School systems label children based on their living situations and race which hurts their academic achievements and can make them quit school all together. But, by paying a little more attention to these children a difference can be made in their lives. Rios is very humorous as he makes his point to keep the audience entertained and captivated so his speech could make a difference; and by having over 1.1 million views since November 2015, he certainly has. Rios makes himself believable by telling his story from high school. He was one of those kids that needed help from the education system and was thought to be a thug or general delinquent but one teacher stuck by him and really listened until he finally decided to finish school and go to college. Rios uses emotional stories like his own to further get his point along and therefore heavily relies on Pathos. The most inspiring and compelling example is that in a group of these so called delinquents there was "a young lady in our program who was crying because she told us her powerful story of her dad being killed and then his body being shown in the newspaper the next day... He [William] slammed his hands on the desk and he said, 'Hey everybody! Group hug! Group Hug!' This young lady' s tears and pain turned into joy and laughter... And William had now learned that he did have a purpose in life" (Rios). This story was so important because it shows that these kids who many see as just gang members actually have feelings and stories, and lives riddled with despair. It shows that they really do need help and it is the school system not giving it to them.
Rios is a very talented speaker and uses a motif through parts of his speech, which greatly emphasizes his point. He uses this phrase from his teacher of "Victor I'm here for you whenever you are ready" (Qtd from Rios) at 3:19 and 8:40 and it greatly improves to his point that with more teachers like her, more children could get through school, because the second time he mentions it as something he thought about while mentoring others. At 1:32 he uses another tactic to improve his speech by turning a normal phrase around to be the opposite. Rios specifically says "join me in changing the way we label young people from 'at-risk' to 'at-promise'"(Rios). This spin on words helps the people listening to understand he is trying to spin the education system. After hearing his speech listeners learn that youth should be listened to and helped so their future can be great and that some of those dropout kids are actually just in a bad place in their life that they need help out of. The audience Rios wants to hear this is teachers and officials in education because they are the people who can change the system to help these children. To improve his speech Rios could have included more quantifiable evidence to show helping these children would help the world and economy for those who truly believe those kids do not deserve anything. One thing to wonder about his speech is what happens if the kids he is trying to help never open up?
This whole speech embodies the American dream of giving children equal opportunity and education to those in need. In America it is hoped that every child can get a good education but the system fails so often to those who would benefit most from an education. The global dream for education is the same as America's as it is the dream of everybody to be well educated so they can get a good job and rise up in the world. It is also a hope of Rios, and America, and the world that if kids do have a proper education they can be kept of the streets and can become middle class or above citizens. Stevenson makes a similar point about children in "Just Mercy". He states, very similarly to Rios that these children who go straight into prison just need more nurturing and help to finish school because mostly they end up in jail because of horrible family situations and race issues. Rios also makes points that are similar to Obama's dream in his Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention when he states that "They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential" (Obama). Both Rios and Obama believe that even children in poverty should be able to achieve their dreams through school. A last example of a movie and book that almost exactly fit in with this speech is "Freedom Writers". Throughout the story we learn that this class full of kids who all at first just seem like a bunch of gang members and rule breakers actually all have sad stories and in the end with the help of an understanding teacher they overcome bias. That is the story Rios is advocating for.
I very much liked this speech because it brought to life the struggles of these kids and how with help they can be overcome. It also shows that teachers are the gateway to success and that to be a teacher someone must have compassion and drive to help their students when they are in a rough time. Overall, I enjoyed it because it shows how together this country can change the education system for the better. After Rios's speech the most important thing people can take away from this speech is that people are not what they always seem and as a community this country and the world can help make a difference in these kids' lives so they can reach their potential.
Rios is a very talented speaker and uses a motif through parts of his speech, which greatly emphasizes his point. He uses this phrase from his teacher of "Victor I'm here for you whenever you are ready" (Qtd from Rios) at 3:19 and 8:40 and it greatly improves to his point that with more teachers like her, more children could get through school, because the second time he mentions it as something he thought about while mentoring others. At 1:32 he uses another tactic to improve his speech by turning a normal phrase around to be the opposite. Rios specifically says "join me in changing the way we label young people from 'at-risk' to 'at-promise'"(Rios). This spin on words helps the people listening to understand he is trying to spin the education system. After hearing his speech listeners learn that youth should be listened to and helped so their future can be great and that some of those dropout kids are actually just in a bad place in their life that they need help out of. The audience Rios wants to hear this is teachers and officials in education because they are the people who can change the system to help these children. To improve his speech Rios could have included more quantifiable evidence to show helping these children would help the world and economy for those who truly believe those kids do not deserve anything. One thing to wonder about his speech is what happens if the kids he is trying to help never open up?
This whole speech embodies the American dream of giving children equal opportunity and education to those in need. In America it is hoped that every child can get a good education but the system fails so often to those who would benefit most from an education. The global dream for education is the same as America's as it is the dream of everybody to be well educated so they can get a good job and rise up in the world. It is also a hope of Rios, and America, and the world that if kids do have a proper education they can be kept of the streets and can become middle class or above citizens. Stevenson makes a similar point about children in "Just Mercy". He states, very similarly to Rios that these children who go straight into prison just need more nurturing and help to finish school because mostly they end up in jail because of horrible family situations and race issues. Rios also makes points that are similar to Obama's dream in his Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention when he states that "They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential" (Obama). Both Rios and Obama believe that even children in poverty should be able to achieve their dreams through school. A last example of a movie and book that almost exactly fit in with this speech is "Freedom Writers". Throughout the story we learn that this class full of kids who all at first just seem like a bunch of gang members and rule breakers actually all have sad stories and in the end with the help of an understanding teacher they overcome bias. That is the story Rios is advocating for.
I very much liked this speech because it brought to life the struggles of these kids and how with help they can be overcome. It also shows that teachers are the gateway to success and that to be a teacher someone must have compassion and drive to help their students when they are in a rough time. Overall, I enjoyed it because it shows how together this country can change the education system for the better. After Rios's speech the most important thing people can take away from this speech is that people are not what they always seem and as a community this country and the world can help make a difference in these kids' lives so they can reach their potential.