Driving Age, Raise to 18

Source 2:

            In his web page, “Driving Age, Raise to 18,” Alastair Endersby informs debaters of the dilemma many state lawmakers are facing, whether the driving age should be raised to 18 or not. The site is meant to give debate topics, and is designed in a “pro vs. con” layout and gives facts and thoughts for each side to argue about. Therefore, the author doesn’t have a viewpoint and remains very unbiased, opting out of displaying his opinion through his work. Instead, he has an equal amount of arguments on each side, as not to slant one’s opinion, but to make a fair debate. This also means there is no conflicting evidence, because the author can not have information that goes against his viewpoint which is not given. Instead, Endersby has information that conflicts against one another.

            Based on the “pro vs. con” t-chart, debaters can easily see the different viewpoints of the topic compared and contrasted on the page (the side that wants the driving age to be raised, and the side that doesn’t), making it simple for debaters to choose sides and use the arguments to make their case.

            The article contains neutral vocabulary, probably chosen to prevent a slant or bias in the text. For example, Endersby uses the words “could”, and “would” a lot to show that he is not for one side or for one opinion. It also shows he is not making the decision for others or displaying his viewpoint, he is simply leaving it up to the reader.

            Overall, this sight is somewhat reliable. The author’s background that is put above the t-chart tells readers that Alastair Endersby is a teacher from the United Kingdom who used to coach debate teams. Readers can tell he is not from the US because certain words he uses are misspelled or considered incorrect here in America, such as “behaviour” and “labour”. Also, the date on which this web page was last modified is December of 2008, which means this information may not be completely up to date. However, there are no ads and the site looks very professional.

           

http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=838