Debate Day (G7 – G12)

2023-2024
How does it work?
Each preselected teams will be given a topic to research. Teams must prepare an
affirmative (pro) argument and a negative (con) argument. On the day of the debate,
each team will be told which argument they will be representing. The order of speakers
is as follows: first affirmative, first negative, second affirmative, second negative, and
onwards until all team members have had a chance to speak,
1. First Affirmative (Team A): This speaker must tell their stance on the topic, and
define the topic. Then the speaker will present their argument point backed with
reasoning and facts.
2. First Negative (Team B): This speaker must tell their stance on the topics first.
Then they may rebuttal the previous speakers’ argument. To rebuttal an
argument is to disprove or contradict that argument. Afterwards, the speaker
must present their argument point and back it up.
3. Other affirmative and Negatives: These speakers must tell their stance on the
topic (affirmative/ negative) and then they may rebuttal the previous speakers’
argument. They then present their own argument
Each speaker will be given a restricted amount of time to present. If the allotted time is
done while a speaker is in the middle of a point they must stop talking.
Ex topic: Should students wear school uniforms?
First Affirmative (Team A): We, Team A, believe in the affirmative stance that student
should wear school uniforms. Any sort of limit on the clothing a student can wear,
whether it is color or a specific attire, is considered a school uniform. One reason why
students should wear a school uniform is because it increases the focus on school and
reduces the focus on a student’s appearance. A British survey showed that a person
takes 30 to 75 minutes a day to get ready. This time can be instead used on studying
or other productive activities. When a student is forced to wear a uniform, they take
much less time to get ready. In addition, the focus on appearance throughout the
school day can distract from ones academics. An American study shows that after
uniforms are introduced, test scores increase by three percentile.
First Negative (Team B): The Negative team will prove today that students should not
wear school uniforms. An argument can be made against the affirmative team’s point
that the time a person takes to get ready depends on the individual. There are those
that take only 10 minutes if not less to get ready. The time that is being saved in the
morning can also be used to waste time on a useless venture. On the other hand,
students that do not have school uniforms have higher self-esteem than those who do.
When a group is forced to wear the same article of clothing, it can cause students to
become critical on their appearance in that article of clothing compared to their
classmates’ appearance in the same article. Since students that do not uniforms are
given freedom in the choice of what to wear, they choose things that make them
comfortable and confident. Researchers at Arizona State University have done a study
that shows that students have higher self-perception when they do not wear uniforms.
One of the most important things that a school must instill in their students is
confidence, which school uniforms do not do.
The English Department