About Debate
Debating is a competitive and cooperative educational activity that promotes a variety of skills, including public speaking, listening, critical thinking, and research. In Ontario debating is a vibrant extra-curricular opportunity that brings together students from different schools (both public and private) and different cities.
Debates take the form of an organized argument over a particular issue (known as a “motion”), with two speakers representing each side (for and against). Each speaker has a specific role and speaks at designated times. All members of the debate engage in constructing positive arguments for their position, as well as refuting the arguments presented by their opponents.
The Ontario Student Debating Union organizes debates for a variety of ages and skill levels. One of the attractions of debating is that the same format and material can be accessible to students at many different levels. At competitive tournaments, debaters are bracketed by age and/or experience level.
Most debating tournaments include a prepared motion, which is a resolution for debate that participants know about in advance and are expected to research prior to the debate. Motions for debate typically deal with current world affairs or enduring political or ethical controversies. Each team typically debates both sides of the motion at each tournament. In addition, debating tournaments usually include at least one impromptu motion. Impromptu debates deal with topics that the debaters have not had the chance to research in advance. Sometimes the speaking times are reduced in impromptu debates to account for the reduced content.
There are several debating styles, which differ in the time allotted to each speaker as well as the opportunities for direct interaction between teams. The Ontario Student Debating Union uses the Canadian National Debate Format at its highschool events (junior highschool events do not use a consistent style). This style is characterized by “Points of Information,” which allow a member of the team that is not speaking at a given moment to ask a pointed question of the speaker on the opposite team. Other debating styles include British Parliamentary, Cross-Examination, and Worlds Style.
Debates are judged by volunteer judges, who are given a thorough briefing by the tournament organizer at the beginning of the event. For each round (of which there are usually at least three), each debater is given a speaking score out of 100. The team with the highest combined score in the round must win the debate. At the end of the tournament, the team with the most wins will be the winning team; where ties occur, combined speaking scores are consulted. Individual and team winners are always acknowledged at the end of a tournament with plaques or trophies.
For a list of upcoming debating tournaments, including invitations and registration information, see “Upcoming Events” on the homepage.
