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Students have murder on their minds

High school — Sophomores argue historical event in order to develop debating skills

By: Laurent Bonczijk
Published: 10/6/2010 2:41:03 PM

Veritas School is normally known for uniformly dressed students with good manners. On Thursday those same students, the sophomores, debated whether to murder Julius Caesar as the seniors watched and judged.

Debate is one of the classical skills emphasized at Veritas and this format, in which a pair of debaters for or against the proposition stand up and state their arguments, is a good way to prepare for the more difficult Oxford-style debates, teacher Joshua Smith said. Students can state their argument without interruption and pairs from both sides take turn.

While in years past a vote was taken to determine a winner, Smith said this year this wouldn’t take place as winning had become too much of a focal point. Instead, the two teams had exchanged their arguments ahead of time so that they could each work on refuting the other.

Smith, who was busy taking notes so he could give his students feedback, said he wanted them to focus on having a good argument and establishing facts.

Both sides agreed that Caesar was a criminal, leading one group to call for his murder while the other argued that he had done Rome more good than harm and deserved to remain alive.

Senior Oliver Abraira said he thought both teams were fairly even, but that those opposed to the murder used an argument that was rather “un-Roman” and not in historical character. Other seniors called for more pathos, to make the audience feel something in order to bring them to their side.

“At this stage I really want them to focus on the strength of the argument,” Smith said. Each year he tries to tailor the debates to what the class needs, but some trademarks never cease. He wants them to remain gracious and to avoid resorting to name calling or vilifying the opponent. He said the ultimate question of the debate, however, is “What kind of people will it help them become?”