The Debate Club—

Learning To Argue Their Point

By Laurie Borst

On the afternoon of October 9, 20 Newtown Middle School students waited in the Tech Ed room for Don Ramsey to finish bus duty. The moment he walked through the door, he welcomed them to the first meeting of the year for the Debate Club.

He introduced two high school juniors, Biota Hung and Bryony Langdon, from the high school debate team who were there to share their experiences and answer questions.

“This is the third year we’ve had the debate club,” Mr Ramsey explained. “It all got started at a Rotary Club dinner when a parent asked me if the middle school had a club. I thought it was a great idea.”

As it turns out, the middle school and high school clubs both got started at around the same time not knowing about the other, Mr Ramsey continued. Now, the two clubs work together with high school students attending the NMS meetings.

“Having these links across the grade levels is great for both groups of kids,” said Mr Ramsey.

He pointed out that some of the good middle school debaters may be invited to join high school debates.

“By the time you reach high school, you will be ready to join an outstanding team,” Mr Ramsey told the students.

Biota told the students that last year’s team went to Nationals. The group has attended debates at Ivy League schools, including Yale, Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia, and many high schools.

Last year, the team earned eight awards at the Connecticut state tournament.

Mr Ramsey asked the students what benefits they thought they could gain from participating on the team.

School gets to compete and show their talent, one student offered. Debating will give you confidence at job interviews, said another. You can talk about issues, and opinions of the day, another stated.

Mr Ramsey asked what issues were on people’s minds now. Immigration, health care, politics, Iraq, and Korea were among student suggestions.

Several students said they joined to become better speakers. Mr Ramsey asked for a volunteer. Seventh grader Christian Mather was selected. He was asked to speak extemporaneously for 30 seconds on what makes a quality teacher. Christian impressed the room by speaking with ease for the allotted time.

Biota and Bryony explained the four types of debate that the high school competes in.

Bryony told the students that extemporaneous debate is a partnered event. Debaters get the topic on the day of debate and have one hour to prepare.

Lincoln-Douglas debating, Biota said, is a structured format, one-on-one, debating values like freedom and justice.

Public Forum debate, Bryony stated, grew out of the Crossfire program on CNN where partners debate topics relevant to society, such as gambling or foreign relations.

NHS takes part in one parliamentary debate each year. Students attend the Yale Tournament. In this format, the topic is given that day and participants have ten minutes to prepare.

“This activity will help you learn how to think,” Mr Ramsey said, “how to offer convincing arguments to a judge who will be convinced one way or the other.”

An extemporaneous discussion on immigration followed with Mr Ramsey pointing out good skills the students displayed. In one instance, he was able to explain rebuttal to the students, a response to an already stated position.

The students will practice various methods of debate at the weekly meetings.

The meeting ended with a discussion about the officers in the club. The club only has a president, elected from the eighth graders, and a vice president, a position held by a seventh grader. The candidates had five minutes to prepare a two minute speech on why they should be elected. Officers will be voted on at the next meeting.