Reuben Pulatov

Professor Fernando Duran

English 11000 Freshman Composition

Tuesday, September 10^th, 2019

 

The topic of age restriction is one that has permeated many forms of action from the arts to locations, and there has been much research and study on the subject. The first study I looked into was “Shop Floor Compliance with Age Restrictions for Tobacco Sales: Remote Versus In-Store Age Verification” for the Journal of Adolescent Health, an academic study freely available through html or .pdf formats. The publication it’s part of warrants respect, as it has been running for nearly 40 years as a peer-reviewed medical journal in the field of young people who would be most affected by age restrictions. The article was written by Dr. Joris J. van Hoof, Dr. Jordi F. Gosselt, and Dr. Menno D.T.de Jong, all of whom are professors at  the Department of Communication Science at the University of Twente, a prestigious Dutch university, and all specialize in the effects of communication and technology on people’s actions. The audience for the work, being in a scientific journal, are clearly professionals who understand the work the researchers have done, and the language reflects as such in being very streamlined, existing to explain the data, which is the real focus. The actual purpose of the paper is to “compare traditional in-store age verification with a newly developed remote age verification system.” The paper presents the information the researchers have gathered in a very streamlined format of clearly differentiating everything they’ve done under their own headings, the major ones being the “Methods” and “Results.” The paper’s stance, as displayed in its “discussion” section following the findings, is that remote verification of age is far more effective than in-person verifications done by a cashier.

Another analysis came from Time magazine, covered in their article “Study: Another Reason to Keep the Drinking Age at 21.” The author is Meredish Melnick, who writes health and lifestyle articles for Time and The Huffington Post. While her medium may be less respectable than a peer-reviewed academic journal, she still sufficiently sources and researches her works. The article seems to be addressed towards women in their early twenties, as they seem to be the ones most affected by the studies references in the article. The tone of the article is cautionary, as they author addresses the matter with concern. She spends the final paragraph underlining the potential dangers that come with drinking under the age of 21 as a matter of public health, as it was published as a “Health” column in the magazine. The language focuses on the data here as well, focusing on relevant information and using the text to naturally lead one into the other and connect them.

The Washington Times discussed it in regards to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and their age-based rating system, in an article published in the paper, in the genre of a news report. The article, titled “Family unfriendly,” is suspiciously not sourced to any particular writer, but simply has The Washington Times as the byline. Despite this, the paper itself it well respected in regards to the news world as a reputable source of platform, so this can be overlooked. The audience is the public in general, as is addresses the topics of politics and the Hollywood film industry, two very wide reaching subjects. The piece has an explanatory tone, and its purpose is to analyze the statements of U.S. Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri in regards to having hearings on the movie industry and how the content thereof is rated. The language is appropriate for a news report, as it lays out the information in a concise manner and connects it to other information that may relate to the topic at hand.

Another report in a different field came from CNN.com, in their online article “Legal age limit for tanning beds?” The article was written by Lisa Gillespie, who works for NPR’s Louisville, Kentucky affiliate WFPL as their “Health and Innovation Reporter,” and it said to have “covered all things health.” The article is intended to be informatory, and is written as such, and is aimed at people looking for a concise piece of information on the subject, as it covers the issue from many different angles with different pieces of data. The piece is presented as a report, and the author herself does not weigh in at all on the subject, except in they beginning to say “Tanning salons are already under siege.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Van Hoof, Joris J., et al. “Shop Floor Compliance with Age Restrictions for Tobacco Sales: Remote Versus In-Store Age Verification.” Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 42, no. 2, Feb. 2010, pp. 197–199., doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.06.009.

Gillespie, Lisa. “Legal Age Limit for Tanning Beds?” CNN.com, Cable News Network, 3 June 2015, www.cnn.com/2015/06/03/health/tanning-beds-legal-age/index.html.

Melnick, Meredith. “Study: Another Reason to Keep the Drinking Age at 21.” Time, 16 Nov. 2011.

“Family Unfriendly.” The Washington Times, 28 June 2006.