Most high schools have a debate team. I’m not against competition in sports, there’d be no game if no one won and no one lost. But, I believe that the object of a debate team has been modeled on the objective of competitive sport. That is, to present your side forcefully enough, without nuance, to overcome your opponent.  Debate, then, is about being right. It is about being staunch and unable to be swayed in your fixed opinion. It is about being the winner.

Dialogue is listening thoughtfully, with an open mind. Open enough to hear another’s ideas. Open enough to possibly even rethink your opinion. Debate, by its very nature, leads to rift, while dialogue is an attempt to bring people closer together. In dialogue, we listen to understand, not to reply.

In a political debate, one would not expect one’s opponent to say,

“You’ve got a good point there.”

Whether or not you actually think your opponent is wrong, you must make the voting public believe that your opponent is an imbecile.

Debate is a verbal sparring, dialogue a verbal sharing. In classrooms all over the country, students in debate classes are asked to either choose, or are given, a side to defend. Their assignment is to quash the other team, whether they throughly believe their argument or not. Good practice for being in a political race, but not much else.

In a world that is ever increasingly polarized, debate polarizes. I want to live in a world of dialogue, in which people share ideas respectfully. I think most people want the same.  I believe that listening is a skill as well as an intention and that it can be taught in school, the earlier the better. 

Debate class teaches the student to shut down ideas from the other side. Let’s teach our children to be interested in exploring differences of opinion and to search for deeper understanding of each other’s points of view. Let’s show them the possibility of being challenged and inspired by new ideas that may contradict their own.

Social media is rife with alienating sound bites, a virtual debate team. What side are YOU on? If you are on the wrong side (aka the other side), you are a fool. There is no holding back what media has increasingly become, but in classrooms what we desperately need to encourage is patient listening, open mindedness, collaboration, and heartfelt communication. For it is only through communication that we build a community. 

If developing an open mind can be taught, so can close mindedness. The smugness of winning a debate is a cold victory. Most issues are complicated, many layered affairs. Let’s learn to hear, instead of to silence. To assent rather than to insist. Even if we disagree, we can strive to respect an opposing opinion. There may be glimmers of light within it that we are not privy to understanding. 

The future holds an abundance of complications for the students of today. To solve them will take global outreach, an ability to learn from one another and to compromise. Words have energy and power. How are we going to use their power? 

Thank you for listening.

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“The best way to solve problems and to fight against war is through dialogue”

Malala Yousafzai 

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