrind, D. (1967). Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75(1), 43-88.
• Boskic, M. (2010). Parenting styles and social skills development in early childhood. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 12(2).
• Chan, S. M., & Koo, A. (2010). Parenting style and youth outcomes in the UK. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 7(3), 352-371.
• Combs, M. D., & Landsverk, J. (1988). Parenting styles and adolescent behavior. Journal of Adolescent Research, 3(1), 3-20.
• Kordi, M., & Baharudin, R. (2010). Parenting styles and interpersonal relationship among adolescents. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 1860-1864.
• Park, J. Y., Kim, H., Chiang, Y. C., & M. Ju, S. (2010). Authoritarian parenting and youth emotional adjustment: Mediating roles of sense of inadequacy and ego-resiliency. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(12), 1408-1420.
• Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., Luyckx, K., Goossens, L., & Beyers, W. (2007). Conceptualizing parental autonomy support: Adolescent perceptions of promotion of independence versus promotion of volitional functioning. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 633-646.
• Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S. D., Dornbusch, S. M., & Darling, N. (1992). Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: Authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed. Child Development, 63(5), 1266-1281.
• Volling, B. L., McElwain, N. L., Notaro, P. C., & Herrera, C. (2002). Parents' emotional availability and infant emotional competence: Predictors of parent-infant attachment and emerging self-regulation. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(4), 447-465.

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130 New Prompts for Argumentative Writing

Questions on everything from mental health and sports to video games and dating. Which ones inspire you to take a stand?

By The Learning Network

Note: We have an updated version of this list, with 300 new argumentative writing prompts .

What issues do you care most about? What topics do you find yourself discussing passionately, whether online, at the dinner table, in the classroom or with your friends?

In Unit 5 of our free yearlong writing curriculum and related Student Editorial Contest , we invite students to research and write about the issues that matter to them, whether that’s Shakespeare , health care , standardized testing or being messy .

But with so many possibilities, where does one even begin? Try our student writing prompts.

In 2017, we compiled a list of 401 argumentative writing prompts , all drawn from our daily Student Opinion column . Now, we’re rounding up 130 more we’ve published since then ( available here as a PDF ). Each prompt links to a free Times article as well as additional subquestions that can help you think more deeply about it.

You might use this list to inspire your own writing and to find links to reliable resources about the issues that intrigue you. But even if you’re not participating in our contest, you can use these prompts to practice the kind of low-stakes writing that can help you hone your argumentation skills.

So scroll through the list below with questions on everything from sports and mental health to dating and video games and see which ones inspire you to take a stand.

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What this handout is about

This handout will define what an argument is and explain why you need one in most of your academic essays.

Arguments are everywhere

You may be surprised to hear that the word “argument” does not have to be written anywhere in your assignment for it to be an important part of your task. In fact, making an argument—expressing a point of view on a subject and supporting it with evidence—is often the aim of academic writing. Your instructors may assume that you know this and thus may not explain the importance of arguments in class.

Most material you learn in college is or has been debated by someone, somewhere, at some time. Even when the material you read or hear is presented as a simple fact, it may actually be one person’s interpretation of a set of information. Instructors may call on you to examine that interpretation and defend it, refute it, or offer some new view of your own. In writing assignments, you will almost always need to do more than just summarize information that you have gathered or regurgitate facts that have been discussed in class. You will need to develop a point of view on or interpretation of that material and provide evidence for your position.

Consider an example. For nearly 2000 years, educated people in many Western cultures believed that bloodletting—deliberately causing a sick person to lose blood—was the most effective treatment for a variety of illnesses. The claim that bloodletting is beneficial to human health was not widely questioned until the 1800s, and some physicians continued to recommend bloodletting as late as the 1920s. Medical practices have now changed because some people began to doubt the effectiveness of bloodletting; these people argued against it and provided convincing evidence. Human knowledge grows out of such differences of opinion, and scholars like your instructors spend their lives engaged in debate over what claims may be counted as accurate in their fields. In their courses, they want you to engage in similar kinds of critical thinking and debate.

Argumentation is not just what your instructors do. We all use argumentation on a daily basis, and you probably already have some skill at crafting an argument. The more you improve your skills in this area, the better you will be at thinking critically, reasoning, making choices, and weighing evidence.

Making a claim

What is an argument? In academic writing, an argument is usually a main idea, often called a “claim” or “thesis statement,” backed up with evidence that supports the idea. In the majority of college papers, you will need to make some sort of claim and use evidence to support it, and your ability to do this well will separate your papers from those of students who see assignments as mere accumulations of fact and detail. In other words, gone are the happy days of being given a “topic” about which you can write anything. It is time to stake out a position and prove why it is a good position for a thinking person to hold. See our handout on thesis statements .

Claims can be as simple as “Protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged,” with evidence such as, “In this experiment, protons and electrons acted in such and such a way.” Claims can also be as complex as “Genre is the most important element to the contract of expectations between filmmaker and audience,” using reasoning and evidence such as, “defying genre expectations can create a complete apocalypse of story form and content, leaving us stranded in a sort of genre-less abyss.” In either case, the rest of your paper will detail the reasoning and evidence that have led you to believe that your position is best.

When beginning to write a paper, ask yourself, “What is my point?” For example, the point of this handout is to help you become a better writer, and we are arguing that an important step in the process of writing effective arguments is understanding the concept of argumentation. If your papers do not have a main point, they cannot be arguing for anything. Asking yourself what your point is can help you avoid a mere “information dump.” Consider this: your instructors probably know a lot more than you do about your subject matter. Why, then, would you want to provide them with material they already know? Instructors are usually looking for two things:

• Proof that you understand the material
• A demonstration of your ability to use or apply the material in ways that go beyond what you have read or heard.

This second part can be done in many ways: you can critique the material, apply it to something else, or even just explain it in a different way. In order to succeed at this second step, though, you must have a particular point to argue.

Arguments in academic writing are usually complex and take time to develop. Your argument will need to be more than a simple or obvious statement such as “Frank Lloyd Wright was a great architect.” Such a statement might capture your initial impressions of Wright as you have studied him in class; however, you need to look deeper and express specifically what caused that “greatness.” Your instructor will probably expect something more complicated, such as “Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture combines elements of European modernism, Asian aesthetic form, and locally found materials to create a unique new style,” or “There are many strong similarities between Wright’s building designs and those of his mother, which suggests that he may have borrowed some of her ideas.” To develop your argument, you would then define your terms and prove your claim with evidence from Wright’s drawings and buildings and those of the other architects you mentioned.

Do not stop with having a point. You have to back up your point with evidence. The strength of your evidence, and your use of it, can make or break your argument. See our handout on evidence . You already have the natural inclination for this type of thinking, if not in an academic setting. Think about how you talked your parents into letting you borrow the family car. Did you present them with lots of instances of your past trustworthiness? Did you make them feel guilty because your friends’ parents all let them drive? Did you whine until they just wanted you to shut up? Did you look up statistics on teen driving and use them to show how you didn’t fit the dangerous-driver profile? These are all types of argumentation, and they exist in academia in similar forms.

Every field has slightly different requirements for acceptable evidence, so familiarize yourself with some arguments from within that field instead of just applying whatever evidence you like best. Pay attention to your textbooks and your instructor’s lectures. What types of argument and evidence are they using? The type of evidence that sways an English instructor may not work to convince a sociology instructor. Find out what counts as proof that something is true in that field. Is it statistics, a logical development of points, something from the object being discussed (art work, text, culture, or atom), the way something works, or some combination of more than one of these things?

Be consistent with your evidence. Unlike negotiating for the use of your parents’ car, a college paper is not the place for an all-out blitz of every type of argument. You can often use more than one type of evidence within a paper, but make sure that within each section you are providing the reader with evidence appropriate to each claim. So, if you start a paragraph or section with a statement like “Putting the student seating area closer to the basketball court will raise player performance,” do not follow with your evidence on how much more money the university could raise by letting more students go to games for free. Information about how fan support raises player morale, which then results in better play, would be a better follow-up. Your next section could offer clear reasons why undergraduates have as much or more right to attend an undergraduate event as wealthy alumni—but this information would not go in the same section as the fan support stuff. You cannot convince a confused person, so keep things tidy and ordered.

Counterargument

One way to strengthen your argument and show that you have a deep understanding of the issue you are discussing is to anticipate and address counterarguments or objections. By considering what someone who disagrees with your position might have to say about your argument, you show that you have thought things through, and you dispose of some of the reasons your audience might have for not accepting your argument. Recall our discussion of student seating in the Dean Dome. To make the most effective argument possible, you should consider not only what students would say about seating but also what alumni who have paid a lot to get good seats might say.

You can generate counterarguments by asking yourself how someone who disagrees with you might respond to each of the points you’ve made or your position as a whole. If you can’t immediately imagine another position, here are some strategies to try:

• Do some research. It may seem to you that no one could possibly disagree with the position you are arguing, but someone probably has. For example, some people argue that a hotdog is a sandwich. If you are making an argument concerning, for example, the characteristics of an exceptional sandwich, you might want to see what some of these people have to say.
• Talk with a friend or with your teacher. Another person may be able to imagine counterarguments that haven’t occurred to you.
• Consider your conclusion or claim and the premises of your argument and imagine someone who denies each of them. For example, if you argued, “Cats make the best pets. This is because they are clean and independent,” you might imagine someone saying, “Cats do not make the best pets. They are dirty and needy.”

Once you have thought up some counterarguments, consider how you will respond to them—will you concede that your opponent has a point but explain why your audience should nonetheless accept your argument? Will you reject the counterargument and explain why it is mistaken? Either way, you will want to leave your reader with a sense that your argument is stronger than opposing arguments.

When you are summarizing opposing arguments, be charitable. Present each argument fairly and objectively, rather than trying to make it look foolish. You want to show that you have considered the many sides of the issue. If you simply attack or caricature your opponent (also referred to as presenting a “straw man”), you suggest that your argument is only capable of defeating an extremely weak adversary, which may undermine your argument rather than enhance it.

It is usually better to consider one or two serious counterarguments in some depth, rather than to give a long but superficial list of many different counterarguments and replies.

Be sure that your reply is consistent with your original argument. If considering a counterargument changes your position, you will need to go back and revise your original argument accordingly.

Audience is a very important consideration in argument. Take a look at our handout on audience . A lifetime of dealing with your family members has helped you figure out which arguments work best to persuade each of them. Maybe whining works with one parent, but the other will only accept cold, hard statistics. Your kid brother may listen only to the sound of money in his palm. It’s usually wise to think of your audience in an academic setting as someone who is perfectly smart but who doesn’t necessarily agree with you. You are not just expressing your opinion in an argument (“It’s true because I said so”), and in most cases your audience will know something about the subject at hand—so you will need sturdy proof. At the same time, do not think of your audience as capable of reading your mind. You have to come out and state both your claim and your evidence clearly. Do not assume that because the instructor knows the material, he or she understands what part of it you are using, what you think about it, and why you have taken the position you’ve chosen.

Critical reading

Critical reading is a big part of understanding argument. Although some of the material you read will be very persuasive, do not fall under the spell of the printed word as authority. Very few of your instructors think of the texts they assign as the last word on the subject. Remember that the author of every text has an agenda, something that he or she wants you to believe. This is OK—everything is written from someone’s perspective—but it’s a good thing to be aware of. For more information on objectivity and bias and on reading sources carefully, read our handouts on evaluating print sources and reading to write .

