Several months ago I was at my brother’s house and overheard a conversation (lecture) he was having with his two teenage girls. He realized both were approaching impressionable ages and entering an environment (high school) that may pose problems. He decided to give a slippery slope sermon about peer-pressure and drugs. He started by telling them that as a father he has concerns about their lives and as a police detective he has concerns about the challenges of high school. High school is a new environment which may lead to the need for being accepted, popular or fitting-in. Peer-pressure might lead to smoking marijuana to fit-in, which may lead to taking other more potent drugs (Extasy), which leads to making poor choices or worse yet, addiction, which ends in having fewer options in life or possibly death. As a slippery slope argument he addressed key points, in sequence, starting with the influence of peer pressure and ending with the possible consequence of taking drugs. While his premises might be considered strong because; marijuana is considered a “gate-way” drug , subsequent drugs may be more addictive, and that an individual may be less likely to make clear choices under a drug’s influence – his statements were subjective. He based his claims on job exposure, a father’s protective nature and secretly his own teenage experience; but he also knew that that ultimately each girl had the right to “make their own decisions” and that not all choices lead to ruin.
No comments:
Post a Comment