Debaters Overcome Negative Stereotypes

From http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=19&a=370724

Tanner Greer: No argument -- Debate is great
Wed, Nov 12, 2008 PB Online
On Saturday, 20 high school students dressed in business attire will climb into a coach bus at 5 a.m. and won't climb out again until 6 p.m.

As any parent can tell you, getting a teenager out of bed before 7 a.m. on a school day is difficult; doing so on a Saturday is downright impossible. Likewise, a Herculean challenge faces every parent who attempts to get their child to wear a suit for an entire day or to spend six hours of their precious weekend driving across Minnesota farmland.

What in the world would make these students do any of that willingly?

The answer is simple. These students are part of the Century Debate Team.

Being part of such a team is harder than it sounds. In addition to waking up at 4 a.m. to reach a tournament on time, team members must spend three hours in practice sessions each week, hours researching and compiling evidence on the resolution being debated, and a fair amount of time discussing strategy.

There are many that will not touch this kind of work with a 10-foot pole. Theodore Roosevelt once said that he could not lend his support to any "debating contests" that "make contestants feel as if their convictions should have nothing to do with their arguments."

As one of my friends told me, "You expect me to sit on a bus with the 20 most argumentative kids in the school for two hours and then come back alive?"

I will admit that my fellow debaters have left my ears ringing on more than one occasion. Yet despite this fact, I believe that the benefits of joining the debate team far exceed any of the costs.

The first -- and perhaps most obvious -- benefit is that it makes you a better debater. This doesn't mean the debate team teaches you how to win petty quarrels, it teaches debaters to spot gaps in logic and how to avoid creating them when crafting an argument.

The debate team also teaches you how to think on your toes. There's little time to develop a contention or counterattack once the debate has started. The debater has even less time to think once the opponents start cross-examining. This frenzied pace teaches debaters how to use limited time effectively and how to reason quickly.

Another benefit is that you learn a lot about the topic being debated. In this age of civic illiteracy, I can think of no better way to inform our citizens of the issues than by having them debate them. For example, take our current topic: Offshore drilling. The average debater can now tell you the percentage of American natural gas that is found offshore, the function of Mineral Management Service and just how much oil we import from Saudi Arabia.

The final argument is simple: It's fun. While watching debates is perhaps the dullest thing ever, participating in them is quite a different experience. It's a struggle where two minds meet. The excitement of a new debate, the triumph of contention won and the success of a graceful conclusion -- all are things I never wish to give up. Even if it means getting on a bus at 5 a.m.