COMS 101
P
ERSUASIVE
S
PEECH
O
UTLINE
COMS 101-D04
12/2/2019
Organization: Problem-Solution
Audience analysis: The audience is all college age or above. Two are college
graduates and one is in the vocation of their choice. They are
all Christians and seek to live out Christian values.
Topic: The issue I aim to address is bullying in schools and on social
media. I also aim to address how teaching our children and the
younger generations about the values of God could prevent this
issue.
General Goal: To persuade my audience to take action in response to this
presentation on Bullying.
Specific Goal: I want to inform my audience about the social problem of
Bullying and to persuade them that teaching God’s value is a
good solution for this problem for several reasons, one of
which is the fact that this solution, if successful, will promote
love, which is something that God values according to
Scripture.
I. Get Attention
Bullying is a word we often now hear associated with our youth. It happens in
schools and on social media. How do you feel when it’s your child who is
being bullied or if it’s your child doing the bullying?
II. Establish Relevance
If you have a child in school or will be in school, you will probably hear about
bullying at some point. Bullying has become a nationwide issue that is
addressed in schools daily.
III. Establish Credibility
I have dealt with bullying myself while I was in school. I also have a daughter
who has been bullied. Through serving in my churches youth ministries I have
also seen bullying from both sides.
IV. State the Thesis
Bullying in schools and on social media is a social problem that can be
remedied, partly and in a God-honoring way, by an increased awareness,
parents and teacher involvement, and social media monitoring.
COMS 101
V. Preview Your Main Points
I will now validate the thesis by presenting what Bullying is and how we can
use God and his values to help stop it.
Transition: Let’s get started by looking at our Topic.
Body:
I. Main Point 1. What is Bullying, how is it done, and how can it be monitored.
A. “Bullying is a distinct form of peer aggression involving negative actions
that are intentional, repetitive, and involve an imbalance of power between
victim and perpetrator,”(Thomas, Connor, Scott, 2015, para. 3). Bullying is
most commonly done in schools. Children will be gossiped about and
teased for a variety of reasons.
B. The two most common types of bullying are verbal and cyber bullying.
Verbal bullying is done in schools by word of mouth and gossip. While
cyber bullying is done through posting and commenting on social media
outlets. Verbal bullying in schools and on social media can lead to several
things. Low confidence, depression, anxiety, and suicide.
C. The way we can try to help prevent the consequences and impact of
bullying in our youth is by increased awareness, administrative and parental
involvement, and social media monitoring. Research done on the Bullying
Victimization and Suicide Ideation and Behavior Among Adolescents had
an interesting result. The resulting connection between bullying victims and
suicide was this, “Our second hypothesis that depression and anxiety
increase the associations between victimization and suicidal ideation and
attempts was not supported by the results. The results indicated that this
was evident only in the presence of low parental support,” (Barzilay, 2017,
para.27). The main reason for youth committing suicide was a combination
of bullying and not having parental support.
Transition: This leads me to my second point.
II. Main Point 2. How we can use God and his values to help stop it.
A. We as humans, parents, role models are what sets an example for how our
youth is raised. Our values play a huge role in how we guide our youth to
see the world and how they treat others. In an article on Grateful Parents
raising Grateful children it was said that, “Due to its emphasis in religious
teachings, child gratitude development may be more salient to parents who
are religiously involved,”( Rothenberg, 2017, para.9). What we as parents
and teachers believe can lead to what our youth believe.
COMS 101
B. As the parents and administrator for the youth it is our responsibility to
adapt and evolve our values to meet the needs of the current generations.
Because social media is such a popular outlet for our youth, we should
educate ourselves in these areas. We can set an example for how social
media can be used. Posting scripture, positive messages, and links to good
causes is just a couple ways we can guide the use of social media. Using the
values God has given to us and spreading them through our actions and our
media usage is important. It is important to not only represent a Godly life
but live one as well.
C. Honoring God in all we do is important. We are all children of God, but it is
our duty as believers to be the hands and feet of Christ. Teachers and
administrators can only do so much, because districts do put limitations and
policies on what can be said and done. An article called, Parenting that
Reflects the Character of God, states, “Although the school also plays an
influential role, the family remains the hub of life experience for most
children and youth,” (Shaw, 2016, para. 6). The most influential person in a
child’s life is the parental figures. So, it is important that we honor God in
how we raise our children and be an representation of how they will treat
others.
Transition: This brings me to the conclusion.
Conclusion:
I. Summarize Your Thesis and Main Points
Bullying in schools and on social media is a social problem that can be
remedied, partly and in a God-honoring way, by an increased awareness,
parents and teacher involvement, and social media monitoring. It is important
to know what Bullying is and how it is being done. It is also important to
know how to use God’s values to better equip our youth with the tools to treat
one another well.
II. End with a Clincher
I encourage you to look at yourself and how you treat others. Are you honor
God in the way you treat other and the examples you are presenting to our
youth? If so then continue to honor God and spread his example of love to our
youth. If not, I encourage you to re-evaluate your values and beliefs to glorify
God and set a better example to our youth to help stop Bullying.
COMS 101
References
Barzilay, S., Ph.D, Brunstein Klomek, A., Ph.D, Apter, A., M.D, Carli, Vladimir, M.D.,
Ph.D, Wasserman, C., Ph.D, Hadlaczky, G., Ph.D, . . . Wasserman, Danuta, M.D.,
Ph.D. (2017). Bullying victimization and suicide ideation and behavior among
adolescents in europe: A 10-country study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 61(2),
179-186. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.02.002
Rothenberg, W. A., Hussong, A. M., Langley, H. A., Egerton, G. A., Halberstadt, A. G.,
Halberstadt, A. G., . . . Costanzo, P. R. (2017). Grateful parents raising grateful
children: Niche selection and the socialization of child gratitude. Applied
Developmental Science, 21(2), 106-120. doi:10.1080/10888691.2016.1175945
Shaw, P. W. H. (2016). PARENTING THAT REFLECTS THE CHARACTER OF
GOD. Christian Education Journal, 13(1), 43-58.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1177/073989131601300104
Thomas, H. J., Connor, J. P., & Scott, J. G. (2015). Integrating traditional
bullying and cyberbullying: Challenges of definition and measurement
in adolescents - a review. Educational Psychology Review, 27(1), 135-
152. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s10648-014-9261-7
COMS 101
