Dorky Debaters

[Roxy]

Well, I am a dork, and I am an active member of my school's Debate Team.

Is anyone else here on their school Speech/Debate/Forensics [whatever you call it?] team?

Or WERE you? At one point?

[mynameisHughGrant]

i can only wish my school had one!

[newslang]

I did my first debate on Tuesday. My first debate in nearly 16 years of education. Is that even possible?

It was fun!

[Jam.]

I don't think it's really a British thing. Our debate team consisted of a load of arsy bastards sitting at the back of the classroom questioning teachers.

We had constructive debates in English and RE, but that was about it like for or against abortion/vivisection/the pedestrianisation of hobbledebobtown/whether we should wear shoes on a thursday/whether it's alright to say smited instead of smote...

Just futile stuff in a nut shell.

Do you all get together on certain nights and just discuss topics and such? I'm not being facetious, I really am this thick.

[sarah]

my friend managed to win a trip to florida by winning a debate a couple of years ago

[Roxy]

jam said:

I don't think it's really a British thing. Our debate team consisted of a load of arsy bastards sitting at the back of the classroom questioning teachers.

We had constructive debates in English and RE, but that was about it like for or against abortion/vivisection/the pedestrianisation of hobbledebobtown/whether we should wear shoes on a thursday/whether it's alright to say smited instead of smote...

Just futile stuff in a nut shell.

Do you all get together on certain nights and just discuss topics and such? I'm not being facetious, I really am this thick.

Well, the formal speech and debate teams in public schools in the United States is quite complicated (and different from the futile stuff in the UK! haha) It is very organized and formal, and separated into separate events; for example I compete with original oratory, in which I have to write a ten minute original speech about a moral issue in society, and how to fix it. Then I memorize it and present it to judges.

Which sounds so silly, but I do it!

Then there's debate events like Congress, which pretty much takes after the U.S House of Representatives..

But none of it is back and forth yelling and arguing.

If someone on here is part of their debate team, go to the competition at Emory in February so I can see you! Or something!



[Man, I feel like an even bigger dork after fully typing out what the debate I do actually is, hahah!]

[abolishconfusion]

I've done proper debating before. I'm never very good at writing up what I'm going to say though, I was always much better at answering questions.

[lazy poet]

i haven't heard the work 'dork' since primary school

[allison]

we had a debate team at my school, it was so intense. they were pros. so intimidating, especially on days they had debates cause they'd all wear suits and the girls wore skirt suits ahhhhh.

i'm awful with words. really can never get my point across. i don't debate, i just judge.

[newslang]

allison said:

so intimidating, especially on days they had debates cause they'd all wear suits and the girls wore skirt suits ahhhhh.

Intimidation is key, apparently. My team dressed in suit-y type things on Tuesday...some of the other team came in sweats!

[Roxy]

Yeah, we all dress nice often haha...I kind of like looking intimidating because I ussually look like a very breakable fragile thing.

And I haven't heard the dork in a very long time either. I don't know how else to describe it though!

[thornyking]

I am horrible at articulating myself - especially verbally.
That and I'm influenced easily and hardly have my own opinion.
I would be a bag of success in debate. :C

[stationtostation]

I sometimes try and have debates with androgynous musicians.

[jay]

lol, you called our 'stuff' 'futile'. how nice of you!

we used to have quite engaging debates in r.e. but they weren't formal, we didn't have to write about them or anything. it was mostly the slags in our class asking whether certain things were 'sinning' and if they would go to hell or not, and our teacher looking up things in the bible and this book written by the vatican that lists sins that aren't listed in the bible, or something. i really tuned out in those lessons, so i don't remember. i only sparked up to rabbit on about gay rights and abortion and satanism and so on.

these were the fun kind of lessons that made most people squirm, mostly because our teacher kept telling us we'd go to hell if we performed/received oral/anal sex, lusted about the opposite sex, masturbated.. you know, all the things you do when you're a teenager.

[stationtostation]

My teenage years where depressingly bereft of performing/receiving anal sex.

[abolishconfusion]

Hahahahahaha.