Take notes either in the margins of your source (if you are using a photocopy or your own book) or on a separate sheet as you read. Put away that highlighter! Simply highlighting a text is good for memorizing the main ideas in that text—it does not encourage critical reading. Part of your goal as a reader should be to put the author’s ideas in your own words. Then you can stop thinking of these ideas as facts and start thinking of them as arguments.

When you read, ask yourself questions like “What is the author trying to prove?” and “What is the author assuming I will agree with?” Do you agree with the author? Does the author adequately defend her argument? What kind of proof does she use? Is there something she leaves out that you would put in? Does putting it in hurt her argument? As you get used to reading critically, you will start to see the sometimes hidden agendas of other writers, and you can use this skill to improve your own ability to craft effective arguments.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald. 2016. The Craft of Research , 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Ede, Lisa. 2004. Work in Progress: A Guide to Academic Writing and Revising , 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Gage, John T. 2005. The Shape of Reason: Argumentative Writing in College , 4th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A., and John J. Ruszkiewicz. 2016. Everything’s an Argument , 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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120 Compelling Topics for Your Next Argumentative Essay

Most people like to argue—whether they like to admit it or not. But when the time comes when it's actually appropriate to take a side and passionately defend it (say, an argumentative essay in your writing class), you might find it difficult to think of what to argue about and how to argue effectively. An effective argumentative essay will leave the reader questioning what they think about a topic, and maybe even change their minds.

Whatever kind of argument you choose to write about, always be sure to back up your claims with solid research and facts. Though you can definitely have an opinion in this essay, your argument will always be more credible when bolstered facts rather than relying simply on how you feel. When you find yourself getting stuck on what to write, take a look at these ideas for argumentative essays for some inspiration for your paper, or to expand on these ideas and create your own topic.

What makes a good essay topic?

Though you may know what format and style guide to use, you may be in the dark about what actually makes a good essay topic. While it may be easier to write an essay on something that is easy to agree on (like the fact that George Clooney is a very handsome man ), there's just really not a lot of interest in the topic because it is something everyone already knows to be true. What we're looking for in an argumentative essay topic is something that might expand people's minds and allow them to look at an issue in a new light. The idea isn't necessarily to convince them of your side (though of course that would be ideal!), but rather to get them to expand their mind just enough that they start to think about things from another perspective.

You'd be surprised at what years of social and cultural influences, education, and just plain stubbornness can do to make a person adamant that their side and opinion are right. Argumentative essay topics are so important because they are debatable—and it's crucial to always be critically thinking about the world around us. Why do we do things a certain way? Is it because it's right or is it because this is what we've always known? To constantly be questioning and arguing and thinking is really the true sign of learning. As we start to think about that idea, here are a few ideas to get you started on your own essay.

Education essay topics

Education is a topic that definitely affects each and every one of us. Education scholars are constantly evolving the way they think about how we learn and what is taught. So while these ten ideas are enough to get you started thinking about education and its role in society, the essay topics are really endless:

• How do you feel about the Common Core State Standards? Do you feel it hurts or helps K-12 students?
• Should we ban vending machines in schools? Consider the types of snacks and drinks found in vending machines.
• Should charter schools replace the public school system that we know now?
• Do you believe that the decades since Brown v. Board of education have actually brought about racial equality in education?
• How does the socioeconomic standing of a child's parents affect their education opportunities?
• Many policymakers are pushing STEM education. Why is this?
• How does gender affect education? Consider how different gendered students are treated by staff and what they are encouraged to pursue after school.
• Do traditional discipline methods really work on students? Consider the role of detention, suspension, and expulsion.
• Why do other countries measure ahead of the U.S. in education?
• Does homeschooling disadvantage students?
• Should teachers be allowed to discuss religion with their students?
• Should public schools be given the authority to ban certain books?
• Do you think school systems should offer courses in financial literacy and/or practical skills (e.g., the woodshop and Home Ec of old) to their students? If so, at what grade should students begin to learn these skills?
• Do you think high schools need to place a greater focus on preparing their students to choose a major/field of study in college? How would this inhibit/improve their college learning experience?
• How does the presence of a dress code in schools impact different students? Consider identity factors like biological sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and religion.
• How can we make college more accessible to all interested students?
• Should passing standardized testing be a requirement to graduate from public high school? How does this requirement impact different groups of students?
• How can school systems implement or improve sexual education courses for their students? Should schools be required to offer these kinds of courses?
• Should students who participate on sports teams be required to complete physical education classes in school?
• What kinds of emergency training programs should teachers and students be required to complete to stay safe in school?

Parenting essay topics

Who raises us and how they do it can really have a huge effect on the culture and society as a whole. Nearly everyone has an opinion on how children should be raised, but which one is right? Is there a right answer? How do politics affect how we raise our children? These are the kinds of things you will be exploring when you write a parenting argumentative essay.

• Should men receive paternity leave?
• Why do we have obstacles in the United States for women to receive paid maternity leave?
• How can we get childcare costs down in the United States?
• What is the best parenting style?
• What are some lessons that American parents can learn from other cultures?
• How does successful and proactive parenting affect a child's literacy skills and learning potential?
• How do overprotective parents affect children's lives? Consider the different types of attachment this may lead to between parents and children.
• Should parents be allowed to spank their children? Consider the potential consequences or benefits, if there are any, of corporal punishment.
• Should there be more accommodations made to make safe breastfeeding in public easier and more accessible?
• How can children get additional support in a single-parent household?
• What are some of the positives and negatives of raising a child as gender-neutral? Is this style of parenting beneficial in raising an independent thinker?
• Should there be stricter requirements for prospective parents to adopt a child?
• Should there be incentives to having children in America? What can the U.S. learn from other countries that provide extra support to new parents?
• Do you think new parents should be required to take courses on topics like nursing, CPR/Heimlich Maneuver, and other classes that teach safety and nutrition?
• How involved should a parent be in their teenager's personal life?
• How does raising a child with extremely strict rules affect the parent/child relationship in the future?
• Does gentle parenting rear more inclusive and independent children?
• Should parents limit their children's screen time?
• At what age should parents introduce toys and activities geared towards child learning and growth?
• Should single parents be given extra assistance by the government to help raise their child?

Gender equality issues topics

Women have only had the right to vote in the United States since 1920. In just over 100 years of suffrage, women have certainly accomplished a lot when it comes to equality. However, according to many scholars and activists, there is still a long way to go. With a subject that's sure to ignite some passion, there are endless topics to write about, but here are a few that we suggest.

• Should abortion be legal?
• Should religious institutions be required to provide birth control methods for their female employees, even if it goes against their religion?
• Should emergency contraception (aka "the morning-after pill") be legal?
• Statistically, women do not make as much money doing the same work as their male counterparts. How do you feel about this and what can be done to change this inequality?
• Many say that legal sex work is a women's rights issue. Does it apply solely to women? Consider how sex workers are treated in America and why it is that people feel as though they need to turn to sex work.
• Should women have to register for the draft?
• What are the biggest challenges for women in the workplace?
• How long should maternity leave be?
• What are some of the biggest challenges for female politicians?
• Why do you think the Equal Rights Amendments (ERA) failed? Do you think one such law could ever pass in your lifetime?
• Who or what defines gender?
• How do gender stereotypes influence male and female professional athletes and the sports industry?
• What does it mean to be a feminist? Why is the concept of feminism so often greeted with negativity?
• How do the marketing and advertising industries influence the continuation of gender stereotypes?
• How are careers continually gendered? Consider what kinds of jobs are associated with females versus males.
• How does history's interpretation of parental roles influence modern conceptions of gender roles?
• Should both men and women receive paid parental leave?
• How can we increase conversations surrounding men's mental health? Consider how men may have been raised to be unemotional and not share their feelings.
• What can be done to change society's views on single mothers?
• What are some ways men and women can adopt a truly equal share of child-rearing practices and household chores to maintain household equality?

Legal essay topics

There are many things to argue when it comes to the law. Law is constantly evolving with the ever-changing culture at large. Because of this, many disagree on how the laws should change (if they should change at all) and there are many topics to choose from. Here are a few of our picks.

• Should there be a federal law that allows marijuana to be legal?
• Should a person have the right to choose when they die? Consider how other countries treat this subject compared to the U.S..
• At what age should you legally be allowed to drink?
• Would you support harsher punishments for athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs?
• Is it an infringement on religious rights to have business owners provide services for LGBTQ weddings if they don't agree with the marriage?
• Should religious institutions be allowed tax exemptions?
• Should the death penalty be banned in the U.S.?
• Should a felon be granted the right to vote after s/he has served his or her sentence?
• How do you feel about more restrictive gun laws and universal background checks?
• Should citizens who entered the country illegally be forced to leave? What about their children who were brought here?
• Should men be allowed to vote on policies that affect female bodies?
• Do stricter laws need to be passed to maintain the separation of church and state? Consider the role of religion in modern day politics.
• Do you think every state should have the same laws regarding the legal age for marriage?
• Is our jury system fair?
• How often should a new president be elected to office? Do you think we need to change our current rules?
• Should there be strict age restrictions and term limits on the people voted into office, including Congress members, judges, and presidents?
• Should teachers be required to carry guns?
• Do you think cigarettes and other tobacco products should be outlawed?
• What, if anything, does the presence of police in schools do for students?
• Should freedom of speech protect hate speech?

Technology essay topics

Our country and our world are extremely dependent on advanced technology. It has completely changed the way we work, think, and communicate with each other. Many people are huge fans of new gadgets and rapidly advancing technology, but others are more wary of it. There are always a wide range of opinions on the subject of technology, and here are our favorite things to think about on the topic.

• Is an increased dependence on technology making us less intelligent?
• How do devices like smartphones and tablets affect growth and development in children?
• Do you think technology has decreased or increased our communication with each other? Consider the speed at which news is spread and what kinds of news is spread.
• Is print media dead?
• Do the comment sections on social media and news sites actually promote good discourse?
• Technology has made a lot of manual labor obsolete. How do you feel about this?
• What should blue-collar workers do when their job has replaced them with better technology? How should policymakers respond?
• Has online dating affected traditional ideas about romance and marriage?
• Do you believe that the government should enforce net neutrality principles on internet service providers?
• In what ways, if any, is technology making us more dependent?
• What are the potential benefits and consequences of introducing technology, such as smartphones and laptops, in the classroom?
• Should restrictions on technology be put into place to limit the number of jobs technological devices can replace?
• Does technology aid in the spread of false information and/or a rise in panic about current events?
• Do you think there should be stricter parameters to monitor what kind of technological advances are made? Consider the ethics behind particular technological advancements that influence the scientific manipulation of nature like genetic mutation, cloning, and other procedures.
• Social media apps have age limits, yet they are easy to bypass. How can we make social media age restrictions stricter to protect today's youth?
• Should laptops be provided to college students? Consider how a student's background affects their ability to purchase their own device.
• Should smartphones and social media apps be allowed to ban certain words in messaging/comments? What are some potential benefits/consequences of banning particular words or phrases?
• Do you think there should be restrictions on the presence of advertisements in technology? Consider how often you come across ads in social media apps or during a Google search.
• Should everyone have unrestricted access to the Internet?
• Are technology companies taking advantage of the consumer market by constantly introducing new and improved products? Are these products necessary, or are they just quick money grabs?

