Franklin has run an exciting and engaging debate society for several years with significant success in national competitions. This week we had a guest chair, Chris from Volunteering North East Lincolnshire.
Below is a review of this weeks debate by Franklin student Francesca McNally:
The skills we have developed over that past weeks were tested in this Wednesday’s debate club with the presence of outside visitors. The question of ‘Is volunteering a form of slave labour’ was almost unanimously disagreed with ten minutes into the session. Fast forward half an hour and the room had been split evenly on the question due to the many previously unexplored arguments being brought to light. With the aid of the visitor’s experiences and alternative viewpoints, we then conducted one of the club’s most divided debates to date – ultimately leading to a once unanimously opposed question to a solid agreement on the statement. Such a turnaround during a debate has not been seen in the group yet and was undoubtedly prompted by the presence of a small but significant audience. Changing the mind of a person set in their decision is a not an easy task, (as discovered in nearly every debate so far,) but the skills Mike and Nick have honed in the group allowed an eloquent and intelligent discussion which displayed the best the debate society could have shown to the guests. Some real promise was exercised on Wednesday, and we hope the future brings many more visitors to impress - bring on the next competition!
