The strange sound and fury of high school debate
Beina Xu
Issue date: 2/27/07 Section: Brownstone
She's pissed. It's 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon at Beacon Academy and ninth grader Ivy Gluck is getting grilled in a "cross-ex" by her debate teammate, junior Taylor Woodberry. And it's not looking good for the Peace Corps.
"So you're telling me," he probes, "that as soon as your plan's passed, the world will end."
Gluck grips her Xerox sheet and launches a rebuttal.
"That's not the point," she begins. But Woodberry's just as pissed and cuts her off.
"You have no time frame," he plows on. "So answer the question - as soon as we get our last bill for that three billion, the world's gonna explode?"
A flash second of contemplation.
"Yes," she says, and though Woodberry's been waiting for this moment, he still can't restrain himself.
"Yo, that is the - I'm sorry but you are the dumbest, smartest person I have ever met in my entire life." he spews. Gluck gapes in protest at the judge, sophomore Quionnea Coombs, and rolls her eyes in disgust.
"God, can't he get speaker points taken off for this?"
Today's rounds are just practice, but it doesn't make much difference. Gluck, Woodberry and Coombs are here with six other Urban Debate Leaguers to prep for their Nationals Qualifier tournament in two weeks. They come from different boroughs, different families and don't even attend the same schools. But their love and knack for debate has lumped them in a motley classroom on Saturday afternoon when most high schoolers are idly watching TV.
Gluck, unlike most others, has been doing this since middle school. " 'Cause I talk really fast," she said. And she's on point. Being around her, you get the sense that you're stuck mid-auction.
But that's just an antic. Gluck and her teammates are devoted to debate for far more impassioned reasons.
"Debate kids aren't smarter than other kids, we just see the world differently," she said. "It reaches behind things, and gets to the ideology - the reason behind why certain things happen."
There's a confidence in her voice that reaches far beyond her years. Still stuck with braces and clad in a Delaware outdoor camp sweatshirt - "I'm not a complete nerd" - Gluck is a testament to the power of debate and the ways in which it can change the perspective of youths.
'THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN EDUCATION'
Debate is the loner of extracurricular activities - except that it's not for loners. Those who have done it will tell you that aside from being misunderstood (and misperceived), debate is the best form of sportsmanship out there.
"I always say it's the best kept secret in education," said Will Baker, head of IMPACT Coalition, which runs the New York Urban Debate League. "You'll see kids coming out of it making completely different choices with their lives."
The point of debate is, obviously, to win an argument; NYUDL pairs two-person teams from over 70 schools in the city to prep for the monthly tournaments. Most competition is on policy debate, a type that follows a more rigorous structure in its form. There's an argument, a cross-examination, the rebuttal and a judge, who rules on the evidence and counter-evidence presented. Simple, kind of.
Gluck breaks it down for me. "Debate is two aspects," she said. "How well you are at speaking and the time you invest in it."
"I probably do more research than college students," said Coombs, the Washington Irving sophomore. "I'm also more critical of the world than probably everyone in my school, and I got 5,000 kids in my school."
In the debate world, practice does make perfect. Coombs spends six hours each day and four on weekends to prep for tournaments, using the Brooklyn Resource Center and materials IMPACT provides. At the Big Bronx tournament last October, he was named 14th best speaker from over 120 teams, and barely missed the cutoff for qualification.
The research is infectious; most debaters will say that it's a never-ending project in which you never know when to stop. Gluck said she reads the news regularly "to see if they, like, passed any bills that would help my stance."
'BIO-POWER AND FOUCAULT'
Tournaments are challenging and the arena where talent, skill, and weeks of dogged work come to show. The debates are fiery, even borderline bitchy. And when state qualifying spots are on the line, even the most eloquent debaters will, yes, bullshit.
"There's a running joke that everything will end in nuclear warfare," said Gluck, who laughs because she'd conceded that very point during her own practice round. "That, or the world's gonna end."
