As Hopkins supports young learners and academic skills grow we also provide them a platform to share their accomplishments and voice(s). Oliver has been working on this writing composition with one of our education coaches over the past month. Oliver has taken time to research and craft an argumentative/persuasive essay on the topic of pit bull stigmas. Please take a moment to hear Oliver's views on this topic and share with your community.
My name is Oliver M. I live in Denver, Colorado, and I’m 13 years old. I attended DSST: Byers and I chose to write this essay because I think pit bulls are misunderstood and should be recognized not as mean aggressive dogs, but as nice and caring dogs. Enjoy!
Imagine you are getting home from work or school and you See your dog wagging his/her tail and waiting for you to pet it. Well I see that, but I see it with a pit bull. I believe pit bulls can do a lot of good things like. They are eager to please their owners, they are mostly misunderstood dogs that can be of service to a lot of people. Although some people think pit bulls are bad dogs they are not and a lot of the time it isn’t the dogs fault it’s the owners fault for raising them wrong.
Pit bulls are good dogs because they are eager to please their owners. If a pit bull is aggressive it might be because they were raised wrong by their owner. And instead of being cared for and loved like most other dogs they were maybe chained up outside, not fed, and not loved. Based on personal experience pit bulls are very nice, caring, and loving dogs. Also, like any dog if it is raised wrong or is agitated it will act differently, but so would any other dog. According to the Las Vegas Sun, “They are remarkably loyal and loving and were once known as the ‘nanny dog’ because they were so trusted with children”(Cornelius 2017).
Even though pit bulls maybe aggressive at times I think they are just misunderstood because they are misidentified most of the time. As described by Time magazine, “when pit bulls are routinely mis-identified, it is more plausible to see how their numbers are high on reports”(Enos 2014). What this quote means is when pit bulls are misunderstood attack rates generally start to spike and people think that they are bad dogs and that they should be banned.
Another reason pit bulls are amazing pets is they are athletic dogs that can be of service to many different people. According to the ASPCA, “These dogs have long been popular pets, noted for their gentleness, affection, and loyalty.”
Personally, my neighbors own a pit bull named Mary Jane who is a very friendly dog. Sometimes when I walk by she will jump on her hind legs and lean against the fence wagging her tail practically begging for me to pet her. She does not show any kind of hostility at all and is a very nice dog. Pit bulls also have jobs as search and rescue dogs, and they allow kids who don’t feel comfortable around reading to adults to read to them. And if pit bulls were dangerous dogs would adults let them stay with their kids?
All in all, pit bulls are safe pets because they love making people happy, they are always good strong dogs when treated nicely that can provide certain services that people need. Pit bulls were generally known as the, ‘nanny dog’ because they were so great with kids. I couldn’t imagine walking by and not seeing MaryJane wagging her tail as I walk home from school.