Young Debaters

"And so," blustered the lost in middle age hack on the middle-of-the-road newspaper, "everything new is an abomination. I mean, this internet business. Look what it's doing to the young of our land. They are obsessed now with emotional response and vanity. It's a corruption and it ought to be stopped." Or so the tired argument goes ...

THE PROPOSITION

The internet has created a whole new sphere of creative expression. Young Debaters is the work of a thirteen-year-old boy called Edward McGovern, who, inspired by his love of debating, has decided to share his passion with others.

"At my school we often debate during English classes," says Edward. "My motivation to set up the site was mainly because I wanted to share the joys debating can bring with those who haven't experienced it. In addition I wanted people that were interested in debating to be able to use the website to their advantage when debating or looking for motions, ideas or rules."

THE EVIDENCE

Anyone similarly drawn to the rhetorical push and pull of argument will find something of interest here. Debating in a nutshell - a wonderfully ambiguous phrase which suggests a physically impossibly reality - introduces the conventions of the art of debate. Debating Formats takes you through the different means of organising a debate, from the Mace Format to the British Parliamentary Debate Format. If you're stuck for something to debate there are even suggestions for your formal arguments: everything from 'This House would admit Turkey to the European Union' to 'This House would make tobacco a Class A drug'.

There's also a forum - where, we hope, users of the site will conduct themselves in the appropriate debating fashion - and a video section. This includes debates from the 2008 US Presidential election and John Lennox - Professor of Mathematics at Oxford - on insightful form discussing that arch-contender Christopher Hitchens.

THE CONCLUSION

Young Debaters is a superb idea and a refreshing riposte to the idea that the internet only undermines traditional debate ... Good on Edward McGovern.

We would now like to speak in favour of the following motion: 'This website would admit that the youth of today are sensible, courageous, intelligent souls keen to use the internet for interesting ends'.