Though strenuous, tournaments are ultimately a place where the jockish, whimsical sort of bonding latches teammates. Varsity and JV often travel together and the mixed dynamic allows for leadership roles to develop.
Delmar Dualeh, a sophomore at Manhattan Center for Science and Math, reminisces fondly about debating against Coombs.
"It was my first year and he ran so many things against me on bio-power, which I at the time had no clue about," said Dualeh, whose skinny build makes him look years younger. "He was yelling all this like bio-power and Foucault and I was just like, what do I do? It was cool."
His teammate, Yasmine Flodine-Ali, joined partly for the travel - and cherishes bus rides to away tournaments.
"Everyone talks and there might be some flirting going on, but you'll have to go to someone else for that one," she writes in an e-mail. "Umm … do you expect us to tell you all our secrets?"
'I LOVE DEBATE!!!'
What each student gains from the experience of debate varies little and speaks volumes. Baker said 10 to 15 percent of NYUDL high school debaters go on to compete in college. According to a University of Missouri national education study, debate "dramatically boosts reading skills of at-risk urban high school students."
"They come out of their shells," Baker said. "They learn how to examine things."
But to understand what that feels like, you'll have to ask them.
"I've become a lot more open, and better at expressing opinions," said Gluck, who wants to debate collegiately and become a lawyer. "I'm more confident."
Dualeh, who wants to be a lawyer or teacher, echoes Gluck's response.
"I think it's allowed me to express myself in a better way," he writes in an e-mail with no punctuation until the end. "It has also educated me so much about things I never knew, like Zizek, Foucault, etc…I LOVE DEBATE!!!"
And Coombs, cool as always, said it's brought him a sharper perspective. He wants to pursue a career in fashion journalism and attend either Northwestern University or Dartmouth College for their debate teams.
"I'm still the same person, just more critical," he said. "I swear, if th e U.S. government said, 'You can do debate and not go to school,' it would be perfect. I mean we'd be dumb at math, but English is best anyway."
These students have discovered a niche in the art of arguing. To their peers, they are role models. To themselves, they are just a few kids who enjoy a challenge alongside friends. And perhaps with them on board, we can be sure that our future world won't end in nuclear warfare.
"So you're telling me," he probes, "that as soon as your plan's passed, the world will end."
Gluck grips her Xerox sheet and launches a rebuttal.
"That's not the point," she begins. But Woodberry's just as pissed and cuts her off.
"You have no time frame," he plows on. "So answer the question - as soon as we get our last bill for that three billion, the world's gonna explode?"
A flash second of contemplation.
"Yes," she says, and though Woodberry's been waiting for this moment, he still can't restrain himself.
"Yo, that is the - I'm sorry but you are the dumbest, smartest person I have ever met in my entire life." he spews. Gluck gapes in protest at the judge, sophomore Quionnea Coombs, and rolls her eyes in disgust.
"God, can't he get speaker points taken off for this?"
Today's rounds are just practice, but it doesn't make much difference. Gluck, Woodberry and Coombs are here with six other Urban Debate Leaguers to prep for their Nationals Qualifier tournament in two weeks. They come from different boroughs, different families and don't even attend the same schools. But their love and knack for debate has lumped them in a motley classroom on Saturday afternoon when most high schoolers are idly watching TV.
Gluck, unlike most others, has been doing this since middle school. " 'Cause I talk really fast," she said. And she's on point. Being around her, you get the sense that you're stuck mid-auction.
But that's just an antic. Gluck and her teammates are devoted to debate for far more impassioned reasons.
"Debate kids aren't smarter than other kids, we just see the world differently," she said. "It reaches behind things, and gets to the ideology - the reason behind why certain things happen."
There's a confidence in her voice that reaches far beyond her years. Still stuck with braces and clad in a Delaware outdoor camp sweatshirt - "I'm not a complete nerd" - Gluck is a testament to the power of debate and the ways in which it can change the perspective of youths.
'THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN EDUCATION'
Debate is the loner of extracurricular activities - except that it's not for loners. Those who have done it will tell you that aside from being misunderstood (and misperceived), debate is the best form of sportsmanship out there.
"I always say it's the best kept secret in education," said Will Baker, head of IMPACT Coalition, which runs the New York Urban Debate League. "You'll see kids coming out of it making completely different choices with their lives."
The point of debate is, obviously, to win an argument; NYUDL pairs two-person teams from over 70 schools in the city to prep for the monthly tournaments. Most competition is on policy debate, a type that follows a more rigorous structure in its form. There's an argument, a cross-examination, the rebuttal and a judge, who rules on the evidence and counter-evidence presented. Simple, kind of.
Gluck breaks it down for me. "Debate is two aspects," she said. "How well you are at speaking and the time you invest in it."
"I probably do more research than college students," said Coombs, the Washington Irving sophomore. "I'm also more critical of the world than probably everyone in my school, and I got 5,000 kids in my school."
In the debate world, practice does make perfect. Coombs spends six hours each day and four on weekends to prep for tournaments, using the Brooklyn Resource Center and materials IMPACT provides. At the Big Bronx tournament last October, he was named 14th best speaker from over 120 teams, and barely missed the cutoff for qualification.
The research is infectious; most debaters will say that it's a never-ending project in which you never know when to stop. Gluck said she reads the news regularly "to see if they, like, passed any bills that would help my stance."
'BIO-POWER AND FOUCAULT'
Tournaments are challenging and the arena where talent, skill, and weeks of dogged work come to show. The debates are fiery, even borderline bitchy. And when state qualifying spots are on the line, even the most eloquent debaters will, yes, bullshit.
"There's a running joke that everything will end in nuclear warfare," said Gluck, who laughs because she'd conceded that very point during her own practice round. "That, or the world's gonna end."
Though strenuous, tournaments are ultimately a place where the jockish, whimsical sort of bonding latches teammates. Varsity and JV often travel together and the mixed dynamic allows for leadership roles to develop.
Delmar Dualeh, a sophomore at Manhattan Center for Science and Math, reminisces fondly about debating against Coombs.
"It was my first year and he ran so many things against me on bio-power, which I at the time had no clue about," said Dualeh, whose skinny build makes him look years younger. "He was yelling all this like bio-power and Foucault and I was just like, what do I do? It was cool."
His teammate, Yasmine Flodine-Ali, joined partly for the travel - and cherishes bus rides to away tournaments.
"Everyone talks and there might be some flirting going on, but you'll have to go to someone else for that one," she writes in an e-mail. "Umm … do you expect us to tell you all our secrets?"
'I LOVE DEBATE!!!'
What each student gains from the experience of debate varies little and speaks volumes. Baker said 10 to 15 percent of NYUDL high school debaters go on to compete in college. According to a University of Missouri national education study, debate "dramatically boosts reading skills of at-risk urban high school students."
"They come out of their shells," Baker said. "They learn how to examine things."
But to understand what that feels like, you'll have to ask them.
"I've become a lot more open, and better at expressing opinions," said Gluck, who wants to debate collegiately and become a lawyer. "I'm more confident."
Dualeh, who wants to be a lawyer or teacher, echoes Gluck's response.
"I think it's allowed me to express myself in a better way," he writes in an e-mail with no punctuation until the end. "It has also educated me so much about things I never knew, like Zizek, Foucault, etc…I LOVE DEBATE!!!"
And Coombs, cool as always, said it's brought him a sharper perspective. He wants to pursue a career in fashion journalism and attend either Northwestern University or Dartmouth College for their debate teams.
"I'm still the same person, just more critical," he said. "I swear, if th e U.S. government said, 'You can do debate and not go to school,' it would be perfect. I mean we'd be dumb at math, but English is best anyway."
These students have discovered a niche in the art of arguing. To their peers, they are role models. To themselves, they are just a few kids who enjoy a challenge alongside friends. And perhaps with them on board, we can be sure that our future world won't end in nuclear warfare.
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