Debate Club Article
An article by: David-Paul Hotze
Yes, when thinking of a school debate club we mostly think of a room filled with tie wearing nerds discussing some of the latest technological advancement of computer but those times are now defiantly over. The debate club at FIS led by: _____________ is becoming more and more popular among the students. But what is a debate club? To put it simple a debate club is a gathering of people that discuss a certain topic presenting both points of view, the whole discussion follows certain rules. There are different formats of debates that can be carried out: ones that are about a spontaneously chosen topic, ones with defined topics and time for preparation, single 1 on 1 debates or team debates. Debates can pretty much any shape or form. Each team or individual will take one side either for (pro) or against (con) the cause. Sometimes the team will discuss and then select one member to speak for all or each member from both teams gets an individual amount of time to speak and give their opinion. Usually a judge or chairman will assess the discussion and declare a winner based on the strength of arguments and the professionalism of the teams. When there are more than one team present at the debate the first two teams will debate and the winner will emerge to a new round, similar to the qualifying for sports events.
The topics of debate are practically endless and can range from things like: Should abortion be permitted? To: Should there be a restriction of the amount of advertisements a person is exposed to per day?
Joining a debate club will bring you new experiences and knowledge. Public speaking will improve as well as the ability to comprehend things and to then express oneself on a spontaneous topic.
If more people join the debate club we can surely assume that there will be an FIS debate team that might go to larger competitions.
