32. Why Does My Kid Freak Out?

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2013/02/why_does_my_kid_freak_out_the_science_behind_toddler_tantrums.html

Melinda Wenner Moyer published on February 27, 2013, the article "Why Does My Kid Freak Out?" to advise parents of young kids that a toddler's temper tantrum is mostly quite normal. Moyer asserts that toddlers can have a lot of stress as they are learning so many new things at the same time, and since they do not yet know how to cope with stress, they would "freak out." As her introduction, she connects to comedian Jason Good's blog post "46 Reasons My Three Year Old Might Be Freaking Out" which is a humorous list of random instances that a little toddler may freak out. Moyer affirms that it is natural for the young children to have tantrums when the parents start to enforce rules on them. It could confuse them and frustrate them because they do not yet understand why things are the way they are. Moyer then explains why adults do not have those tantrums, which is because adults are capable of controlling them, since such skills as language skills and the ability to understand and identify different feelings have already developed. Moyer further explains the factors within a child and their brain functions that are related to the tantrums they have time to time. As she lays out her explanations, she appeals to ethos by using quotes from intellectual sources such as the University of Illinois and a psychologist Claire Kopp. Moyer also talk about her own son as an example to clarify her assertions. She creates an analogy to cavemen to describe how the toddlers are like.

Moyer's purpose of publishing this article is to inform parents of young toddlers that it is normal for toddlers to "freak out" because the babies go through a lot of frustration as they are trying to understand what is going on. Accordingly, the audience of this article is the parents, or to-be-parents of young children. She aims for the adults to be more understanding and wise to deal with the the tantrums of the little children.