'Nanny Boo-Boos' By John Leo

John Leo is a writer for the Manhattan Institute and former columnist for the US News and World Report. Leo focuses much of his work on social and cultural issues. “Nanny boo-boos” is an essay Leo wrote that first appeared in the US News and World Report addressing “nannyism” in society. Leo’s thesis throughout the essay is that “nannyism” programs may begin reasonable and beneficial, but grow out of hand and require extreme measures to become effective. He shows that “nannyism” policies that attempt to ban everything potentially harmful are extreme and often unachievable.
Leo introduces his essay with a definition, and an example of “nannyism” through anti-bullying, and explains how it is an excellent case of “creeping nannyism.” He continues throughout the work to provide the audience with further examples of programs that fit this

definition. These examples continually force the reader back to his initial thesis.
Logical argumentation is a tool Leo uses thoroughly throughout the work.

The use of specific examples such as anti-bullying in Edmonton, Canada, and political views of Democrats in Austria to give the reader physical places and people to link the thesis to everyday life. Leo also uses statistics to demonstrate to the reader the absurdity of some “nannyism’’ policies. In line eight, he uses the definition of a bully to show that 99 percent of students would be defined as one. Therefore, he shows how the simple idea of an anti-bullying program would require much more work than originally thought.
Again Leo uses logic to argue that “nannyism” policies are not as simple as perceived with the example of cell phone use in cars. He demonstrates that car radios cause just as many, if not more, accidents than phones in cars with the statistic of the California Highway Patrol, “768 of some 9,000 crashes were caused by drivers fiddling with radios or CD players.” (Lines 49-51) Leo proceeds to humorously claim that car limitations would eventually lead to the ban of “distracting” spouse-passengers, dogs, and even children in

cars.
Leo’s non-rational appeal is another instrument he uses to persuade his readers. His use of humor and sarcasm grab the reader’s attention and show how ridiculous some “nannyism” programs are. He shows how an antismoking program proposed for Manhattan Central Park is preposterous, and the thought that banning smoking because “a gust of deadly secondhand smoke might waft from the park’s 840 acres into the window of a distant apartment and kill somebody” is ridiculous (Lines 49-51). Leo’s title of the essay itself is a call to humor, mocking the ideas of these restricting policies.
Leo’s essay “Nanny boo-boo” highlights the idea that “nannyism” policies that attempt to ban everything that could cause harm are ridiculous. He uses statistics and specific examples to address logical argumentation. Leo also uses non-rational argumentation through humor and sarcasm to show the absurdity of the “nannyism” claims.