2Lt Stephanie Flagg – This year at Robert Land Academy we have started a debate club. Lt. Heida and I noticed the boys already were engaging in banter and thought, why not put it to good use and teach them how to properly hone this skill.

While we have had the opportunity to debate technology use on campus, whether students should have homework, and should Canada have the death penalty, we have also learned about the importance of a good debater through Denzel Washington’s film, The Great Debaters.

The Great Debaters is a film based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College in Texas. In 1935, he inspired students from his school’s debate team to go on and challenge Harvard in the national championship.

It also looks at the role of race through many topics debated in the film like unemployment relief, black individuals being admitted to white universities, and civil disobedience.

After watching the movie, Leading Bar Gravel-Pucillo pointed out that people are still debating systematic racism to this day in many countries around the world and how important it is to explore real-world topics and issues.

Learning to properly debate allows students to practice their oral communication skills and forces them to properly articulate their ideas and arguments.

As well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, an opponent may have a counterargument that was never considered, and that forces in the moment change. Students need to be able to research topics, gather information, organize their thoughts, form their arguments, and then be able to persuade the audience.

All these skills will be used in life, whether the boys chose to become businessmen, pilots, or tradesmen, they will all have to sit in an interview one day and argue why that company should hire them.