Tow # 10 Are Kids Too Coddled? by Frank Bruni

“Perhaps they [parents] should dress the children in bubble wrap and tie mattresses to their backs so they don’t get hurt” (para. 4). Frank Bruni takes a stance on this issue of over-babying children, saying that parents are becoming too obsessive. Bruni’s essay “Are Kids Too Coddled?” uses harsh diction and rhetorical questions to explain his view that parents are going overboard to protect their children in schools and activities.

Bruni’s jarring diction blatantly expresses his opinion about parents who over-coddle their children. His uses of descriptive language provides a clear view of how parents are excessive when shielding their children from failure and are making them miss important maturing process of life. When describing the top children in high schools Bruni says, “Some high schools have 10, 20 or 30 valedictorians, along with bloated honor rolls,” (para 17). By choosing the word “bloated” to describe the honor role he creates a very different picture than the word “large” would have. He creates a negative connotation about these students. He further explains how with extreme praise students are being praised for hard work, not ability, and standards have become too low. He provides countless of examples of where parents may hurt their children in the long run by sheltering them now.

To make parents reconsider their feelings of exasperation with school systems Bruni asks a number of rhetorical questions. Even the title of his essay is a question that sparks thoughts on the issue. “Are Kids Too Coddled?” (title) grabs the attention of readers and makes them consider their own stance. Later in the essay when Bruni asks “Aren’t aspects of school supposed to be relatively mirthless? Isn’t stress an acceptable byproduct of reaching higher and digging deeper?” (para 12). He allows his audience to see his opinion with the facts he provides and then allows them to develop their own. These controversial points stimulate further discussion about this topic.

By using descriptive harsh language and questions Bruni explains his opinion about parents coddling children.