Society and culture essay topics

There are always things we wish would change about the society that we live in. Nothing is ever perfect, but we all still strive to make where we live to be the best it can be. The problem is that everyone's interpretation of what makes a good society is different. Some people live their lives according to their religion while others don't think you should factor that into decision making when it comes to determining rules for everyone.

• How does cultural discourse surrounding sex and sexuality impact youth in their pursuit of romantic attraction and relationships?
• Do you think that affirmative action is still necessary?
• Is there too much pressure placed on today's youth to take on and solve decades-long societal and cultural issues they did not create?
• Should you be forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance at school?
• Should it be illegal to burn the American flag?
• Do you think peaceful protest is possible, or is it inevitable that protests will become violent?
• Do you think collegiate athletes should be paid?
• Can the perpetrators of sex crimes be rehabilitated?
• Do you think the Electoral College should be abolished?
• Should the United States have one official language?
• How do social institutions – economic, political, religious, etc. – determine who is and who is not successful?
• How do cultural expectations – beauty, parental, economic – affect mental health? Should there be more conversations surrounding mental health?
• Do you think it would be possible for our prison system to move away from incarceration and towards rehabilitation?
• How do our social institutions influence our country's incarceration rate? Why does the U.S. have the highest incarceration rate?
• Is there systematic racism within the U.S. judicial system?
• How does someone's socioeconomic background influence their ability to attend higher education and get a job?
• Should the United States implement universal health care?
• Do you think anything can be done to deconstruct culturally accepted gender roles? Consider how peoples' background – family and education – influence their interactions with gender roles.
• Should there be stricter regulations on social media apps? How would this influence popular culture's influence on adolescents?
• Do you think society needs to do a better job of encouraging people to embrace their culture and be unique instead of pushing them to fit a cultural expectation and norm?

Portray your passion

When it comes to writing an argumentative essay, the most important thing to do is to choose a topic and an argument that you can really get behind. Not only will this make the writing a whole lot better, but it will also keep you more focused when you are researching and writing. Though it's unlikely you're going to feel a fiery passion about every subject you write on, pick the topic and side that best suits you. No reader wants to read a lukewarm argumentative piece. The reader wants to be persuaded and provoked. This won't happen if it appears you are uninterested in what you're writing about.

If you've read through this list and you still haven't found a topic that covers what you are interested in, be sure to ask your instructor or a librarian for help with researching and writing an argumentative essay. Similarly, if you have written an essay and you're not sure that it's going in the right direction, seek out the guidance of classmates or other writers, or get help from a professional editor.

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How to Write an A+ Argumentative Essay

Miscellaneous

You'll no doubt have to write a number of argumentative essays in both high school and college, but what, exactly, is an argumentative essay and how do you write the best one possible? Let's take a look.

A great argumentative essay always combines the same basic elements: approaching an argument from a rational perspective, researching sources, supporting your claims using facts rather than opinion, and articulating your reasoning into the most cogent and reasoned points. Argumentative essays are great building blocks for all sorts of research and rhetoric, so your teachers will expect you to master the technique before long.

But if this sounds daunting, never fear! We'll show how an argumentative essay differs from other kinds of papers, how to research and write them, how to pick an argumentative essay topic, and where to find example essays. So let's get started.

What Is an Argumentative Essay? How Is it Different from Other Kinds of Essays?

There are two basic requirements for any and all essays: to state a claim (a thesis statement) and to support that claim with evidence.

Though every essay is founded on these two ideas, there are several different types of essays, differentiated by the style of the writing, how the writer presents the thesis, and the types of evidence used to support the thesis statement.

Essays can be roughly divided into four different types:

#1: Argumentative #2: Persuasive #3: Expository #4: Analytical

So let's look at each type and what the differences are between them before we focus the rest of our time to argumentative essays.

Argumentative Essay

Argumentative essays are what this article is all about, so let's talk about them first.

An argumentative essay attempts to convince a reader to agree with a particular argument (the writer's thesis statement). The writer takes a firm stand one way or another on a topic and then uses hard evidence to support that stance.

An argumentative essay seeks to prove to the reader that one argument —the writer's argument— is the factually and logically correct one. This means that an argumentative essay must use only evidence-based support to back up a claim , rather than emotional or philosophical reasoning (which is often allowed in other types of essays). Thus, an argumentative essay has a burden of substantiated proof and sources , whereas some other types of essays (namely persuasive essays) do not.

You can write an argumentative essay on any topic, so long as there's room for argument. Generally, you can use the same topics for both a persuasive essay or an argumentative one, so long as you support the argumentative essay with hard evidence.

Example topics of an argumentative essay:

• "Should farmers be allowed to shoot wolves if those wolves injure or kill farm animals?"
• "Should the drinking age be lowered in the United States?"
• "Are alternatives to democracy effective and/or feasible to implement?"

The next three types of essays are not argumentative essays, but you may have written them in school. We're going to cover them so you know what not to do for your argumentative essay.

Persuasive Essay

Persuasive essays are similar to argumentative essays, so it can be easy to get them confused. But knowing what makes an argumentative essay different than a persuasive essay can often mean the difference between an excellent grade and an average one.

Persuasive essays seek to persuade a reader to agree with the point of view of the writer, whether that point of view is based on factual evidence or not. The writer has much more flexibility in the evidence they can use, with the ability to use moral, cultural, or opinion-based reasoning as well as factual reasoning to persuade the reader to agree the writer's side of a given issue.

Instead of being forced to use "pure" reason as one would in an argumentative essay, the writer of a persuasive essay can manipulate or appeal to the reader's emotions. So long as the writer attempts to steer the readers into agreeing with the thesis statement, the writer doesn't necessarily need hard evidence in favor of the argument.

Often, you can use the same topics for both a persuasive essay or an argumentative one—the difference is all in the approach and the evidence you present.

Example topics of a persuasive essay:

• "Should children be responsible for their parents' debts?"
• "Should cheating on a test be automatic grounds for expulsion?"
• "How much should sports leagues be held accountable for player injuries and the long-term consequences of those injuries?"

Expository Essay

An expository essay is typically a short essay in which the writer explains an idea, issue, or theme , or discusses the history of a person, place, or idea.

This is typically a fact-forward essay with little argument or opinion one way or the other.

Example topics of an expository essay:

• "The History of the Philadelphia Liberty Bell"
• "The Reasons I Always Wanted to be a Doctor"
• "The Meaning Behind the Colloquialism ‘People in Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Stones'"

Analytical Essay

An analytical essay seeks to delve into the deeper meaning of a text or work of art, or unpack a complicated idea . These kinds of essays closely interpret a source and look into its meaning by analyzing it at both a macro and micro level.

This type of analysis can be augmented by historical context or other expert or widely-regarded opinions on the subject, but is mainly supported directly through the original source (the piece or art or text being analyzed) .

Example topics of an analytical essay:

• "Victory Gin in Place of Water: The Symbolism Behind Gin as the Only Potable Substance in George Orwell's 1984"
• "Amarna Period Art: The Meaning Behind the Shift from Rigid to Fluid Poses"
• "Adultery During WWII, as Told Through a Series of Letters to and from Soldiers"

There are many different types of essay and, over time, you'll be able to master them all.

A Typical Argumentative Essay Assignment

The average argumentative essay is between three to five pages, and will require at least three or four separate sources with which to back your claims . As for the essay topic , you'll most often be asked to write an argumentative essay in an English class on a "general" topic of your choice, ranging the gamut from science, to history, to literature.

But while the topics of an argumentative essay can span several different fields, the structure of an argumentative essay is always the same: you must support a claim—a claim that can reasonably have multiple sides—using multiple sources and using a standard essay format (which we'll talk about later on).

This is why many argumentative essay topics begin with the word "should," as in:

• "Should all students be required to learn chemistry in high school?"
• "Should children be required to learn a second language?"
• "Should schools or governments be allowed to ban books?"

These topics all have at least two sides of the argument: Yes or no. And you must support the side you choose with evidence as to why your side is the correct one.

But there are also plenty of other ways to frame an argumentative essay as well:

• "Does using social media do more to benefit or harm people?"
• "Does the legal status of artwork or its creators—graffiti and vandalism, pirated media, a creator who's in jail—have an impact on the art itself?"
• "Is or should anyone ever be ‘above the law?'"

Though these are worded differently than the first three, you're still essentially forced to pick between two sides of an issue: yes or no, for or against, benefit or detriment. Though your argument might not fall entirely into one side of the divide or another—for instance, you could claim that social media has positively impacted some aspects of modern life while being a detriment to others—your essay should still support one side of the argument above all. Your final stance would be that overall , social media is beneficial or overall , social media is harmful.

If your argument is one that is mostly text-based or backed by a single source (e.g., "How does Salinger show that Holden Caulfield is an unreliable narrator?" or "Does Gatsby personify the American Dream?"), then it's an analytical essay, rather than an argumentative essay. An argumentative essay will always be focused on more general topics so that you can use multiple sources to back up your claims.

Good Argumentative Essay Topics

So you know the basic idea behind an argumentative essay, but what topic should you write about?

Again, almost always, you'll be asked to write an argumentative essay on a free topic of your choice, or you'll be asked to select between a few given topics . If you're given complete free reign of topics, then it'll be up to you to find an essay topic that no only appeals to you, but that you can turn into an A+ argumentative essay.

What makes a "good" argumentative essay topic depends on both the subject matter and your personal interest —it can be hard to give your best effort on something that bores you to tears! But it can also be near impossible to write an argumentative essay on a topic that has no room for debate.

As we said earlier, a good argumentative essay topic will be one that has the potential to reasonably go in at least two directions—for or against, yes or no, and why . For example, it's pretty hard to write an argumentative essay on whether or not people should be allowed to murder one another—not a whole lot of debate there for most people!—but writing an essay for or against the death penalty has a lot more wiggle room for evidence and argument.

A good topic is also one that can be substantiated through hard evidence and relevant sources . So be sure to pick a topic that other people have studied (or at least studied elements of) so that you can use their data in your argument. For example, if you're arguing that it should be mandatory for all middle school children to play a sport, you might have to apply smaller scientific data points to the larger picture you're trying to justify. There are probably several studies you could cite on the benefits of physical activity and the positive effect structure and teamwork has on young minds, but there's probably no study you could use where a group of scientists put all middle-schoolers in one jurisdiction into a mandatory sports program (since that's probably never happened). So long as your evidence is relevant to your point and you can extrapolate from it to form a larger whole, you can use it as a part of your resource material.

And if you need ideas on where to get started, or just want to see sample argumentative essay topics, then check out these links for hundreds of potential argumentative essay topics.

101 Persuasive (or Argumentative) Essay and Speech Topics

301 Prompts for Argumentative Writing

Top 50 Ideas for Argumentative/Persuasive Essay Writing

[Note: some of these say "persuasive essay topics," but just remember that the same topic can often be used for both a persuasive essay and an argumentative essay; the difference is in your writing style and the evidence you use to support your claims.]

KO! Find that one argumentative essay topic you can absolutely conquer.

Argumentative Essay Format

Argumentative Essays are composed of four main elements:

• A position (your argument)
• Your reasons
• Supporting evidence for those reasons (from reliable sources)
• Counterargument(s) (possible opposing arguments and reasons why those arguments are incorrect)

If you're familiar with essay writing in general, then you're also probably familiar with the five paragraph essay structure . This structure is a simple tool to show how one outlines an essay and breaks it down into its component parts, although it can be expanded into as many paragraphs as you want beyond the core five.

The standard argumentative essay is often 3-5 pages, which will usually mean a lot more than five paragraphs, but your overall structure will look the same as a much shorter essay.

