I like debate because it educates me on important issues in the world and it means I learn both sides of the issue, not just the one that I initially believed was right.” –GRADE 7 STUDENT OWEN SNYDER-SMITH
Tuesday Afternoons Photo credits: SCDS Advancement Office
(L to R): Grade 7 students Elena Weitz and Abigail Assadi take a break at the final SCDS Debate Tournament.
By SCDS Grade 7 students Abigail Assadi and Elena Weitz
It’s Tuesday afternoon. Twenty middle school students start to trickle into Mr. Crawford’s Language Arts classroom with binders, pens, pencils, and new research to share. “Everyone! Listen up!” We halt our conversations as we eagerly await the next topic—“It’s time to debate zoo’s doing more harm than good.”
SCDS has a great debate program. We get to debate such a large range of topics—some serious, and some frivolous. Some of our favorites have been about factory farming, second amendment rights, and paradoxes. Teams of three then argue head-to-head by refuting opponents’ points and stating claims. And to show off our skills, the SCDS Debate Club participates in three tournaments, the most recent of which included 15 independent schools. For every tournament, Mr. Crawford, our debate coach, assigns different teams. The jumbling of students is essential because we can learn to work with a diverse set of people, each with unique qualities. As 8th grader Carter Vu says, “I love debate because it promotes friendships and mentoring across grades 6 through 8.” The tension is high at tournaments. It’s not the same type of tension that we see at Debate Club on Tuesday afternoons. At tournaments, everybody wants to win, and everyone sticks strictly to the Claim, Backup, Significance (C.B.S.) format to make the most effective speech. C.B.S. is an important element for creating a strong argument because well thought-out speeches with ample factual support are much more impactful. In the end, a team must convince the judge that its arguments and claims are more significant than an opposing team’s arguments. Joining the SCDS Debate Team was a beneficial step toward improving our writing and public speaking skills, while learning how to make a difference in society. The ability to understand both sides of an argument is strongly enforced in SCDS Debate. Arguing is only one aspect of debate, and taking part in a group conversation is another valuable aspect. To hold a productive group conversation—especially if there is a disagreement—we need to be capable of keeping ourselves composed. Around this year’s presidential election, this skill was essential. During a class discussion centered on an article from The New York Times’ Upfront magazine, we voiced our opinions, but were respectful of everyone’s beliefs as to not be exclusive. “I like debate because it educates me on important issues in the world and it means I learn both sides of the issue, not just the one that I initially believed was right,” says 7th grader Owen Snyder-Smith.
4
SPRING 2017 | KINETICS