College Kids Have Too Much Privacy Analysis

Words: 1068
Pages: 5

Michele Willens, professional journalist for companies like the Huffington Post and New York times, married with two college aged children. Willens is the author of “College Kids Have Too Much Privacy”, even though she is a professional writer, there are many problems with this article. Willens clearly disagrees with FERPA and student privacy laws, however she does not achieve her goal of persuading her audience that these privacy laws should be lifted due to her lack of evidence, weak arguments, and her very biased opinion, therefore leaving the audience unsatisfied and confused. The arguments made in Willens article are very weak showing heavy assumptions. The author explains in her article, “Most important, it will keep families connected and allow our children to remain young just a little bit longer.”(par.19) Willens is basing her argument that every parent feels the same way she does. Even though Willens may not be the only parent to feel this way there are many other parents who feel the complete opposite. These parents want their children to go out in the real world and …show more content…
Personal experiences are one incident upon millions, and does not provide any leverage because it could be a special circumstance and life is anything but predictable. The author, having two children age seventeen and twenty-two, are either in college or soon to attend and it is clear she is not okay with her children having their own privacy. She believes all children should be stripped of privacy rights. The author’s aim is to persuade readers that parents should have more control over their college students and everyone will benefit from the outcome, which is very biased. The author excessively uses pathos as a method throughout the article to try to appeal to readers’