Debate and Speech Deserve A Higher Priority

 

Debate and Speech Deserve a Higher Priority in our Schools- 

In the late fall of 1959, as a freshman in the debate and speech club of Laconia High School (LHS) in Laconia, New Hampshire, I learned what it felt like to fall under the scowling scrutiny of our faculty advisor, Ruth Estes, as we returned from a Bates College debate tournament.  From the front seat, Mr. Estes surveyed the three of us, and then she asked me a humiliating question:  “Well, Mr. Bowen, what happened to you?”  

Unfortunately, the question was justified.  I barely knew the rules of debate according to the National Forensic League.  The required topic at the tournament perplexed me: “Should compulsory arbitration be required in the public sector?”  And I did not realize that Mrs. Estes, besides being an intimidating Latin teacher, was a forceful reason why LHS had developed an award-winning reputation on the New England forensic league circuit.  

My high school years as an original orator and presenter of dramatic and humorous declamations matured only after I realized that I could never think quickly enough to debate quickly prepared topics.  Nor would I ever develop the thick skin needed to demolish opponents with cogent arguments.  Because my mother was a former college thespian, and an enthusiastic trainer, I learned to memorize lines and deliver them with a dramatic flair.  Mrs. Estes endorsed my efforts and made sure I got to National Forensic League (NFL) tournaments across New England and even nationally.  Reaching the finals in two national tournaments was a memorable thrill.   

Long since retired from teaching and administration, I remain a strong advocate for empowering young people to speak confidently and clearly to an audience. For many adults and children, the experience spawns fearful paralysis, mumbling, and a fate considered worse than death.  To its credit, New York state recognizes oral language and communication as core components of English language standards across all grades.  Meanwhile, over at least a century, the world of forensic leagues has expanded dramatically.  Since its birth in 1925, the National Forensic League, now called the National Speech and Debate Association, has endured.   Today some 140,000 students are actively involved, with 3,700 chapters and 4,500 coaches.   

New York state has traditionally excelled in speech and debate. More than a quarter of New York City’s secondary schools offer debate programs.  The vast majority are found in private schools.  On a broader scale the state is considered a “national powerhouse” in the field, with champions in national tournaments frequently coming from our state.  

The state’s western region sponsors a constant variety of tournaments in both the city and suburbs, representing both the State Forensic League and the State Catholic Forensic League.  

 Rural schools also nurture their own leadership development through the FFA (Future Farmers of America).  At competitive regional events, for example, my home district of Pioneer enables students to build communication and critical thinking skills through both prepared and extemporaneous public speaking.  The FFA parallels the approaches of the National Speech and Debate Association.  

In recent times, shortages of coaches, transportation costs, and state-level associations have made large regional on-site debate tournaments a big challenge.  Even so, American students continue to shine internationally in speech and debate.  American college and universities strongly support debate forums with roots dating back to the early 19th century. After all, debate is strongly embedded in classical education.  What is more, there is clear evidence that debaters and student orators gain a 22 to 30 percent higher admission rate among the best colleges.  

Opportunites abound for students across all grades to debate issues and hone their speech skills.  Teachers may have grown more reluctant to tackle controversial issues, but debate formats that highlight parliamentary procedures, rotate topics, and set the rules can channel purposeful dialogue.  Technology and school-community events lend themselves to shared celebrations of speech and debate.  Steven Douglas and Abraham Lincoln famously modeled this many years ago. And at least for me, back in New Hampshire, Mrs. Ruth Estes and my mother made it happen.