Middle School Debate Topics

[look 171]

Originally Posted by flipper35

We had to do gun control at that age.

no fcuk that, teenage sex

[bivenator]

Here is the teachers reply to my letter. As I suspected, the topic was chosen by somebody other than the teacher. Disappointing, still contemplating not having her participate in the debate. She has two other events that she could focus more fully on. I will be contacting the tournaments directors to voice my opinion.

Thank you for your input. I enjoyxxxxx and am excited she is part of the team. I can agree and say that I’m not fond of the topic myself. I don’t have a say for the topic. Each Tournaments Director uses the National Debate topic since the judges at the tournament are high school debaters. Since all the information has been out for several weeks and entries have been done, all schools have begun the process of working on the case. I don’t think they will change the topic now. You are welcome to contact the coaches from each of the schools about their topic choices. The calendar has been sent to give you an idea of what tournaments we will attend. Please let me know if xxxxxx will be debating this tournament. If not, I need to drop her team soon or we will have a drop fee. (double the entry fee)

Thank you.

[bivenator]

My follow up letter to the person higher in the food chain.

My daughter is in sixth grade and will be participating in the upcoming debate tournaments. We are thrilled that she has shown an interest in this area as good debate skills are invaluable for success later in life.



We were disappointed in the topic chosen for the debate. Reparations for Slavery does not seem age appropriate for a middle school debate. It is a hot button and controversial topic. The emotions associated with it are raw and quite close to the surface as race relations in this country evolve. I would have expected a topic with more researchable hard facts rather than over heated rhetoric. The subject is better suited for the cable news programs rather than a middle school debate. A quick search on the internet for "middle school debate topics" returned numerous web pages with many suggestions for topics but "Reparations for Slavery" were not included in any of the sites that I visited.




Debate at this level, in my opinion, should focus more on the mechanics of the debate, the process of research and organization of ideas. This topic has the potential to create conflict in the real world setting of middle school and not just in the debate tournament.




Can you help me understand the thought process and the decision making that went into choosing this topic.


Thank,

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by bivenator

Debate at this level, in my opinion, should focus more on the mechanics of the debate, the process of research and organization of ideas. This topic has the potential to create conflict in the real world setting of middle school and not just in the debate tournament.

That is really well stated, I applaud your parenting.

I was on the debate team in the 6th Grade. I was able to to successfully defend both sides of the White Album.

I said it was eponymous. Who knew?

[bivenator]

Thanks for the endorsement Paul, that's nice.

After moving up the food chain, to the director of the tournament. Her reply is...

I certainly understand your concerns about this topic. I am not a big fan of it either. The reason we are using it for our tournament is that it is the current national topic for public forum debate. We have always used the national topic for our middle school tournament for several reasons. First, many middle schools get tutoring in debate from their affiliated high schools. Since this is the national topic, students are more familiar with the arguments related to it. Second, because it is the national topic, there is usually a great deal of topic analysis and research material available through various debate websites that students frequently use. Finally, using the national topic means that it is likely that students will be able to use their cases at other tournaments they attend in September and October.



There is a national committee that meets each year to write topics and submit a list of topics for schools to vote on. I didn’t vote for this topic, but apparently enough schools did for it to end up as our first topic of the year. Public Forum debate was actually originally created as forum for discussing controversial issues currently in the news and was modeled after the news program Crossfire. Some of the topics we have debated have been more controversial than others, and this one is certainly on the more controversial end of the spectrum. As much as I don’t really like this topic, I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the arguments I’ve heard in rounds I’ve judged on this issue. The debates I have judged on this topic, thus far, have displayed well-reasoned and thoroughly researched positions on the issue.



While I understand that debates on this issue have the potential to devolve into something decidedly unpleasant, I also think that using a consistent topic that is being debated across the country in this event is important to avoid confusion. I think that most students prepare for the national topic and I think it would confuse students to use a different topic for one tournament.



Again, I understand your concern but I feel that using the national topic is a better choice than creating a random topic. Please let me know if there if anything I can do to help.

[racer]

Originally Posted by bivenator

Sixth grade is 11 year olds. This is the first exposure to a debate forum and a less incendiary topic should be given. While the topic is worthy of debate and would be appropriate in the college or perhaps the high school setting.

For whom is the topic so incendiary? I don't see to many 11 year olds on either side of the issue out campaigning for one resolution or the other. This will allow the kids to learn about a topic (slavery) that this country still struggles to have a conversation about as its effects are still present.