Debate pg 22-23

The debate tactic is one that nearly every class could put to use, especially considering the multitude of ways it can be approached. In the book they suggest that, for the most part, it is all about establishing a topic and giving different people the role of being "Pro" or "Con" in terms of how they "feel" about it. I say "feel" because one of the great things about debate is that it provides students with the opportunity of looking at things from a perspective they ordinarily wouldn't. A student who says they are all for something may be assigned the Con position and therefore have to research and finds evidence to support something they do not necessarily agree with. This is so important for teens because this is the time they need to start branching out and learning to leave the box so many put themselves in in terms of thinking.


For my Journalism I class, I decided to approach this a little differently. We had just finished our units on Ethics and First Amendment Law and I decided to have the students learn about a real-life situation that deals with both. The subject was a student underground newspaper called "the OBJ" published in the mid-1990's in California in which several teens were suspended or expelled for publishing obscene, libelous articles about various students and teachers in their school. After reading a student article from a neighboring school in California that talked about the scandal that resulted from the incident, the students were randomly assigned one of the following roles: 1) Students Pro-Newspaper (Including students who wrote it), 2) Students Anti-Newspaper, 3) Parents (Of students pro- and anti-newspaper), 4) Administrators, 5) Teachers, and 6) Free-Speech Advocates. The task was to work in his/her assigned group to prepare for a town meeting in which each group would have the opportunity to present their feelings on the paper, what resulted from its publication, and whether the punishments were fair/enough. After the presentations, each group had the opportunity to respond to the arguments of other groups.


This project turned out to be a huge success. Not only did many students have to force themselves to see things from a teacher/administrator/parent perspective (which, let me tell you, was fantastic), but all of the students had to question major real-world concepts such as what effect something seemingly small has on others and society. They also used terms from previous units to defend themselves. All in all, the only flaw the project had was finding a way to consistently  keep the students calm when they were so enthusiastic about their arguments.

In summary, debates are a fun, practical, dynamic way of having students review or explore major concepts. There are a multitude of ways in which they can be done as well, which means they can never get old or worn-out. I can't wait to find more ways and opportunities for the future.