„Novice Break” – the first online school tournament for novice debaters
When you watch the debate, it seems to be the game where rules are simple, since you have to prove that the truth is on your side. In reality debate is an intellectual challenge, requiring a great deal of preparation, sophistication and language skills.
Six teams (18 students, 4 teachers and 5 adjudicators) took the plunge and accepted the challenge to take part in the first school novice debate tournament „Novice Break”. This is the activity of the Erasmus project Media Smart Citizens of the Future, thus every Wednesday in April junior debaters – The Invincibles, Carrot Squad, Walkie-Talkies, Cherries of the Orchard, 3 GB and Eagle Brothers debated on the topics of Media Literacy- THW ban celebrities and influencers from using Face Apps and Photo Editing in social media, THW ban the media from reporting on ongoing violent crime trials, This house regrets the trend of making villains sympathetic characters in films and media (e.g.The Joker, Maleficent, Breaking Bad). Five senior members of the Debate Club, who have already gained real debating experience in several republic tournaments, were the adjudicators of the tournament.
Cherries of the Orchard (Aurėja Goštautaitė, Smiltė Vaikevičiūtė, Kamilė Zenkevičiūtė), having won all 3 rounds, were announced the winners of „Novice Break”, Carrot Squad (Mangirdas Rulis, Kostas Paulėkas, Nojus Pijus Soraka) took the second place with two wins, The Invincibles (Evelina Gecevičiūtė, Rytis Jonika,Vakaris Jonika) and Walkie-Talkies (Gustė Sudvajūtė, Darija Šaranina, Deividas Laukaitis, Augustas Pakėnas) won the third place with successful round each.
We hope that everybody involved had a great fun and will not resist to further challenges.
“Debate was a challenge that I gave to myself, but what was even more challenging is that they were in English! I spent a lot of time preparing and perfecting my speeches. Thinking of arguments to solidify my opinion was not an exception. Also, I have to mention that there was always a bit of stress before starting to talk, but the actual experience and knowledge that I gained while debating will stick with me forever,” says Evelina Gecevičiūtė.
“I liked the school debate because it gave me an opportunity to practice my English and express my point of view on specific topics “, claims Kamilė Zenkevičiūtė, a member of the Debate Club.
Agnė Ingelevičienė