An argumentative essay at its simplest structure will look like:

Paragraph 1: Intro

• Set up the story/problem/issue
• Thesis/claim

Paragraph 2: Support

• Reason #1 claim is correct
• Supporting evidence with sources

Paragraph 3: Support

• Reason #2 claim is correct

Paragraph 4: Counterargument

• Explanation of argument for the other side
• Refutation of opposing argument with supporting evidence

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

• Re-state claim
• Sum up reasons and support of claim from the essay to prove claim is correct

Now let's unpack each of these paragraph types to see how they work (with examples!), what goes into them, and why.

Paragraph 1—Set Up and Claim

Your first task is to introduce the reader to the topic at hand so they'll be prepared for your claim. Give a little background information, set the scene, and give the reader some stakes so that they care about the issue you're going to discuss.

Next, you absolutely must have a position on an argument and make that position clear to the readers. It's not an argumentative essay unless you're arguing for a specific claim, and this claim will be your thesis statement.

Your thesis CANNOT be a mere statement of fact (e.g., "Washington DC is the capital of the United States"). Your thesis must instead be an opinion which can be backed up with evidence and has the potential to be argued against (e.g., "New York should be the capital of the United States").

Paragraphs 2 and 3—Your Evidence

These are your body paragraphs in which you give the reasons why your argument is the best one and back up this reasoning with concrete evidence .

The argument supporting the thesis of an argumentative essay should be one that can be supported by facts and evidence, rather than personal opinion or cultural or religious mores.

For example, if you're arguing that New York should be the new capital of the US, you would have to back up that fact by discussing the factual contrasts between New York and DC in terms of location, population, revenue, and laws. You would then have to talk about the precedents for what makes for a good capital city and why New York fits the bill more than DC does.

Your argument can't simply be that a lot of people think New York is the best city ever and that you agree.

In addition to using concrete evidence, you always want to keep the tone of your essay passionate, but impersonal . Even though you're writing your argument from a single opinion, don't use first person language—"I think," "I feel," "I believe,"—to present your claims. Doing so is repetitive, since by writing the essay you're already telling the audience what you feel, and using first person language weakens your writing voice.

For example,

"I think that Washington DC is no longer suited to be the capital city of the United States."

"Washington DC is no longer suited to be the capital city of the United States."

The second statement sounds far stronger and more analytical.

Paragraph 4—Argument for the Other Side and Refutation

Even without a counter argument, you can make a pretty persuasive claim, but a counterargument will round out your essay into one that is much more persuasive and substantial.

By anticipating an argument against your claim and taking the initiative to counter it, you're allowing yourself to get ahead of the game. This way, you show that you've given great thought to all sides of the issue before choosing your position, and you demonstrate in multiple ways how yours is the more reasoned and supported side.

Paragraph 5—Conclusion

This paragraph is where you re-state your argument and summarize why it's the best claim.

Briefly touch on your supporting evidence and voila! A finished argumentative essay.

Your essay should have just as awesome a skeleton as this plesiosaur does. (In other words: a ridiculously awesome skeleton)

Argumentative Essay Example: 5-Paragraph Style

It always helps to have an example to learn from. I've written a full 5-paragraph argumentative essay here. Look at how I state my thesis in paragraph 1, give supporting evidence in paragraphs 2 and 3, address a counterargument in paragraph 4, and conclude in paragraph 5.

Topic: Is it possible to maintain conflicting loyalties?

Paragraph 1

It is almost impossible to go through life without encountering a situation where your loyalties to different people or causes come into conflict with each other. Maybe you have a loving relationship with your sister, but she disagrees with your decision to join the army, or you find yourself torn between your cultural beliefs and your scientific ones. These conflicting loyalties can often be maintained for a time, but as examples from both history and psychological theory illustrate, sooner or later, people have to make a choice between competing loyalties, as no one can maintain a conflicting loyalty or belief system forever.

The first two sentences set the scene and give some hypothetical examples and stakes for the reader to care about.

The third sentence finishes off the intro with the thesis statement, making very clear how the author stands on the issue ("people have to make a choice between competing loyalties, as no one can maintain a conflicting loyalty or belief system forever." )

Paragraphs 2 and 3

Psychological theory states that human beings are not equipped to maintain conflicting loyalties indefinitely and that attempting to do so leads to a state called "cognitive dissonance." Cognitive dissonance theory is the psychological idea that people undergo tremendous mental stress or anxiety when holding contradictory beliefs, values, or loyalties (Festinger, 1957). Even if human beings initially hold a conflicting loyalty, they will do their best to find a mental equilibrium by making a choice between those loyalties—stay stalwart to a belief system or change their beliefs. One of the earliest formal examples of cognitive dissonance theory comes from Leon Festinger's When Prophesy Fails . Members of an apocalyptic cult are told that the end of the world will occur on a specific date and that they alone will be spared the Earth's destruction. When that day comes and goes with no apocalypse, the cult members face a cognitive dissonance between what they see and what they've been led to believe (Festinger, 1956). Some choose to believe that the cult's beliefs are still correct, but that the Earth was simply spared from destruction by mercy, while others choose to believe that they were lied to and that the cult was fraudulent all along. Both beliefs cannot be correct at the same time, and so the cult members are forced to make their choice.

But even when conflicting loyalties can lead to potentially physical, rather than just mental, consequences, people will always make a choice to fall on one side or other of a dividing line. Take, for instance, Nicolaus Copernicus, a man born and raised in Catholic Poland (and educated in Catholic Italy). Though the Catholic church dictated specific scientific teachings, Copernicus' loyalty to his own observations and scientific evidence won out over his loyalty to his country's government and belief system. When he published his heliocentric model of the solar system--in opposition to the geocentric model that had been widely accepted for hundreds of years (Hannam, 2011)-- Copernicus was making a choice between his loyalties. In an attempt t o maintain his fealty both to the established system and to what he believed, h e sat on his findings for a number of years (Fantoli, 1994). But, ultimately, Copernicus made the choice to side with his beliefs and observations above all and published his work for the world to see (even though, in doing so, he risked both his reputation and personal freedoms).

These two paragraphs provide the reasons why the author supports the main argument and uses substantiated sources to back those reasons.

The paragraph on cognitive dissonance theory gives both broad supporting evidence and more narrow, detailed supporting evidence to show why the thesis statement is correct not just anecdotally but also scientifically and psychologically. First, we see why people in general have a difficult time accepting conflicting loyalties and desires and then how this applies to individuals through the example of the cult members from the Dr. Festinger's research.

The next paragraph continues to use more detailed examples from history to provide further evidence of why the thesis that people cannot indefinitely maintain conflicting loyalties is true.

Paragraph 4

Some will claim that it is possible to maintain conflicting beliefs or loyalties permanently, but this is often more a matter of people deluding themselves and still making a choice for one side or the other, rather than truly maintaining loyalty to both sides equally. For example, Lancelot du Lac typifies a person who claims to maintain a balanced loyalty between to two parties, but his attempt to do so fails (as all attempts to permanently maintain conflicting loyalties must). Lancelot tells himself and others that he is equally devoted to both King Arthur and his court and to being Queen Guinevere's knight (Malory, 2008). But he can neither be in two places at once to protect both the king and queen, nor can he help but let his romantic feelings for the queen to interfere with his duties to the king and the kingdom. Ultimately, he and Queen Guinevere give into their feelings for one another and Lancelot—though he denies it—chooses his loyalty to her over his loyalty to Arthur. This decision plunges the kingdom into a civil war, ages Lancelot prematurely, and ultimately leads to Camelot's ruin (Raabe, 1987). Though Lancelot claimed to have been loyal to both the king and the queen, this loyalty was ultimately in conflict, and he could not maintain it.

Here we have the acknowledgement of a potential counter-argument and the evidence as to why it isn't true.

The argument is that some people (or literary characters) have asserted that they give equal weight to their conflicting loyalties. The refutation is that, though some may claim to be able to maintain conflicting loyalties, they're either lying to others or deceiving themselves. The paragraph shows why this is true by providing an example of this in action.

Paragraph 5

Whether it be through literature or history, time and time again, people demonstrate the challenges of trying to manage conflicting loyalties and the inevitable consequences of doing so. Though belief systems are malleable and will often change over time, it is not possible to maintain two mutually exclusive loyalties or beliefs at once. In the end, people always make a choice, and loyalty for one party or one side of an issue will always trump loyalty to the other.

The concluding paragraph summarizes the essay, touches on the evidence presented, and re-states the thesis statement.

How to Write an Argumentative Essay: 8 Steps

Writing the best argumentative essay is all about the preparation, so let's talk steps:

#1: Preliminary Research

If you have the option to pick your own argumentative essay topic (which you most likely will), then choose one or two topics you find the most intriguing or that you have a vested interest in and do some preliminary research on both sides of the debate.

Do an open internet search just to see what the general chatter is on the topic and what the research trends are.

Did your preliminary reading influence you to pick a side or change your side? Without diving into all the scholarly articles at length, do you believe there's enough evidence to support your claim? Have there been scientific studies? Experiments? Does a noted scholar in the field agree with you? If not, you may need to pick another topic or side of the argument to support.

#2: Pick Your Side and Form Your Thesis

Now's the time to pick the side of the argument you feel you can support the best and summarize your main point into your thesis statement.

Your thesis will be the basis of your entire essay, so make sure you know which side you're on, that you've stated it clearly, and that you stick by your argument throughout the entire essay .

#3: Heavy-Duty Research Time

You've taken a gander at what the internet at large has to say on your argument, but now's the time to actually read those sources and take notes.

Check scholarly journals online at Google Scholar , the Directory of Open Access Journals , or JStor . You can also search individual university or school libraries and websites to see what kinds of academic articles you can access for free. Keep track of your important quotes and page numbers and put them somewhere that's easy to find later.

And don't forget to check your school or local libraries as well!

#4: Outline

Follow the five-paragraph outline structure from the previous section.

Fill in your topic, your reasons, and your supporting evidence into each of the categories.

Before you begin to flesh out the essay, take a look at what you've got. Is your thesis statement in the first paragraph? Is it clear? Is your argument logical? Does your supporting evidence support your reasoning?

By outlining your essay, you streamline your process and take care of any logic gaps before you dive headfirst into the writing. This will save you a lot of grief later on if you need to change your sources or your structure, so don't get too trigger-happy and skip this step.

Now that you've laid out exactly what you'll need for your essay and where, it's time to fill in all the gaps by writing it out.

Take it one step at a time and expand your ideas into complete sentences and substantiated claims. It may feel daunting to turn an outline into a complete draft, but just remember that you've already laid out all the groundwork; now you're just filling in the gaps.

If you have the time before deadline, give yourself a day or two (or even just an hour!) away from your essay . Looking it over with fresh eyes will allow you to see errors, both minor and major, that you likely would have missed had you tried to edit when it was still raw.

Take a first pass over the entire essay and try your best to ignore any minor spelling or grammar mistakes—you're just looking at the big picture right now. Does it make sense as a whole? Did the essay succeed in making an argument and backing that argument up logically? (Do you feel persuaded?)

If not, go back and make notes so that you can fix it for your final draft.

Once you've made your revisions to the overall structure, mark all your small errors and grammar problems so you can fix them in the next draft.

#7: Final Draft

Use the notes you made on the rough draft and go in and hack and smooth away until you're satisfied with the final result.

