The New York Times article “When Children Become Criminals” is an editorial board opinion piece. There is discussion of how New York is one of the few states to prosecute 16-year-olds as adults; with harsher sentences than if they had been tried in juvenile court (2014, p. 1). Toulmin model can be applied to analyze the topic. This model consists of a claim, reasons, support, a warrant, a qualification, and a rebuttal. In the New York Times Editorial Board article "When Children Become Criminals" dated January 19, 2014 the authors say they are trying to persuade readers that the age for criminal prosecution among adults should be raised. To help further understand affirmation, it is important to know the definition of affirmation, which is defined as “a statement that you want others to accept and act upon” (Rieke, Sillars & Peterson, 2012, p. 3). To develop this claim, I determined that the perpetrators used the following reasons, namely that minors prosecuted as adults commit more violent crimes and become career criminals. Motives can be defined as “the primary source of support in response to demand” (Rieke, Sillars & Peterson, 2012, p. 53). The reasons for a complaint are not very persuasive without the assistance of support. Support is additional details or evidence that helps support reasons and ensures further persuasion of readers (Rieke, Sillars & Peterson, 2012, p. 54). The reasoning behind the article is that “this system needlessly destroys human lives and further endangers the population” (Editorial Board, 2014, p. 1). Both reasons and support can be seen as sub-claims that help support the claim. The rationale and support support the thesis by describing the consequences of not changing the age at which non-violent crimes on paper are prosecuted as adults. Another element of the article that really struck me was that New York is only one of two states to criminally prosecute 16-year-olds as adults (Editorial Board, 2014, p. 1). This served to form a new opinion in my mind on the subject, which is that the age at which you are tried as an adult should be 18, because this is also the age at which the government views you as an adult. Works CitedEditorial Board. (2014, January 19). When Children Become Criminals.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/opinion/when-children-become-criminals.html?_r=0Hingstman, D. (2014, January). Toulmin's model of argumentation. Lecture conducted by the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. Rieke, R., Sillars, M., & Peterson, T. R. (2012). Argumentation and critical decision making. (8th ed.). Pearson.