WHAT IS DEBATE?

Debate is a discussion about social change and how to improve our world. American secondary and college students have for centuries participated on debate teams to learn persuasive speaking and argumentation skills. Competitive debate allows students to face off against each other in a structured exchange centering on pressing issues of social concern. From candidate debates or legislative decision-making, democratic society rests on this formal, public approach to deliberation. Students who participate in debate become connected to public life and the responsibilities of citizenship.

Perhaps the most encouraging development in debate in the past fifteen years has been the return of debate to urban high schools, from which it had largely disappeared.

URBAN DEBATE LEAGUES

The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) is the national leadership organization of the urban debate movement. It builds new Urban Debate Leagues (UDLs), strengthens UDLs and promotes school system institutionalization, expands the capacity of existing UDLs, and connects UDLs across the United States to form a cohesive Urban Debate Network.

Urban Debate Leagues are city-wide networks of secondary school debate programs. Participation in the Leagues teaches advocacy skills that empower disadvantaged urban students to be the architects of their own futures.

In the past ten years, 37,000 students have competed in UDLs in urban school districts comprising approximately 87% minority and 78% low-income student populations.

THE BENEFITS OF DEBATE

Studies have shown that debate as an after-school activity benefits students in a variety of ways. These include:

IMPROVED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. Urban debaters develop research, critical thinking, and oral communication skills. They also improve their grade-point averages, literacy scores, and overall academic proficiency.

BRIDGE TO COLLEGE. While the vast majority of urban debaters have parents who did not go to college and peers who often do not graduate from high school, UDLs send more than 75% of their students to four-year colleges.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING. Former debaters are disproportionately represented in leadership ranks in the law, business, and academia. According to a survey by the National Forensic League, 64% of U.S. Members of Congress competed in debate or speech in high school. Experience in debate enables students to articulate their personal and social values through respectful confrontation with dissenting opinions – a cornerstone of an effective democratic society. With the expanded horizons and leadership skills developed in debate, urban students are equipped to improve their schools, strengthen their communities, and ultimately contribute to a broad national leadership base.

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INTERESTED IN HELPING OUT?

Become part of the Urban Debate Movement by visiting the Take Action page.