Why Debate?

You have to think on your feet, speak in front of a lot of people, question the opposition within an inch of their lives, speak impromptu, research in any spare time, understand economics, and formulate arguments on the fly. Why on earth would you want to participate in debate? O, I forgot, you have to write…lots.

And who on earth would want to talk about U.S. farm subsidies for an hour and a half straight? Only a geek. That’s what I originally thought when I was 12 years old and saw a few debates. It looked scary!  But before you form an opinion, hear me out.

The skills a debater develops are used by almost everyone through their entire lives and most people don’t realize it. Here are some examples:

• If you are a student, you have to do almost everything that one does in debate. You have to write, study, communicate, and take stress and pressure.
• If you are a mom or dad, you have to take care of the kids, cook dinner, clean the house, file your taxes, and shop for groceries. Most of these things you will have to do at the same time. Debate doesn’t make you quite that good, but it helps! You have to listen to your opponent, communicate with your partner, find evidence in your files, and write your speech, all at the same time.
• Almost any work in a buisness will require you to write, research, formulate an opinion, and present your findings to your boss. If you are the boss, you have to be able to take opinions from your minions, choose between them, and mediate between parties as you keep the interest of your company in mind.
• If you are just a normal person with an opinion on anything, you will use your persuasive skills to bring others to see from your point of view.
• And…you have to make choices everyday. What type of logic and thought processes will you use to make those choices. Most are easy like what you have for breakfast. Others are hard, should you buy a car, should you take the job, should you vote for this candidate or that one?

We could go on and on! Believe me, as a nineteen year old kid who thinks he has already seen the world, these skills are needed in our world. I use the skills I sharpened in debate at work, school, with my friends, and right now. (I am writing an article to persuade you to do debate after all.)

As for my own personal story, by the time I was 16, I worked up enough courage to join a local debate club. As a young homeschool student in Washington state, I was very idealistic, opinionated, and strong willed. As a first born I liked arguing (to my parent’s dismay) and felt like the whole world should know what I thought I knew. My parents thought I would excel at debate and that I would probably enjoy it. I wasn’t so sure but I wanted to give it a try. Their only concern was that I would become more argumentative and perhaps…just perhaps, become good enough to beat them, (although they didn’t tell me this at the time).

My first year of debate was hard but a lot more fun then I expected. The one downside to debate is that you have to make a pretty significant jump to start. Even though I was an avid reader, I didn’t really know a lot about the topic that year (Medical Malpractice Law) so it was a very challenging experience. Learning how to research a topic and ask relevant questions was something that took a little while to understand. Overcoming the fear of speaking in front of people was also a little difficult at first but I think after all my experience in other types of speech, debate is by far the easiest. By the end of year one, I had made a lot of friends, and really enjoyed debate. At tournaments we could hang out, play frisbee or football, and really have a great time. In rounds, contrary to what you would think, debating the other person or team was a lot of fun and you made new friends.

Before I knew it, I was back next year with a new partner debating how to change NATO. NATO, if you don’t know, stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization and happens to be the very alliance that brought down the Soviet Union. And if I haven’t explained yet, the type of debate I participated in was Team Policy debate. Like it’s name implies, you are able to work with a partner all year. In rounds you take turns speaking and cross-examining the other team.

Year two was a difficult year as I spent a lot of time losing rounds and discovering that the best ideas in the world are only good if there are people who are able to communicate and defend them well. Some things might seem to be as “self-evident” as the truths in the Declaration of Independence, but you have to learn to promote those truths and convince others to see them in the same light. I also learned a lot from my partner about economics and gained an interest in the subject. I could go into another tangent about how important economics is, but that shall be saved for another time.

Despite losing a lot that year, we did well enough at one point to get to a Regional Tournament in Colorado which would give us the opportunity to qualify for nationals. We stopped just short. Even though the year didn’t go as expected, I learned a great deal of important things. It was at this time that my Dad also admitted his earlier fears about me becoming more argumentative. He said I had gotten much better (contrary to his expectations) and that I was learning to pick my battles and to see things from another person’s point of view. And, I have to admit, my parents are right about a great many things. Both debate and growing older helped me to see things from other points of view.

Learning to debate and defend different points of view didn’t mean I became some sort of pluralist who believes anything is right. I simply had begun to learn that you can’t just blast someone over with logic or passion and expect them to see the light. Instead, I found that you get better results by working with them to bring them in a reasonable manner. There are also times when I found find they are in the right and I was the one who stood corrected. So while it is very possible in debate to learn to defend incorrect positions, you find that he who stands on truth has a serious advantage.

Year three, I partnered with my brother to debate the topic of Illegal Immigration. Long story short, we did well that year and qualified for nationals, which was an amazing experience. We got to meet lots of homeschool kids from all over the country. In year three I also started to compete in a bunch of other speech events, Impromptu, Persuasive, Apologetics, & Extemporaneous speaking. Debate had done very well to prep me for all these events and even though I had mixed results I had gained confidence and a love for communicating ideas with people.

Although I could go on for a long time about what I learned in those three years I want to share the top five things I feel have been the greatest help:

• I learned communication is 98% diplomacy, 1% inspiration & 1% perspiration.
• I gained confidence that when I stand on solid truth I can defend myself in the public setting.
• I gained the ability to research, write, and form an opinion on a topic.
• I found that asking the right questions is a major key to sucess. (Character is the other)
• How to be passionate about things I believe in but still communicate them in a friendly way.

Although I’m too old to participate in the homeschool speech and debate league (NCFCA) as a competitor,  I can continue to recognize the skills I was developing and continue to enhance them till the day I die. It’s also great to have the confidence that I can go grab any topic and start wrestling with it till I come to a better understanding. As I have begun working through college, the skills I developed have been priceless. For the rest of my life they will be priceless. I highly encourage you to consider learning these skills by joining a debate team. You can learn them without debate. But, learning them through debate is a lot more fun!

Zeb Frye was a member of VERVE debate club. He was home schooled through high school and now is doing college through Accelerated Distance Learning. After getting a BSBA in Information Technology he hopes to go on to law school.