Raising Kids in Non Nuclear Families (article)- Ethos

The credentials of the author are never stated, so the audience does not have any extrinsic ethos to go off of, but intrinsic ethos definitely plays a role in this article.  The main way ethos is generated is the author gives his own advice on ways to overcome the negatives of single parent and homosexual households after pulling statistics from different studies. The ethics of the author seem to be clean as he does not seem to take a side on whether the traditional Nuclear Family is better or one of the newer structures.

The question is how a single parent can raise a child alone more successfully. The author recommends the parent to prioritize their own education so they can communicate more effectively with children since parents with higher education levels have healthier parenting styles. He also suggests the single parent to find a support network so there is a way to relieve stress and pressure. He draws from the famous saying, “it takes a village to raise achild” in order to make this piece of advice more relatable.

Another question the author provides some insight on is how to ensure children with homosexual parents have a normal development. His advice is to maintain a good relationship with your kids and he draws from the statistic that children with a positive relationship with parents show fewer signs of depression and feel more connected in school. He also advises to be upfront about the sexuality of the parent because in a 1989 study when daughters learned about the sexuality of their parent at a younger age they had higher self-esteems.

Based off of different statistics, the author uses his expertise to guide struggling parents. The combination of logos and ethos together builds up the author’s reliability. By the end of the article the exigence is clear that the most important thing is for a child to grow up healthy and in a good environment, it is just what kind of households will provide this. 

-Priyal Patel