Debating Matters

I spent today at University of Birmingham, judging in this year's regional finals of Debating Matters. Debating Matters is a national schools competition that has been running for a few years now. I got involved this (academic) year for the first time when I attended a meeting of the Manchester Salon about social software last year. It was there that I met Helen Birtwhistle, and she invited me to judge in the first round of the competition.

To be honest, I wondered what on earth I'd agreed to. You see, my life is rather grown-up, extremely so in fact. I work in an office, Dave and I are childless, and I wouldn't dream of going swimming outside adult-only sessions. Dave and I occasionally take my friend's son, Ben, out on a Saturday morning, but definitely not as often as we should.

One of the great things about Debating Matters is that they put together excellent subject guides for the judges and debaters. In fact, I used one of them at work, on public libraries, a couple of years ago. They produce a summary of the principal arguments, and then provide an exhaustive list of URLs linking of good quality free of charge web resources.

The first round, which took place last October at Aston University, proved to be highly enjoyable, and was definitely my most rewarding experience of 2007. The quality of debates is staggeringly high. I still find myself wondering how it's possible, in such a dumbed-down society, that these sixth formers are able to navigate through complex debates such as stem cell research, and switch easily from abstract concepts to detailed examples and back again. That's really why I like Debating Matters so much - it gives me hope for the future. And to be given the chance to further develop the talents of those sixth formers by offering feedbacks baseed on my own life experience is simply a privilege.

So now when I sit in my Hall Green grown-up enclave wringing my hands about intellectual decline, I remind myself of the resilience of humanity, and that even at dusk there is still light.