A checklist for your final draft:

• Formatting is correct according to your teacher's standards
• No errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation
• Essay is the right length and size for the assignment
• The argument is present, consistent, and concise
• Each reason is supported by relevant evidence
• The essay makes sense overall

#8: Celebrate!

Once you've brought that final draft to a perfect polish and turned in your assignment, you're done! Go you!

Be prepared and ♪ you'll never go hungry again ♪, *cough*, or struggle with your argumentative essay-writing again. (Walt Disney Studios)

Good Examples of Argumentative Essays Online

Theory is all well and good, but examples are key. Just to get you started on what a fully-fleshed out argumentative essay looks like, let's see some examples in action.

Check out these two argumentative essay examples on the use of landmines and freons (and note the excellent use of concrete sources to back up their arguments!).

The Use of Landmines

A Shattered Sky

The Take-Aways: Keys to Writing an Argumentative Essay

At first, writing an argumentative essay may seem like a monstrous hurdle to overcome, but with the proper preparation and understanding, you'll be able to knock yours out of the park.

Remember the differences between a persuasive essay and an argumentative one, make sure your thesis is clear, and double-check that your supporting evidence is both relevant to your point and well-sourced . Pick your topic, do your research, make your outline, and fill in the gaps. Before you know it, you'll have yourself an A+ argumentative essay there, my friend.

What's Next?

Now you know the ins and outs of an argumentative essay, but how comfortable are you writing in other styles? Learn more about the four writing styles and when it makes sense to use each .

Understand how to make an argument, but still having trouble organizing your thoughts? Check out our guide to three popular essay formats and choose which one is right for you.

Ready to make your case, but not sure what to write about? We've created a list of 50 potential argumentative essay topics to spark your imagination.

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• Writing Tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay

4-minute read

• 30th April 2022

An argumentative essay is a structured, compelling piece of writing where an author clearly defines their stance on a specific topic. This is a very popular style of writing assigned to students at schools, colleges, and universities. Learn the steps to researching, structuring, and writing an effective argumentative essay below.

Requirements of an Argumentative Essay

To effectively achieve its purpose, an argumentative essay must contain:

●  A concise thesis statement that introduces readers to the central argument of the essay

●  A clear, logical, argument that engages readers

●  Ample research and evidence that supports your argument

Approaches to Use in Your Argumentative Essay

1.   classical.

●  Clearly present the central argument.

●  Outline your opinion.

●  Provide enough evidence to support your theory.

2.   Toulmin

●  State your claim.

●  Supply the evidence for your stance.

●  Explain how these findings support the argument.

●  Include and discuss any limitations of your belief.

3.   Rogerian

●  Explain the opposing stance of your argument.

●  Discuss the problems with adopting this viewpoint.

●  Offer your position on the matter.

●  Provide reasons for why yours is the more beneficial stance.

●  Include a potential compromise for the topic at hand.

Tips for Writing a Well-Written Argumentative Essay

●  Introduce your topic in a bold, direct, and engaging manner to captivate your readers and encourage them to keep reading.

●  Provide sufficient evidence to justify your argument and convince readers to adopt this point of view.

●  Consider, include, and fairly present all sides of the topic.

●  Structure your argument in a clear, logical manner that helps your readers to understand your thought process.

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●  Discuss any counterarguments that might be posed.

●  Use persuasive writing that’s appropriate for your target audience and motivates them to agree with you.

Steps to Write an Argumentative Essay

Follow these basic steps to write a powerful and meaningful argumentative essay :

Step 1: Choose a topic that you’re passionate about

If you’ve already been given a topic to write about, pick a stance that resonates deeply with you. This will shine through in your writing, make the research process easier, and positively influence the outcome of your argument.

Step 2: Conduct ample research to prove the validity of your argument

To write an emotive argumentative essay , finding enough research to support your theory is a must. You’ll need solid evidence to convince readers to agree with your take on the matter. You’ll also need to logically organize the research so that it naturally convinces readers of your viewpoint and leaves no room for questioning.

Step 3: Follow a simple, easy-to-follow structure and compile your essay

A good structure to ensure a well-written and effective argumentative essay includes:

Introduction

●  Introduce your topic.

●  Offer background information on the claim.

●  Discuss the evidence you’ll present to support your argument.

●  State your thesis statement, a one-to-two sentence summary of your claim.

●  This is the section where you’ll develop and expand on your argument.

●  It should be split into three or four coherent paragraphs, with each one presenting its own idea.

●  Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that indicates why readers should adopt your belief or stance.

●  Include your research, statistics, citations, and other supporting evidence.

●  Discuss opposing viewpoints and why they’re invalid.

●  This part typically consists of one paragraph.

●  Summarize your research and the findings that were presented.

●  Emphasize your initial thesis statement.

●  Persuade readers to agree with your stance.

We certainly hope that you feel inspired to use these tips when writing your next argumentative essay . And, if you’re currently elbow-deep in writing one, consider submitting a free sample to us once it’s completed. Our expert team of editors can help ensure that it’s concise, error-free, and effective!

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160 Good Argumentative Essay Topics for Students in 2024

April 3, 2024

The skill of writing an excellent argumentative essay is a crucial one for every high school or college student to master. In sum, argumentative essays teach students how to organize their thoughts logically and present them in a convincing way. This skill is helpful not only for those pursuing degrees in law , international relations , or public policy , but for any student who wishes to develop their critical thinking faculties. In this article, we’ll cover what makes a good argument essay and offer several argumentative essay topics for high school and college students. Let’s begin!

What is an Argumentative Essay?

An argumentative essay is an essay that uses research to present a reasoned argument on a particular subject . As with the persuasive essay , the purpose of an argumentative essay is to sway the reader to the writer’s position. However, a strong persuasive essay makes its point through diligent research and emotion while a strong argumentative essay should be based solely on facts, not feelings.

Moreover, each fact should be supported by clear evidence from credible sources . Furthermore, a good argumentative essay will have an easy-to-follow structure. When organizing your argumentative essay, use this format as a guide:

• Introduction
• Supporting body paragraphs
• Paragraph(s) addressing common counterarguments

Argumentative Essay Format

In the introduction , the writer presents their position and thesis statement —a sentence that summarizes the paper’s main points. The body paragraphs then draw upon supporting evidence to back up this initial statement, with each paragraph focusing on its own point. The length of your paper will determine the amount of examples you need. In general, you’ll likely need at least two to three. Additionally, your examples should be as detailed as possible, citing specific research, case studies, statistics, or anecdotes.

In the counterargument paragraph , the writer acknowledges and refutes opposing viewpoints. Finally, in the conclusion , the writer restates the main argument made in the thesis statement and summarizes the points of the essay. Additionally, the conclusion may offer a final proposal to persuade the reader of the essay’s position.

How to Write an Effective Argumentative Essay, Step by Step

• Choose your topic. Use the list below to help you pick a topic. Ideally, a good argumentative essay topic will be meaningful to you—writing is always stronger when you are interested in the subject matter. In addition, the topic should be complex with plenty of “pro” and “con” arguments. Avoid choosing a topic that is either widely accepted as fact or too narrow. For example, “Is the earth round?” would not be a solid choice.
• Research. Use the library, the web, and any other resources to gather information about your argumentative essay topic. Research widely but smartly. As you go, take organized notes, marking the source of every quote and where it may fit in the scheme of your larger essay. Moreover, remember to look for (and research) possible counterarguments.
• Outline . Using the argument essay format above, create an outline for your essay. Then, brainstorm a thesis statement covering your argument’s main points, and begin to put your examples in order, focusing on logical flow. It’s often best to place your strongest example last.
• Write . Draw on your research and outline to create a first draft. Remember, your first draft doesn’t need to be perfect. (As Voltaire says, “Perfect is the enemy of good.”) Accordingly, just focus on getting the words down on paper.
• Does my thesis statement need to be adjusted?
• Which examples feel strongest? Weakest?
• Do the transitions flow smoothly?
• Do I have a strong opening paragraph?
• Does the conclusion reinforce my argument?

Tips for Revising an Argument Essay

Evaluating your own work can be difficult, so you might consider the following strategies:

• Read your work aloud to yourself.
• Record yourself reading your paper, and listen to the recording.
• Reverse outline your paper. Firstly, next to each paragraph, write a short summary of that paragraph’s main points/idea. Then, read through your reverse outline. Does it have a logical flow? If not, where should you adjust?
• Print out your paper and cut it into paragraphs. What happens when you rearrange the paragraphs?

Good Argumentative Essay Topics for Middle School, High School, and College Students

Family argumentative essay topics.

• Should the government provide financial incentives for families to have children to address the declining birth rate?
• Should we require parents to provide their children with a certain level of nutrition and physical activity to prevent childhood obesity?
• Should parents implement limits on how much time their children spend playing video games?
• Should cell phones be banned from family/holiday gatherings?
• Should we hold parents legally responsible for their children’s actions?
• Should children have the right to sue their parents for neglect?
• Should parents have the right to choose their child’s religion?
• Are spanking and other forms of physical punishment an effective method of discipline?
• Should courts allow children to choose where they live in cases of divorce?
• Should parents have the right to monitor teens’ activity on social media?
• Should parents control their child’s medical treatment, even if it goes against the child’s wishes?
• Should parents be allowed to post pictures of their children on social media without their consent?
• Should fathers have a legal say in whether their partners do or do not receive an abortion?
• Can television have positive developmental benefits on children?
• Should the driving age be raised to prevent teen car accidents?
• Should adult children be legally required to care for their aging parents?

Education Argument Essay Topics

• Should schools ban the use of technology like ChatGPT?
• Are zoos unethical, or necessary for conservation and education?
• To what degree should we hold parents responsible in the event of a school shooting?
• Should schools offer students a set number of mental health days?
• Should school science curriculums offer a course on combating climate change?
• Should public libraries be allowed to ban certain books? If so, what types?
• What role, if any, should prayer play in public schools?
• Should schools push to abolish homework?
• Are gifted and talented programs in schools more harmful than beneficial due to their exclusionary nature?
• Should universities do away with Greek life?
• Should schools remove artwork, such as murals, that some perceive as offensive?
• Should the government grant parents the right to choose alternative education options for their children and use taxpayer funds to support these options?
• Is homeschooling better than traditional schooling for children’s academic and social development?
• Should we require schools to teach sex education to reduce teen pregnancy rates?
• Should we require schools to provide sex education that includes information about both homosexual and heterosexual relationships?
• Should colleges use affirmative action and other race-conscious policies to address diversity on campus?
• Should public schools remove the line “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance?
• Should college admissions officers be allowed to look at students’ social media accounts?
• Should schools abolish their dress codes, many of which unfairly target girls, LGBTQ students, and students of color?
• Should schools be required to stock free period products in bathrooms?
• Should legacy students receive preferential treatment during the college admissions process?
• Are school “voluntourism” trips ethical?

