Pros of Debate

Harvard Debate team

On February 27 our class begins our debates. We were collected into groups of six to debate against another team of six on controversial topics. This is very beneficial to us students. By doing this, we are going to get introduced into how debates work which in the long run, will help us understand important debates such as Presidential Election debates. This debate will also teach the more shy students in the class to learn to speak up and realize that they are welcome and do not need to hide. According to communicationacademy.com, " in written and oral communication, and greatly improve their reading comprehension (sometimes 25% more than their peers,"(Academic skills). Along with just adding increased communication and comprehension debate can increase the ability of many other things and can also give some peers a new gain of confidence

Debates start when there is the first affirmative speech which will talk about the topic and give the stance of the team while also trying to convince the judges why their argument is valid. It is followed by a cross examination of the negative team which is attempts to call out the other team to make their information look invalid. Once finished the negative team will make their first negative speech which is followed by an affirmative cross examination. This back and forth will continue until the affirmative team begins their rebuttal which is a summary of the argument presented and finish off the argument with a concluding statement that will hopefully sway the judges. The negative side will then be allowed to make their rebuttal. To win a debate the facts presented must have a clear origin and be truthful. If not, the other team could question the fact and hurt the teams credibility. Also, being polite goes a long way in debating and a judge is more willing to listen to someone who is polite and insightful then someone who is belligerent. So, the powers of debate can be very influential in a students developmental status and will help then much later on in life.

By Luke Romano