I - Introduction

Introduction

Competitive interscholastic debates have occurred in high schools for well over a century.  Because debate requires students to formulate, research, and deliver persuasive arguments on a range of vital issues, many teachers find it to be an invaluable educational activity.

There are many different debate formats that have been used in competition.  Lincoln-Douglas, parliamentary, student congress, model United Nations, and policy debate are all different formats in which students compete.  Each debate format has unique strengths and weaknesses.  A group of debate teachers from Minnesota recently designed a new debate format, Classic Debate. 

Classic Debate is designed to make competitive debate attractive to a large number of students.  Teams of two students will clash over current issues.  The debate season runs from October through December.  During the season, students will debate two different topics.  The first topic will be selected by debate teachers in August.  The second topic will be chosen by participating students.

Being on the Debate Team 

Because debate is a competitive activity, participants are members of a team.  The debate team is much like a typical sports team with practices, meets/tournaments, and coaches.  A debate round (one full debate) takes about an hour.  A judge picks a winner in each debate based on which side does the better job of upholding their position.

Classic debates are argued by teams of two (two debaters on each side for a total of four in each round of debate).  Each member of the two-person team gives speeches and helps his or her partner the best they can.

The debate season consists of invitational tournaments which attract schools from around the state.  Awards are often given out to the top teams based on record.  The final tournament of the year is the championship tournament.  Your coach will have more information on your competitive schedule.

Debaters practice each week..  Just like a football team runs through plays, talks about upcoming opposition, and generally sharpen their skills, the debate team uses practice time to prepare for competition.

How much time does all of this take?  The best answer is "it depends."  The typical debater practices a few nights per week.  Each competition is on Saturday and ends in the mid-afternoon. Time commitment really depends on each participant's goals and desires.  A team member can choose the tournaments that he or she wishes to attend.  In other words, debaters are able, for the most part, to set their own schedules.  This will vary depending on the specific requirements of your coach.

The Benefits of Debate

Competitive debate is a challenging and highly rewarding activity for most who become involved in it.  There are a full range of benefits associated with being on the debate team. 

·      Fun:  The vast majority of the tens of thousands of students who compete in debate tournaments each year will tell you that it's fun.  For every person, the experience is a little different, but generally the thrill of competition, the camaraderie of teammates and the travel opportunities make debate fun.

·      Teammates: An additional benefit of getting involved is building friendships with teammates who enjoy similar interests. 

·      Public Speaking Skills: Most people naturally avoid public speaking--debate provides a non-threatening environment to practice these skills so that down the road when you're called on to speak in college or on the job, you'll have the skills necessary to do a great job.  This increases your chances of doing well in important interviews for jobs or scholarships.

·      Analytical Skills: The ability to critically analyze a problem and propose workable solutions is invaluable.  This is a skill that debate best teaches and high-level business people and professionals possess.

·      Research Skills: From traditional library research to the Internet, debate teaches you to become a world-class researcher.  Ask any college student and they'll tell you how valuable this is.

·      Listening & Note taking Skills: Debate requires that you become a careful listener and good note taker.  This helps students get better grades and learn faster.

Many of this nation's top lawyers, business executives, doctors, engineers, and elected leaders were involved in high school debate, and for good reason.  Simply put, debate-related skills help one get ahead and stay there.  The power to persuade is highly respected and there is no better way to master this art than through debate.

The Resolution

The debate resolution is the focus for the debate.  A resolution is a controversial statement that can be supported or opposed.  Resolutions can be statements of fact, policy, or value.  The affirmative team always supports (affirms) the resolution.  The negative team opposes (negates) the resolution. 

Occasionally, a resolution will allow the affirmative team to make a choice.  For example, "Resolved that [Richard Nixon/Lyndon Johnson] was a better U.S. president."  These "2-choice" resolutions require the affirmative to select one of two options to support.  The negative must then support the option the affirmative does not select.

Resolutions are selected to create good debates.  They should be fairly balanced between the affirmative and negative (meaning that both sides should be able to make reasonable arguments).  Good resolutions focus on topics that are significant and timely.  They also allow students to research the topic without too much trouble (topics that are obscure or topics that are too broad may present research difficulties).

The Role of the Judge

 Each debate round will have a judge who will decide which team does the better job of debating.  The judge is instructed to base his/her decision on the arguments made in the debate round, not on his/her personal beliefs about the issues.  Usually, a judge will take notes and do his or her best to follow all of the arguments you make.  At the conclusion of the debate, the judge will write a ballot which explains his/her decision.  You will get your ballot back at the end of the tournament.

Judges are hired by the schools that attend a debate tournament.  They may be teachers, parents, former high school debaters, or other interested adults.  Some judges are very experienced, but many are not.  Undoubtedly, at some point in your debate career you will be disappointed by a decision that a judge makes.  It is best to assume that your judge is doing their best.  Remember, debate is subjective and will be seen differently by different people. 

One difficulty that your judge may face is a very close debate.  What should they do if they feel the debate is a tie?  There are different methods to break the tie.  Some judges reward the team with better delivery skills.  Some judges award the tie to the negative because the affirmative gets the benefit of the last word.  Some may award a tie to the team that defends the status quo (present system).  As a debater, you should recognize that your debate is very close and help the judge break the tie by weighing issues and providing decision-making criteria (more on this later).

Conclusion

Debate is an organized clash of ideas.  You now know a little more about what it means to be on the debate team.  You also know that a competitive round of debate consists of two people on each side of a controversial statement called a resolution.  The debate round is observed by a judge who selects a winner based on the arguments made in the debate.  Next, Chapter II provides more information on the Classic Debate Format.