This was a super post half-term session with our St Philip's Debating & Interview Club.
Our skill focus this week looked at Conclusions - how to end proposition and opposition arguments effectively as well as overall debates in an impressive manner.
Our newsround saw reference to the forthcoming anniversary of D-Day, the General Election, the ongoing conflict in Gaza, sporting contests from the T20 cricket world cup, to Man City, Man United football success as well as the F1 in Monaco.
For our warm up we then turned to our interview style philosophical question with an emphasis on 'why'/justification?:
'Should the voting age be lowered?'
The group voted against lowering the voting 80/20 against.
There was a feeling that in some instances a vote at 16/17 would align with driving and other responsibilities and encourage participation. It was also felt that children should be allowed to have a say on their futures, particularly on the topic of Global warming/Climate change. However, many felt that 18 struck the right balance or indeed that even more maturity was needed post university to acquire the vote. Others wanted taxation/jobs to be the link to voting. This was a very mature and impressive discussion.
Our main debate looked at Rishi Sunak's plan to reintroduce national service if he formed the next Government.
The group split at both tellings on the idea. Many liked the idea of service and community or volunteering work. Others gave the example of Scandinavian countries with a strong sense of training and survival skills that could be applied in military terms.
Many others felt this was uncalled for by the military, unhelpful and unnecessarily expensive at £2.5 billion. Others thought that children/young adults should have a choice as to whether they participated and it might interrupt or prevent them from completing/working on other activities.
We ended the session with a reflection on the remarkable sacrifice of those that took part in D-Day as we remember 80 years on.
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