Fallacies...Good or Bad?

People say that hiding the truth is never beneficial to one's argument. As a teenager I've realized that this is completely true and that there is nothing that makes you win an argument more than spotting a fallacy and telling whoever's using it the error they've committed.

For example, the other day I was in an argument with my brother and he told me "Do all your friends like picking fights with their brother?." I realized that in a way, this was an appeal to popularity and instead of responding with a reductio ad absurdum fallacy (like mos mom's would do) I simply said "In fact they do, but who cares what my friends do? How would their choices affect us in any way right now?" My brother immediately stopped trying to validate his point and was left speechless.

Now in many cases this appeal to popularity fallacy does work with my parents, as long as it's not spotted. When I ask my parents permission to go to a party or somewhere in general I basically use the phrase "All my friends are going, I should go" but in a way more discrete way so that they don't immediately decline by saying "You are our daughter and don't always have to do what your friends do." What I usually do is mention my most responsible friends that are going and state how much fun I would have with them in a responsible manner. After getting to know my friends, my parents have their weak spots. For example, if I tell them that a certain friend is going to this occasion they'll give me permission easily because they know how responsible that friend is and that I can't possibly "screw things up" when I'm with this person. (My parents trust me but who I'm with is always something that they pay close attention to).

After analyzing my experiences I realized that fallacies are honestly not the best tool when it comes to an argument because, well, if the fallacy you're using is spotted you're basically screwed. They could be beneficial at some point, but fallacies are putting yourself at risk without necessarily having to. Who would want to lose an argument by simply not knowing what tools to use and when?