Government Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should the U.S. decriminalize prostitution?
• Should the U.S. issue migration visas to all eligible applicants?
• Should the federal government cancel all student loan debt?
• Should we lower the minimum voting age? If so, to what?
• Should the federal government abolish all laws penalizing drug production and use?
• Should the U.S. use its military power to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan?
• Should the U.S. supply Ukraine with further military intelligence and supplies?
• Should the North and South of the U.S. split up into two regions?
• Should Americans hold up nationalism as a critical value?
• Should we permit Supreme Court justices to hold their positions indefinitely?
• Should Supreme Court justices be democratically elected?
• Is the Electoral College still a productive approach to electing the U.S. president?
• Should the U.S. implement a national firearm registry?
• Is it ethical for countries like China and Israel to mandate compulsory military service for all citizens?
• Should the U.S. government implement a ranked-choice voting system?
• Should institutions that benefited from slavery be required to provide reparations?
• Based on the 1619 project, should history classes change how they teach about the founding of the U.S.?
• Should term limits be imposed on Senators and Representatives? If so, how long?
• Should women be allowed into special forces units?
• Should the federal government implement stronger, universal firearm licensing laws?
• Do public sex offender registries help prevent future sex crimes?
• Should the government be allowed to regulate family size?
• Should all adults legally be considered mandated reporters?
• Should the government fund public universities to make higher education more accessible to low-income students?
• Should the government fund universal preschool to improve children’s readiness for kindergarten?

Health/Bioethics Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should the U.S. government offer its own healthcare plan?
• In the case of highly infectious pandemics, should we focus on individual freedoms or public safety when implementing policies to control the spread?
• Should we legally require parents to vaccinate their children to protect public health?
• Is it ethical for parents to use genetic engineering to create “designer babies” with specific physical and intellectual traits?
• Should the government fund research on embryonic stem cells for medical treatments?
• Should the government legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill patients?
• Should organ donation be mandatory?
• Is cloning animals ethical?
• Should cancer screenings start earlier? If so, what age?
• Is surrogacy ethical?
• Should birth control require a prescription?
• Should minors have access to emergency contraception?
• Should hospitals be for-profit or nonprofit institutions?

Good Argumentative Essay Topics — Continued

Social media argumentative essay topics.

• Should the federal government increase its efforts to minimize the negative impact of social media?
• Do social media and smartphones strengthen one’s relationships?
• Should antitrust regulators take action to limit the size of big tech companies?
• Should social media platforms ban political advertisements?
• Should the federal government hold social media companies accountable for instances of hate speech discovered on their platforms?
• Do apps such as TikTok and Instagram ultimately worsen the mental well-being of teenagers?
• Should governments oversee how social media platforms manage their users’ data?
• Should social media platforms like Facebook enforce a minimum age requirement for users?
• Should social media companies be held responsible for cases of cyberbullying?
• Should the United States ban TikTok?
• Is social media harmful to children?
• Should employers screen applicants’ social media accounts during the hiring process?

Religion Argument Essay Topics

• Should religious institutions be tax-exempt?
• Should religious symbols such as the hijab or crucifix be allowed in public spaces?
• Should religious freedoms be protected, even when they conflict with secular laws?
• Should the government regulate religious practices?
• Should we allow churches to engage in political activities?
• Religion: a force for good or evil in the world?
• Should the government provide funding for religious schools?
• Is it ethical for healthcare providers to deny abortions based on religious beliefs?
• Should religious organizations be allowed to discriminate in their hiring practices?
• Should we allow people to opt out of medical treatments based on their religious beliefs?
• Should the U.S. government hold religious organizations accountable for cases of sexual abuse within their community?
• Should religious beliefs be exempt from anti-discrimination laws?
• Should religious individuals be allowed to refuse services to others based on their beliefs or lifestyles? (As in this famous case .)
• Should the US ban religion-based federal holidays?
• Should public schools be allowed to teach children about religious holidays?

Science Argument Essay Topics

• Would the world be safer if we eliminated nuclear weapons?
• Should scientists bring back extinct animals? If so, which ones?
• Should we hold companies fiscally responsible for their carbon footprint?
• Should we ban pesticides in favor of organic farming methods?
• Should the federal government ban all fossil fuels, despite the potential economic impact on specific industries and communities?
• What renewable energy source should the U.S. invest more money in?
• Should the FDA outlaw GMOs?
• Should we worry about artificial intelligence surpassing human intelligence?
• Should the alternative medicine industry be more stringently regulated?
• Is colonizing Mars a viable option?
• Is the animal testing worth the potential to save human lives?

Sports Argument Essay Topics

• Should colleges compensate student-athletes?
• How should sports teams and leagues address the gender pay gap?
• Should youth sports teams do away with scorekeeping?
• Should we ban aggressive contact sports like boxing and MMA?
• Should professional sports associations mandate that athletes stand during the national anthem?
• Should high schools require their student-athletes to maintain a certain GPA?
• Should transgender athletes compete in sports according to their gender identity?
• Should schools ban football due to the inherent danger it poses to players?
• Should performance-enhancing drugs be allowed in sports?
• Do participation trophies foster entitlement and unrealistic expectations?
• Should sports teams be divided by gender?
• Should professional athletes be allowed to compete in the Olympics?
• Should women be allowed on NFL teams?

Technology Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should sites like DALL-E compensate the artists whose work it was trained on?
• Should the federal government make human exploration of space a more significant priority?
• Is it ethical for the government to use surveillance technology to monitor citizens?
• Should websites require proof of age from their users? If so, what age?
• Should we consider A.I.-generated images and text pieces of art?
• Does the use of facial recognition technology violate individuals’ privacy?
• Is online learning as effective as in-person learning?
• Does computing harm the environment?
• Should buying, sharing, and selling collected personal data be illegal?
• Are electric cars really better for the environment?
• Should car companies be held responsible for self-driving car accidents?
• Should private jets be banned?
• Do violent video games contribute to real-life violence?

Business Argument Essay Topics

• Should the U.S. government phase out the use of paper money in favor of a fully digital currency system?
• Should the federal government abolish its patent and copyright laws?
• Should we replace the Federal Reserve with free-market institutions?
• Is free-market ideology responsible for the U.S. economy’s poor performance over the past decade?
• Will cryptocurrencies overtake natural resources like gold and silver?
• Is capitalism the best economic system? What system would be better?
• Should the U.S. government enact a universal basic income?
• Should we require companies to provide paid parental leave to their employees?
• Should the government raise the minimum wage? If so, to what?
• Should antitrust regulators break up large companies to promote competition?
• Is it ethical for companies to prioritize profits over social responsibility?
• Should gig-economy workers like Uber and Lyft drivers be considered employees or independent contractors?
• Should the federal government regulate the gig economy to ensure fair treatment of workers?
• Should the government require companies to disclose the environmental impact of their products?
• Should companies be allowed to fire employees based on political views or activities?
• Should tipping practices be phased out?
• Should employees who choose not to have children be given the same amount of paid leave as parents?
• Should MLMs (multi-level marketing companies) be illegal?
• Should employers be allowed to factor tattoos and personal appearance into hiring decisions?

In Conclusion – Argument Essay Topics

Using the tips above, you can effectively structure and pen a compelling argumentative essay that will wow your instructor and classmates. Remember to craft a thesis statement that offers readers a roadmap through your essay, draw on your sources wisely to back up any claims, and read through your paper several times before it’s due to catch any last-minute proofreading errors. With time, diligence, and patience, your essay will be the most outstanding assignment you’ve ever turned in…until the next one rolls around.

Looking for more fresh and engaging topics for use in the classroom? You might consider checking out the following:

• 125 Good Debate Topics for High School Students
• 150 Good Persuasive Speech Topics
• 7 Best Places to Study
• Guide to the IB Extended Essay
• How to Write the AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis Essay
• AP Lit Reading List
• How to Write the AP Lang Synthesis Essay
• 49 Most Interesting Biology Research Topics
• High School Success

Lauren Green

With a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University and an MFA in Fiction from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, Lauren has been a professional writer for over a decade. She is the author of the chapbook  A Great Dark House  (Poetry Society of America, 2023) and a forthcoming novel (Viking/Penguin).

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50 Argumentative Essay Topics

Illustration by Catherine Song. ThoughtCo. 

• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

An argumentative essay requires you to decide on a topic and argue for or against it. You'll need to back up your viewpoint with well-researched facts and information as well. One of the hardest parts is deciding which topic to write about, but there are plenty of ideas available to get you started. Then you need to take a position, do some research, and present your viewpoint convincingly.

Choosing a Great Argumentative Essay Topic

Students often find that most of their work on these essays is done before they even start writing. This means that it's best if you have a general interest in your subject. Otherwise, you might get bored or frustrated while trying to gather information. You don't need to know everything, though; part of what makes this experience rewarding is learning something new.

It's best if you have a general interest in your subject, but the argument you choose doesn't have to be one that you agree with.

The subject you choose may not necessarily be one you are in full agreement with, either. You may even be asked to write a paper from the opposing point of view. Researching a different viewpoint helps students broaden their perspectives. 

Ideas for Argument Essays

Sometimes, the best ideas are sparked by looking at many different options. Explore this list of possible topics and see if a few pique your interest. Write those down as you come across them, then think about each for a few minutes.

Which would you enjoy researching? Do you have a firm position on a particular subject? Is there a point you would like to make sure you get across? Did the topic give you something new to think about? Can you see why someone else may feel differently?

List of 50 Possible Argumentative Essay Topics

A number of these topics are rather controversial—that's the point. In an argumentative essay , opinions matter, and controversy is based on opinions. Just make sure your opinions are backed up by facts in the essay.   If these topics are a little too controversial or you don't find the right one for you, try browsing through persuasive essay and speech topics  as well.

• Is global climate change  caused by humans?
• Is the death penalty effective?
• Is the U.S. election process fair?
• Is torture ever acceptable?
• Should men get paternity leave from work?
• Are school uniforms beneficial?
• Does the U.S. have a fair tax system?
• Do curfews keep teens out of trouble?
• Is cheating out of control?
• Are we too dependent on computers?
• Should animals be used for research?
• Should cigarette smoking be banned?
• Are cell phones dangerous?
• Are law enforcement cameras an invasion of privacy?
• Do we have a throwaway society ?
• Is child behavior better or worse than it was years ago?
• Should companies market to children?
• Should the government have a say in our diets?
• Does access to condoms prevent teen pregnancy?
• Should members of Congress have term limits?
• Are actors and professional athletes paid too much?
• Are CEOs paid too much?
• Should athletes be held to high moral standards?
• Do violent video games cause behavior problems?
• Should creationism be taught in public schools?
• Are beauty pageants exploitative ?
• Should English be the official language of the United States?
• Should the racing industry be forced to use biofuels?
• Should the alcohol-drinking age be increased or decreased?
• Should everyone be required to recycle?
• Is it okay for prisoners to vote (as they are in some states)?
• Should same-sex marriage be legalized in more countries?
• Are there benefits to attending a single-sex school ?
• Does boredom lead to trouble?
• Should schools be in session year-round ?
• Does religion cause war?
• Should the government provide health care?
• Should abortion be illegal?
• Should more companies expand their reproductive health benefits for employees?
• Is homework harmful or helpful?
• Is the cost of college too high?
• Is college admission too competitive?
• Should euthanasia be illegal?
• Should the federal government legalize marijuana use nationally ?
• Should rich people be required to pay more taxes?
• Should schools require foreign language or physical education?
• Is affirmative action fair?
• Is public prayer okay in schools?
• Are schools and teachers responsible for low test scores?
• Is greater gun control a good idea?

How to Craft a Persuasive Argument

After you've decided on your essay topic, gather evidence to make your argument as strong as possible. Your research could even help shape the position your essay ultimately takes. As you craft your essay, remember to utilize persuasive writing techniques , such as invoking emotional language or citing facts from authoritative figures. 

