This was an outstanding session at Knightsbridge School. We began with a topic introduced by the group:
'This House believes children have the right to protest'.
It was a tremendous debate, with the motion influenced by recent protests in the UK involving children missing school to take part. The topic split the group, with many arguing that children did not have the experience or intelligence to know when to protest; whilst others felt very strongly that depending on the issue children allowed for the voices of the next generation to be heard.
Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg were held up as examples of those influencing public debates as children.
Our key skill this week involved looking at rebuttal and how best to implement criticism/rejection of an opposing argument/point(s). It was super to see the group use this important skill in the opening debate without prompting.
Following a further warm-up interview question on the seasons of the year, we briefly discussed the autumn statement/budget and the role of the Chancellor and the budget as an early move towards a general election. This inspired our final debate of the session:
'This House would have longer gaps between elections'. The majority were in favour of shorter terms (at both tellings), holding government and politicians more frequently to account. Nevertheless, a small but vociferous group argued in favour of the ability to press ahead with infrastructure projects, and avoiding the additional costs of regular elections (some $14bn in the USA per Presidential election).
A most impressive session - well done all!
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