I had the privilege to judge a high school team policy debate yesterday.
It reinforced my belief that respectful debate, argument, and dialogue are possible.
These high schoolers made the college students that protest everything look like idiots. It also reinforced my belief that the current high school generation is capable of being smart, compassionate, and successful in the future. They need to be taught well. And they need to be taught to think for themselves. I debated in high school many years ago and the format is exactly the same. Two teams of two debaters take a side – Affirmative or Negative. The Affirmative must present a plan to fix a problem in society based on a chosen topic for the debate season. The Negative team highlights problems with the plan or a lack of harm in the status quo. This year's topic deals with Artificial Intelligence and whether to move forward moderately or aggressively. Both teams were professional and well spoken. Their ideas were clearly presented and backed up by real-world evidence. It was very enjoyable. And it bolstered my faith in the next generation. Don’t be so fast to judge younger people. “Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.” George Orwell