• 100 Persuasive Essay Topics
• Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
• Complete List of Transition Words
• Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• 501 Topic Suggestions for Writing Essays and Speeches
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech (With Topic Ideas)
• 67 Causal Essay Topics to Consider
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Her Death From 20 Stab Wounds Was Ruled a Suicide. Her Parents Never Bought It — and They've Won a Legal Victory

Ellen Greenberg had more than 20 stab wounds to her chest, abdomen, head and back of her neck

In 2011, Philadelphia teacher Ellen Greenberg , 27, was found dead from more than 20 stab wounds . Although authorities initially labeled her death as a homicide, the ruling was eventually changed to a suicide, shocking her parents who have long held the belief that Ellen was murdered.

Now, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear Ellen's parents' argument over her manner of death ruling, Fox News and CBS News report.

Ellen's parents, Joshua Greenberg and Sandee Greenberg, have long believed that Ellen died by homicide and that the investigation was mishandled. They have fought for years to have suicide removed as the manner of death on Ellen's death certificate. Despite losing past legal battles regarding the matter, they may have a chance now to get the ruling officially reexamined.

"They [judges] have blatantly said the investigation was faulty on the part of the police, on the part of the medical examiner, on the part of the district attorney," Joshua told CBS News in 2023.

According to CBS News, the arguments that will be presented to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will determine if "executors and administrators of an estate" can challenge a medical examiner's findings on a death certificate.

"We couldn't be happier. If we're not going to use the word 'justice,' we're going to use the words 'undecided' or 'homicide' because that's what we believe this is — a homicide," Joshua recently told CBS about the decision. "Ellen was brutally murdered."

In early 2011, Greenberg's fiancé Sam Goldberg returned to their shared residence in Philadelphia, but told investigators he couldn't get inside of the apartment because the swing bar lock inside of the apartment was in use, blocking his entrance. Eventually he forced himself inside and discovered Greenberg deceased in the kitchen. She had suffered more than 20 stab wounds and a 10-inch knife was still in her chest at the time of discovery, according to the investigation report, which was previously reviewed by PEOPLE. She had stab wounds to her chest, abdomen, head and back of her neck as well as a gash on her scalp.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for  PEOPLE' s free True Crime newsletter  for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Her manner of death was changed from homicide to suicide after investigators said they only found Greenberg's DNA on the knife and clothing, according to  earlier reporting by PEOPLE . They also claimed there were no signs of foul play.

However, Joshua and Sandee's lawyer, Joe Podraza, claimed to Fox News that the knife was never fingerprinted and that there were, in fact, signs of a struggle in the apartment. The outlet also reports, citing unspecified court documents, that the scene was also cleaned before detectives came to investigate.

Related Articles

What the Convention Could Do for Kamala Harris

Americans just don’t know the Democratic nominee’s story.

Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

No presidential nominee in decades has approached their convention with a greater opportunity to reshape their public image than Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris is the first nonincumbent since Hubert Humphrey in 1968 to claim either party’s presidential nomination without first enduring months of grueling primary contests. Because Harris did not experience the setbacks and triumphs that come from waging such a fight, public impressions of her are uncommonly shallow for a nominee on the convention’s eve, strategists in both parties agree.

That gives Harris a chance to benefit more than usual from the Democratic gathering in Chicago later this month if she can flesh out her story in an engaging way—but also leaves more room for Republicans to define her in negative terms. “We probably haven’t in modern times seen anybody emerge as the nominee who is less well known,” the longtime Democratic strategist Robert Shrum told me. “Her first impression with people is obviously extremely positive. But now you want to fill in the canvas.”

Read: The Kamala Harris problem

By choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice-presidential nominee on Tuesday, Harris did little to advance that process. Walz is personable, a good campaigner, and unobjectionable to any major Democratic faction. But other options might have provided star power (Arizona Senator Mark Kelly), relevance in a key swing state (Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro), or a generational contrast (Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear) that Walz does not. He looks like Hillary Clinton’s pick, Tim Kaine—a do-no-harm choice that, if the race goes sour, will be seen as a missed opportunity to make a bolder statement.

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which starts on August 19, now offers Harris her next opportunity to sharpen her image before Republicans do. In modern times, the candidate who has used the convention period best was Bill Clinton, who showed in 1992 how powerful a tool the convention can be in addressing loosely held, or even erroneous, perceptions among the voters.

The Arkansas governor had beaten a weak field to win the Democratic nomination, but his victory left him badly damaged by revelations that he had engaged in extramarital affairs and maneuvered to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War. After he clinched the nomination in early June, a succession of general-election polls showed him in third place, trailing not only Republican President George H. W. Bush, but also Ross Perot, the quirky independent candidate.

Over the next several weeks, Clinton and his team engineered a remarkable turnaround built on a plan that his campaign dubbed the “Manhattan Project.” Its most important revelation was that most voters mistakenly thought Clinton was a child of privilege because he had attended Georgetown and Yale, won a Rhodes Scholarship, and avoided Vietnam. Once voters learned that he had suffered through a difficult upbringing with an alcoholic stepfather in a small Arkansas town, they became much more likely to view him as genuinely committed to improving life for the middle class that he had emerged from. As Stanley Greenberg, the campaign pollster, wrote later, “The key to having Clinton’s project heard and understood was for voters to learn about his life.”

Clinton reintroduced himself through a series of media appearances that were at the time pathbreaking—including playing the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show and presenting himself for a town hall on MTV. He underlined his generational and ideological reconstruction of the Democratic Party by picking as his running mate not an older Washington veteran, but another brainy southern Baby Boomer centrist, Al Gore. At the convention, Clinton completed his comeback with a stirring nomination-acceptance speech in which he pledged to defend “our forgotten middle class,” because he was a product of it. “I still believe in a place called Hope,” he declared, poetically referencing the town where he spent part of his childhood.

On the day Clinton delivered his acceptance speech, Perot dropped out of the race. (He later reentered it and ultimately won nearly one-fifth of the popular vote.) Clinton soared into first place after his convention and never again trailed Bush in Gallup polls. Clinton’s 16-point gain in Gallup polls was by far the largest convention bump for any candidate in the past six decades, according to an analysis by the American President Project at UC Santa Barbara.

Harris’s position is in one respect easier than Clinton’s, and in another more difficult. The more difficult aspect is that in this highly polarized political era, neither side can easily achieve big bumps in support from their convention. Christopher Wlezien, a University of Texas professor of government, notes that although political scientists believe that the two party conventions mostly cancel each other out, one side has typically benefited from its convention somewhat more than the other. When the two conventions are completed, the race usually “ends up at a different place than where it was before,” Wlezien—a co-author of The Timeline of Presidential Elections , a book about the impact of campaigns on presidential-election outcomes— told me. But he also told me that the effects of the conventions have dampened over time, now that so many voters are bound to one side or the other. In the 21st century, only the Democrat Al Gore and the Republican George W. Bush in 2000 have seen substantial movement in their support around their conventions. In each of the past three contests, the conventions produced minimal shifts in support, polls found.

Read: Having a chance has changed the Democrats

In the modern era, a more achievable goal at the convention than dramatically shifting the ballot has been fortifying underlying impressions of the candidate that can lead to ballot gains later. It’s on this front that Harris’s task is easier than Clinton’s was. Voters’ impressions of her are less negative than amorphous.

Until Biden stepped aside, Harris had spent very little time in the national spotlight. Her 2020 presidential campaign began only a few years after she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 and flamed out before a single vote was cast. Even after Biden selected her as his running mate and won the presidency, his administration did not provide her a high-profile role until she emerged as its principal critic of the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade as well as various civil-rights rollbacks proliferating in Republican-controlled states. Studies of the public’s views about Harris conducted by Democratic-leaning groups such as Way to Win and EMILY’s List before Biden withdrew all found that, beyond some awareness of her advocacy for abortion rights, voters know very little about her.

“She is really undefined, and that is not different than past vice presidents,” says Melissa Williams, who directs the independent-expenditure program at EMILY’s List, which works to elect Democratic women who support legal abortion. “People don’t know what the vice president’s job is. She has universal name identification, they know who she is, but they don’t know what’s in her portfolio and they don’t know what her accomplishments are.” Williams added, “When you have a conversation about her accomplishments, the numbers move dramatically because you are filling in an information gap. The ceiling is quite high to move voters because they don’t know about her.”

Matthew Dowd, who served as a senior strategist for both of George W. Bush’s campaigns, noted that, before Biden stepped aside, Harris’s favorable and unfavorable ratings closely tracked the president’s—which suggested that she was caught in the undertow as voters soured on his physical and mental capacity to do the job. That conclusion, Dowd told me, is reinforced by the rapid improvement in the public’s view of Harris since she emerged as the Democratic alternative.

“The perceptions of her were simultaneously soft and being held back by the perceptions of Biden,” Dowd told me. “Once the baggage of Biden was removed, then I think she naturally started to move her numbers.” Because views of Harris are so fluid, she might be able to reach the upper end of the convention bump still available in this polarized time. But even that is a relative measure: Dowd says that for Harris, a post-convention gain of one to three points would be significant.

Several of the strategists I spoke with predicted that the lack of knowledge about Harris would draw television viewers, potentially providing her with a bigger audience than the roughly 25 million that Donald Trump attracted. The strategists broadly agreed that Harris’s greatest need is less to detail a specific policy agenda than to execute a version of Bill Clinton’s blueprint by talking about her personal history—and explaining how it motivates and equips her to lead a diversifying, multiracial, multicultural America.

George Packer: What Democrats can learn from the trauma of 1968

“The convention ought to be designed to tell all about her and tell her story,” said Shrum. Matt McDermott, a pollster for Democratic campaigns and progressive causes, argues that the convention could help Harris most by underscoring both her credentials for assuming the presidency and the generational transition she represents. She is about 20 years younger than either Biden or Trump. “The one singular data point that in hindsight will prove to drive this entire election is that 70 percent of voters wanted a different option,” McDermott predicted. “There was a huge contingent of voters, myself included, sitting there saying, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be nice to have another option on the table?’ And the Democratic Party gave them that option.” As a result, “with a strong convention,” McDermott continued, “I think there is an untapped part of the electorate that will say, ‘Let’s jump on board because we can’t go back to this other thing we’ve had.’”

Democrats gained a tactical advantage when Biden didn’t abandon his reelection bid until immediately after the Republican convention last month. That meant the GOP targeted most of its criticism at him—which became largely irrelevant—instead of focusing on defining Harris. She had already benefited, Dowd notes, because Republicans could not spend months trying to seed negative impressions of her during a contested primary, as they had successfully done with most other recent Democratic nominees.

Now the GOP is trying to make up for lost time. Trump has besieged Harris as a radical liberal who will be ineffective on crime and immigration; J. D. Vance, his vice-presidential nominee, this week disparaged her as an elitist who “thinks she’s better than you.” This portrayal of her as a coastal ideologue who’s too weak to keep Americans safe is an updated version of the attack that George H. W. Bush and his fierce campaign manager, Lee Atwater, wielded to devastating effect against Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race. Insulating her against that argument may be among the Democrats’ greatest needs at their convention.

Trump’s own gathering last month in Milwaukee did not help him much. The share of voters viewing Trump favorably never reached 50 percent in the aftermath of the GOP convention—despite the added factor of sympathy for the former president after the attempt on his life— and has now slipped back below 45 percent in most surveys . The indications that Trump has stalled while Harris is rising has rekindled hope among Democrats that what they call the “anti-MAGA majority” that came out to vote in 2018, 2020, and 2022 could prevail again in 2024. Harris has to prove that she can unify and mobilize those voters. But now Democrats see at least a chance to revive their coalition at a convention that only a few weeks ago many of them feared might pass for a wake.

