Category:American Policy Debating
From Debate One World
Why get involved in policy debate?
WHY DEBATE?
Debating can take time and effort. Millions of students have, through the years, found that it is more than worth it.
Debating is fun. You debate with a partner and against other students. You and your team at school become a debate squad, a community, where you work for and with each other to win. You will make friends and meet lots of interesting new people. You will engage in thrilling contests and travel outside of your school.
Debating is a sport of the mind and voice. You compete using your brain and your mouth. You have a chance to win and even when you don't win you learn. Unlike some sports, where you need to be fast, tall, big or something else physical, debate is for everyone. You don't have to be book-smart or test-smart to be a good debater. If you feel you can learn and if you think you are clever, debate is for you. Even if you don't think you are talented in any special way, debate can improve the abilities you already have.
Debating is controlled by you. You get to speak, you get to pick the arguments, and you get to use your strategy. Instead of being told what to do and told what to study, in debate you can create your own learning project and follow ideas and issues which interest you.
Debating creates the skills you need for success. Studies show that employers and colleges are looking for students with oral communication skills, and debate is based on developing oral communication skills. Studies also show that those with good oral communication skills are identified as "leaders" by others and get promoted faster on the job. Unlike some activities and areas of study, debating will help you succeed wherever your life may lead you.
Debate can give you the power to change things. Things need changing, and your voice can be a powerful instrument for change -- in your school, in your community, in your nation, in the world. Malcolm X's life was turned around in prison when he learned how to debate. Listen to what Malcolm X later wrote about it:
"I've told how debating was a weekly event there, at the Norfolk prison colony. My reading had my mind like steam under pressure. Some way, I had to start telling the white man about himself to his face. I decided I could do this by putting my name down to debate … Once my feet got wet, I was gone on debating. Whichever side of the selected subject was assigned to me, I'd track down and study everything I could find on it. I'd put myself in my opponents' place, ands decide how I'd try to win if I had the other side; I'd figure a way to knock down all those points." [Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1964]
Debating is not just for geeks or nerds. Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, John F. Kennedy, and many others loved debate, and you can't say they were nerds.