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My Teen’s Argument for Quitting Piano Is Ridiculous. I Won’t Cave.

It’s the only excuse she’s said out loud, at least..

Slate Plus members get more  Care and Feeding  every week. Have a question about kids, parenting, or family life?  Submit it here !

Dear Care and Feeding,

I have a 12-year-old who lives for choir and musical theater. She’s been taking piano lessons for four years and has never really been into it the way she is into singing.

She loves to play the piano, but she hates having to practice. I want her to keep taking piano lessons, because 1) It’s such a good companion to the choir stuff (if she decides to do music for a living, she’ll have a head start with already knowing piano and being able to read music—something they don’t study in her choir) 2) we have asked both our kids to pick and stick with a musical instrument and an organized sport or physical activity, and she has no interest in another instrument (or a sport for what it’s worth); 3) we believe strongly in the benefits of musicianship and of needing to practice and work at something. It also bothers me that her main argument for quitting piano is that her teacher makes her keep her fingernails shorter than she’d like them to be. I’m sure there are other reasons, but she’s a tween and that’s all she’s said out loud. In pretty much every other extracurricular, we’ve let the kids choose whether to participate and how much. Am I making my kid miserable because I regret quitting piano as a child? Is it reasonable to ask that the kids play music whether they want to or not?

—To Quit or Not to Quit

I’m very much in favor of children learning to read music and to play an instrument (and I have a special affection for the piano, and I believe it’s a wonderful first instrument for anyone). But your daughter has four years of lessons behind her, she loves to play the piano, and she knows how to read music. Plus: She “lives for” choir and musical theater, which I assume means she loves to sing and does a lot of it. The voice is an instrument too, you know—don’t forget that. If you want her to practice and work hard at something and you “believe strongly in the benefits of musicianship,” why not offer her voice lessons? Twelve is just about old enough to start them, and I’m betting she would jump at the offer. And that she would willingly practice for those lessons, too. As for a physical activity, have you considered dance? Your kid doesn’t like sports . If she’s into musical theater, I can’t imagine she wouldn’t want to at least try a dance class.

And try is the operative word. I’m not crazy about the “pick one sport/activity and one instrument” directive. While I’m all in favor of both an introduction to music and lots of opportunities for physical activity of different kinds, the whole “pick one” and stick to it business strikes me as tyrannical. She’s 12. She was only 8 when she started piano lessons. No matter what her reasons are for wanting to quit those lessons now (come to think of it, the same age I was when I quit, and I started before I was 6—and around the same age my kid was when she quit—and both she and I can read music very well to this day), if she’s not enjoying piano lessons, the only result of forcing her to continue them will be to make her hate the piano. Don’t do that. Build some flexibility into all this—and do not let your adult-sized regret about quitting piano as a kid rule you when it comes to your own child. What’s wrong with trying something and finding out it’s not a good fit, then trying something else? Or maybe choir and musical theater are plenty for her right now. As long as she’s moving her body (on the playground, on a trampoline, whatever), if she’s singing and doing theater and going to school every day, she is plenty busy.

There are lots of things one can practice and get better at, and I hate to break it to you, but not everyone is into competition (I’ve always hated any kind of competition). Follow your kid’s lead. And by the way, it’s premature to worry about whether she may decide to “do music” as a career. If she does, there’s plenty of time for her to brush off those piano skills she acquired at an early age. They’re not going anywhere, especially if you don’t cause her to turn her back on an instrument she loves to play.

More Advice From Slate

I (she/her) have two kids (19 and 20) who I raised as a single mother. My now-husband (their stepfather) is white, and my children and I are East Asian. He was raised with racist ideals, and though he has largely shed those beliefs, some of his “slip-ups” are inexcusable.

Green Township man gets $2 million bond after allegedly stabbing parents, killing one, during argument

GREEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A 40-year-old man was in court Saturday morning after police said he stabbed his parents, killing one and seriously injuring the other, during an argument at a Green Township home Friday.

Kenneth Mortimer is charged with murder, attempted murder and felonious assault after Friday's stabbing.

Police said officials responded to the 3300 block of Palmhill Lane just before 4 p.m. Friday for a reported stabbing. When they arrived, they found 75-year-old Barbara Mortimer dead at the scene. A second person, a 75-year-old man, was taken to UC Medical Center with serious injuries.

An investigation found that Kenneth Mortimer stabbed his parents during an argument. According to court documents, Barbara Mortimer told her son he could not stay the night at their home. The argument then became physical when Barbara told her husband to call psychiatric services, according to court documents.

Court documents show that Kenneth Mortimer grabbed a knife from the kitchen before he stabbed his parents who were seated on the couch. His mother ran out the front door, but she was taken to the ground and "dragged back into the house" by her son before she was stabbed multiple times, according to court documents.

Kenneth Mortimer then fled the scene via a vehicle, court documents show. Police said they quickly located and arrested the suspect.

According to court documents, Kenneth Mortimer confessed to stabbing both of his parents after he was transported to the Green Township Police Department.

Kenneth Mortimer was given a $2 million cash bond in court Saturday. He's currently being held at the Hamilton County Jail and will report to the grand jury on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

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Killer nyc granny carried out murder-suicide to give son full custody of child: heartbreaking suit.

The woman who killed the mother of her granddaughter before committing suicide did so as part of a sick, elaborate plot to get her Upper East Side son full custody of the 4-year-old, new court papers allege.

The disturbing Manhattan filing also reveals heartbreaking details about what life has been like for victim Marisa Galloway’s parents after the slay-suicide horror that robbed them of their daughter.

Terminally ill ex-Chicago probation officer Kathleen Leigh, 65, fatally shot Galloway — a 45-year-old special education teacher who shared a child with Leigh’s son, Zachariah Reed — last month on a leafy Manhattan street before killing herself .

Now Galloway’s parents, Nancy and John Galloway, have filed an emergency court petition claiming Reed has run off to his Chicago “multimillion-dollar home” with their beloved grandchild Lili under the pretext of “mourning” Leigh’s death and barred the Galloways from any contact — including even a video call — with the child.

“Clearly, [Reed’s] mother had a deliberate plan to kill Marisa in order to provide custody for her son,” the court papers charge. “Unfortunately, [Reed] has demonstrated an absolute intention to further those same goals of his mother as he has refused to provide us with any access to Lili at all in almost 3 weeks.”

The grandparents — who live in Cape May, NJ — are asking a Manhattan Supreme Court judge to pass on Marisa’s parenting time, hashed out in a 2022 custody agreement with Reed, to them, according to legal papers filed Friday.

They are also asking that Reed be forced to live in the Big Apple until Lili is 18 so that she can keep a close relationship with her grandparents and with her half-sister, Mariel, the 1-year-old daughter Marisa had with a sperm donor, the filing shows.

The Galloways currently have custody of Mariel, police sources have told The Post.

Nancy, in a heartbreaking affidavit, laid out the adoring and “hands on” relationship she and her husband had with Lili when they saw her two to three times a month, often for multiple nights at a time, when Marisa would often bring the kids to their Garden State home or when they visited Marisa and the girls in the city.

“When we did not see [Lili], we would Facetime almost every day,” Nancy wrote in an affidavit.

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Nancy and John were actively involved in raising the girl, even changing her diapers and feeding her as a baby, and as she’s grown, the grandparents each have special activities they love to do with her, the filing says.

John and Lili love gardening together, and they water the flowers and pick cherry tomatoes from his garden — which he is waiting to tend to until the girl is with him, Nancy’s affidavit says.

And Nancy loves to teach French to Lili and bake cakes with the child, whose “favorite part was cracking the eggs,” Nancy says in the papers.

When Nancy and Lili finished a 150-piece puzzle of the United States in just over an hour, the little girl was “so proud,” the filing says.

“While Marisa was always the best mother, we would love to be involved with all aspects of taking care of an infant, toddler, and ultimately the little girl that Lili currently is,” Nancy wrote.

Nancy said she is “extremely uncomfortable” being forced to file the petition but worried Lili would become estranged from her mom’s side of the family if they didn’t intervene.

The grandmother laid out the history of Marisa and Reed’s “tumultuous relationship” since the pair split and their “contentious” custody battle .

She claimed the pair dated before Marisa became pregnant but said their relationship ended — “driven by the interference of [Reed’s] mother.”

Marisa and Reed had lived together until she “was forced to move out … by [Reed] on July 25, 2021 because Marisa feared for her safety,” the affidavit explains.

The pair eventually hashed out a custody agreement over Lili on Nov. 4, 2022, in which the mom had her for nine out of every 14 nights, and the other nights were Reed’s time with the girl, the court papers say.

The estranged couple also agreed they would both live within the five boroughs of New York City until Lili was out of high school unless they otherwise both agreed or were ordered by a court, the filing claims.

Their custody agreement had a provision that specified that the custody terms were “binding” on Marisa and Reed’s estates and executors if something were to happen to them, the suit says.

Nancy explained in the filing that Marisa “was always very concerned with Lili having a sibling,” so she decided “to take on the herculean task of having a second child with an anonymous sperm donor in order to provide Lili with either a brother or a sister.”

Lili has been so “proud” to be Mariel’s older sister, and “from the second that Mariel was born, her and Lili had a very special relationship,” Nancy says in the document.

Lili sings Mariel songs, plays with her baby sister with their “stuffies” and draws her pictures, including of their family, Nancy says in the affidavit.

When Mariel would wake up from a nap, Lili would feed her Cheerios or bananas and would do funny dances and sing for her, the filing says.

“On July 26, 2024, all of our lives were changed forever,” a heartbroken Nancy wrote.

That day, Marisa — a former volunteer track coach at Fordham University and a board member of the Central Park Track Club — had packed her bags and put Mariel into her Honda Civic to go spend five nights with her parents in New Jersey. She was going to pick up Lili from her father before heading out of town, the court papers say.

But Leigh approached Marisa as she was loading something into the trunk and shot her once in the back of the head and again in the back before turning the gun on herself.

Leigh had been terminally ill with cancer and had been living with Reed at his East 79th Street apartment, where Lili would also stay during Reed’s visitation time.

Before her heinous crime, Leigh scrawled a seven-page letter “For Police” describing how she felt Marisa was trying to alienate Lili from Reed and saying she suspected Marisa of abusing Lili — despite child services clearing Marisa in two probes launched by Reed and the accounts of friends and family that Marisa was nothing but a doting mother.

“She took away the child’s mother in order to make her son happy … it’s shocking,” a law enforcement source had told The Post of Leigh right after the murder-suicide. “I’ve seen a lot of s–t, but this is biblical s–t.”

Nancy says in court papers that she and her husband have asked Reed “numerous” times since the horror to speak with Lili, as they are concerned with how she is doing after losing her mother and over concerns that the young sisters need to comfort each other — but Reed hasn’t even let them see her on video calls.

“We have no idea how [Lili] is doing, or what [Reed] has even told Lili about her mother,” the court papers say. “This is beyond unacceptable and must be rectified immediately.”

The grandparents say they are so committed that they will remain at Marisa’s apartment on East 86th Street during weekday visitations with Lily. They are also demanding Lili have daily video calls with Mariel.

The Galloways’ lawyer and the lawyer who represented Reed in his initial custody case with Marisa both did not immediately return Post requests for comment. A working number for Reed could not immediately be found.

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